Wood hardener? Checking...

modessitt

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I always hear mention of using wood hardener over chipping or bloated edges before or after doing sanding, bondo, primer, and paint, but which particular brand and where are you buying it? I was at Lowe's tonight picking up some supplies, and I saw some "wood repair" kit in a bag, but nothing that jumped out at me as "wood hardener".

Also, I have a cab that has the checking efffect all over. It's not so bad yet that it's starting to buckle, but there are hundreds of the little cracks. I plan to sand it all down, primer, and restencil at some point. Will that take care of it, or is there some other prep I should do to make it no longer an issue?
 
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Yeah, that sounds like it. Too bad I didn't see it tonight. If I had seen a bottle that said "wood hardener", I would've bought it...
 
Since the Minwax stuff is difficult to find here, I buy "PC-Petrifier Wood Hardener" from my local Home Hardware. I've used it on chipping and swollen sections of particle board cabs and it works great. Apparently Home Depot carries it too:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100649629&N=10000003+90401+502886

4e3a2c56-6742-4a1d-a4f8-12c8ee67402d_300.jpg
 
For restoration or preservation?

Both. It hardens the wood in frayed, dried out areas, for example, the bottom edges of the cabinet. I use the MinWax brand, Home Depot has it, $10 a can. I scrub the areas with a wire brush to get the dry, loose pieces off and then apply a few coats of wood hardener. The stuff really soaks into the wood so It could be a full day or longer for it to properly dry/cure. After that, you can bondo the edges and square everything off so it looks like new again.
 
I've used Elmer's wood hardener, and I can't recommend it. It just doesn't seem to penetrate very well. Next time I'll try the Minwax stuff.
 
I always use The Minwax brand and I only let it cure for an hour before slathering my first layer of bondo. That way the 2 cure together for a stronger bond. I feel it makes the bondo adhere to the substrate a little better. It's worked for me.
 
To the Elmers post - I have NEVER had any luck with any elmer product (except from back in elememtary school when we made collages). Their wood products (Home Depot really pushes them on you) suck bigtime.
 
When I went to buy the Minwax wood hardener, I tried Lowes first, they don't have it on the shelves. Went down the road to the Home Depot and they stocked it. Of course after I applied it to the bottom of the cabinet I decided to chop it all off and replace it completely. Get too picky sometimes I think, but the cabinet is much more solid now.
 
I always hear mention of using wood hardener over chipping or bloated edges before or after doing sanding, bondo, primer, and paint, but which particular brand and where are you buying it? I was at Lowe's tonight picking up some supplies, and I saw some "wood repair" kit in a bag, but nothing that jumped out at me as "wood hardener".

Also, I have a cab that has the checking efffect all over. It's not so bad yet that it's starting to buckle, but there are hundreds of the little cracks. I plan to sand it all down, primer, and restencil at some point. Will that take care of it, or is there some other prep I should do to make it no longer an issue?

As others have mentioned, Lowes carries the Elmer tuff and Home Depot has the Minwax wood hardener. You're supposed to sand off the loose material/particles until you get to a harder base then apply the wood hardener. Instead of brushing it on I prefer to pour it into a spray bottle and just spray it on.

Edit: Forgot to mention I use the Minwax wood hardener.
 
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