Dent in oak beam

Question

Please help me! I have a dent in my oak beam. I've tried with the water and iron method but it's still there. Can anyone tell me what to do? Should I just sand all the varnish off and start again? enter image description here

It is not offensive at all on a rustic looking beam I wouldn’t touch it. — Kris, Dec 11 '19 at 22:02
I also think the mantel is beautiful as is. And the "water & iron" steam method won't work on varnished wood, BTW... — Jimmy Fix-it, Dec 12 '19 at 02:37
One more vote for "adds character". Looks just fine as it is. — FreeMan, Dec 12 '19 at 11:25
I agree with kris and jimmy (@kris you should make than an answer so the question can be accepted and closed out). On rough beams we sometimes take a grinder to them to add character like the notches in the bottom then it looks like it was supposed to be there. — Ed Beal, Dec 12 '19 at 15:49

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 12 '19 at 18:07

Your beam is a distressed wood design or a hand hewn look design. The imperfect edges and surface blemishes are intentionally made or left in place during milling intentionally.

This “dent” is not a defect nor a result of some accidental impact.

It looks great I “wood knot” attempt anything to change it.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 12 '19 at 18:49

Probably what is “offensive” to you is the unusual shape of the imperfection.

In design, we learn that a single feature is distinguishing, two is random, and three is a pattern. Just look at dormers on roofs, window patterns, etc. Maybe adding a few blemishes will diminish the impact of that one imperfection. (If you try this technique, practice on scrap wood first.)

Also, one thing that draws attention to the “defect” is that the remainder of the mantle does not have any imperfections. If there were several large knotholes, it wouldn’t be so noticeable.

If you were to cover the existing wood mantle, you’d have nail holes, wood putty, etc. to look at.

Dent in oak beam

2 Answers2