Is there any way to “fix” the rough cut side so it will stain nicely?

[gfr92y]

A friend at a big-box home improvement store cut my shelves leaving one side a mess (see below). The other side is fine.

Is there any way to “fix” the rough cut side so it will stain nicely?

Thanks!

gfr92y

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[petertay15]

Wouldn’t you sand it smooth?

[gfr92y]

@petertay15

The pictures below are of sections that I carefully removed the "whiskers". It looks like the first layer of veneer was ripped off. The depth of the remaining veneer appears to be about 3/64"; i.e., between 1/32" and 1/16". I am concerned that sanding the plywood smooth along the edge would result in a fair amount of the second layer of veneer being exposed.

I was hoping someone was going to recommend a stainable wood putty. (Feel free to laugh if that was a really stupid expectation.)

gfr92y


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[Stwood_]

That looks like the bottom side of his cut, with a less than stellar saw blade. Big box stores are not known for nice cuts. Just cut and get it done, sorry. They are not setup for fine woodworking cutting.
Can you hide the cuts by placing the chipouts on the bottom side, not in eyeball view?
If not, buy filler and fill. Looks like red oak, so buy the appropriate filler.

[gfr92y]

That looks like the bottom side of his cut, with a less than stellar saw blade. Big box stores are not known for nice cuts. Just cut and get it done, sorry. They are not setup for fine woodworking cutting.
Can you hide the cuts by placing the chipouts on the bottom side, not in eyeball view?
If not, buy filler and fill. Looks like red oak, so buy the appropriate filler.

Is Minwax stainable wood putty worth the cost and effort?

I think I want to take that question back.

I now see Red Oak fillers and such.

gfr92y

[Stwood_]

Buy red oak filler for red oak wood/ply.

I use Famo wood filler.

[jteneyck]

If those surfaces are going to show the only good way to deal with it is to start over.  Buy new material and find someone who knows what they are doing to cut it.  

You can use what you have for other projects that require shorter pieces so you can cut off the damaged sections.  


John

[Cooler]

A combination of a very dull blade and a too fast feed rate will get that result. 

I had a sheet of red-oak plywood down for easier transport at Lowes.  But the cut was so ragged that I would have ended up with 2" of loss on each side rendering the plywood unusable.  I asked to speak with the manager of the store and requested that he put in a fresh blade.  He said he did not have one. 

Apparently, they are only allowed to use the resharpened blades on the panel saw.  And (crazy!) they only have one blade for the saw.  So when they send out the blade the saw is not available. 

They should have two blades so that there is always a sharp blade available. 

At any rate that is a result of a very dull blade.  I suspect that a very, very thin veneer layer may contribute to this issue.