A massive dent, chip, or tearout on the edge of a board can feel like a death sentence for a project.
But before you toss it in the kindling pile, take a breath.
Because there’s a surprisingly easy way to make that damage almost invisible.
And today, I’m showing how to repair boards with damaged edges — so your project can still look impeccable.
All you need is a hand plane, a cutoff from your project (ideally the same wood species), and a mix of super glue and wood glue.
(Credit for this trick goes to Mark Spagnola, the Wood Whisperer).
1. PLANE THE DAMAGED AREA FLAT
First, grab your hand plane and start flattening the damaged area.
The angle doesn’t matter here (neither does the hand plane, as long as the blade’s sharp).
Your goal is to create a flat surface you can later glue the offcut to.
Just take off as much material as needed to create a new flat face and stop there.
No need to go overboard.
2. GLUE ON THE OFFCUT
Apply a bit of both wood glue and superglue to the area you planed flat.
Spray a face of the offcut with some accelerator and place it on that area.
Just make sure the long grain of the offcut is oriented in the same direction as your board.
Now just hold it in place until the superglue creates a sturdy bond.
It’ll look a little weird with the offcut extending past the edges…
But that’s exactly what you want.
3. PLANE THE OFFCUT FLAT
Now comes the satisfying part.
Start planing away at the offcut from both the top and sides.
Your goal is to make it coplanar with the face and edge of your board.
It might feel a little awkward at first because of the weird angle of the offcut. But keep at it until everything is even (just don’t go so far that you start un-squaring your board).
When it looks almost perfect, finish up with a bit of sanding to really smooth things out.
With a bit of finish, you’ll hardly be able to find where the damaged area was.
This trick can be a serious life-saver for when you’re already far along in a project and a board gets damaged…
So keep this hand plane hack in your back pocket to overcome those moments of panic.
Want to learn how to fix other common woodworking mistakes? Watch this.
Any thoughts on this mistake-hiding trick? Let us know in the comments below!
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And as always, STAY SAFE IN THE SHOP!
9 comments
Rocky Kruger
Thanks – this saved me a lot of trouble
Thanks – this saved me a lot of trouble
Ron
I appreciate your vast knowledge and willingness to share it. Incredibly useful. Would it be more time efficient to use a 30 second video vs. pages of reading? Thank you!!
I appreciate your vast knowledge and willingness to share it. Incredibly useful. Would it be more time efficient to use a 30 second video vs. pages of reading? Thank you!!
Thomas Conlin
Peter D. — I don’t know how other people do it, but I will run several short beads of wood glue along the edge I want to glue up, leaving a few half-inch wide gaps between beads of glue for CA glue. For example, instead of running one continuous 12” bead of glue on a 12” long edge, I will run several 3” beads of glue along that surface with about a half inch gap in between each of the separate beads of glue. This is where I put the CA glue. The idea is to have mostly wood glue, but a little bit of CA glue to instantly bond the piece while the wood glue sets up. As explained, you spray the other part you’re glueing with accelerant, and then press the two pieces together quickly and accurately. When you do, the CA forms an instant, but brittle bond, while the wood glue forms a permanent bond when it cures. Think of the CA as working like a clamp. Hope that helps.
Peter D. — I don’t know how other people do it, but I will run several short beads of wood glue along the edge I want to glue up, leaving a few half-inch wide gaps between beads of glue for CA glue. For example, instead of running one continuous 12” bead of glue on a 12” long edge, I will run several 3” beads of glue along that surface with about a half inch gap in between each of the separate beads of glue. This is where I put the CA glue. The idea is to have mostly wood glue, but a little bit of CA glue to instantly bond the piece while the wood glue sets up. As explained, you spray the other part you’re glueing with accelerant, and then press the two pieces together quickly and accurately. When you do, the CA forms an instant, but brittle bond, while the wood glue forms a permanent bond when it cures. Think of the CA as working like a clamp. Hope that helps.
Tom Willing
I do something similar to build up the cheeks of tenons, for example, using thin (or not-so-thin) shavings off the same board as the iece I want to save. It can rescue dovetails, saddle joints, all sorts of things.
I do something similar to build up the cheeks of tenons, for example, using thin (or not-so-thin) shavings off the same board as the iece I want to save. It can rescue dovetails, saddle joints, all sorts of things.
Peter_D
Another good reason to keep small offcuts that match grain and color until the project is finished and out the door. I’m curious about the details of how you apply both wood glue and super glue to the same surface.
“Apply a bit of both wood glue and superglue to the area you planed flat”
I’m enjoying and learning a lot from these quick tips posts.
-Peter
Another good reason to keep small offcuts that match grain and color until the project is finished and out the door. I’m curious about the details of how you apply both wood glue and super glue to the same surface.
“Apply a bit of both wood glue and superglue to the area you planed flat”
I’m enjoying and learning a lot from these quick tips posts.
-Peter
Mr. John Petrea
Awesome 👏 Tip that I wish I would have known last week!!…
Awesome 👏 Tip that I wish I would have known last week!!…
Neil Hathaway
That’s a great tip. I love these daily tips!
Thank you
That’s a great tip. I love these daily tips!
Thank you
Alan
General feedback from a neurodivergent reader —
I would love to see the typeface format of these quick tip texts more consistent. Especially as a neurodivergent person, it’s very distracting and detracts from the experience to have these varying lines of text looking like the label of a Dr. Bronner’s Castille soap container :)
Thx
General feedback from a neurodivergent reader —
I would love to see the typeface format of these quick tip texts more consistent. Especially as a neurodivergent person, it’s very distracting and detracts from the experience to have these varying lines of text looking like the label of a Dr. Bronner’s Castille soap container :)
Thx
Gary P Miller
Great problem solver! Thank you.
Great problem solver! Thank you.