Fixing Splintered Wood
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Working with wood is awesome! You can create so many great things. As much as I love creating beautiful things with wood there is one thing that always seems to happen - splintering.
Splintered wood is most often caused by using the wrong blade for the wood being cut and usually only happens on one side. More times than not you can make sure it's on the side that won't be seen. But sometimes you just can't get around using the splintered side (or if you are like me, you aren't paying attention and end up using the wrong side -oops). Usually when I do that I try to prime and paint it hoping it will cover the damage. That rarely works and it pretty much ends up looking like this:
It's not terrible but after working so hard to make something I hate to leave it that way. So after realizing I used the wrong side in the closet I decided I needed to do something to fix it. I decided to grab some spackling and see if it would hide my mistake. Most people use spackling to fill nail holes but I think spackling is God's gift to the DIYer (that and caulk).
The first thing I did was fill the grooves with a moderate coat of spackling . I like to use my finger so I can feel the grooves and ensure good coverage.
After it dried completely (around 30 minutes to an hour) I lightly sanded using a fine sandpaper (around 320 grit).
After sanding the surface I painted it. *If you feel the surface needs a little more work repeat the steps until you are happy.
I only did one coat in the closet because you can barely see the splintering. I zoomed in really close to get the after pic but to the naked eye you can't see any flaws in the wood.
Side-by-side:
Just like I like - simple! So if you ever find yourself with splintered wood showing in one of your projects don't fear - a little bit of spackling and sanding and everything will be as good as new!
