Help

[Badger]

Looking for someone to get me out of trouble.

I was in the process of fitting a door for the in-laws and needed to take some wood off the top and bottom. I put masking tape on the underside to stop the saw tearing out the ply facing but the masking tape was old and had lost its 'stick'.

As a result I managed to tear away a few lumps of the outer surface of the facing ply.

Themselves want a clear finish on the door (I could hide the damn problem if it was painted).

Any suggestions for filling the torn ply so that it doesn't show up too badly when I apply a clear finish.

[Sir Chiz]

Any chance of putting a "decorative" molding over it? Maybe find some vaneer of the same wood and hand cut pieces pieces to fit as close as you can,
glue them in place,then use a wood filler of the right color to smooth out the rough spots.

Phil.

[DPB]

Sometimes trying to hide something draws your attention to it.

Would this be possible?

Score a line with a knife about 10mm above the bottom of the door. Do this carefully with minimum pressure first and then slightly harder subsequently. The object here is to have a clean line .05mm deep. Now cut with your saw just below this line so that the side of the blade barely touches this line. (Use a straightedge guide clamped to the door.) This should produce the clean cut with no tear-out.

Now the door is 10mm too short. If the resulting gap is too much, rip a piece of timber the thickness of the door by 10mm, and glue this to the bottom of the door. If you have the skill to cut a straight square line, and the means to plane and clamp a joint over the height of your door, this might work.

Alternatively, you could try the first part of this suggestion but cut closer to the bottom, say only 5mm. This is more problematic, but possible if you are careful. A door that is cut 5mm too short should not be noticible:)