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Patching Scratches in Pre-Finished Plywood
Question
Forum Responses
From contributor C: I have heard this complaint repeatedly. We manufacture wood office furniture, and switched to the UV topcoat five years ago. My main advice is to carefully handle these sheets. Even the supplier of the UV material doesn't have a fix for this. This is one of the hidden costs of using this material. From the original questioner: The wax is a good idea. Anyone tried shellac? It has solved a lot of problems for me with incompatible materials. I think I will give it a try. From contributor K: Depends on the scratch... If it's a surface scratch, try natural stain, and it'll disappear. If it's a deeper scratch or a gouge, you could also fill the scratch with a matching putty (a mixture of oak and pine, or cherry and pine match quite well), and coat with something natural... ends up looking like a mineral streak in most cases. Of course, if it is a clear sheet with no natural characteristics (A or B grade), you're better off and most likely to save yourself fabricating/finishing costs by saving this part of the board for drawer banks, corner cabs, base cab backs, toe-kick material, etc. where it will not be seen. From contributor J: I use a pre-finished birch plywood product called NOVA for my boxes (1/2") and shelves (3/4"). I love this stuff. My customers have really liked the light, clean interior look it provides. Like the other folks have said, handling it carefully is your best option. The finish is pretty durable, so you shouldn't have many problems. Two other comments… I haven't found a good way to glue this stuff yet. I haven't tried Gorilla Glue and don't want to use epoxy. I'm putting it together with pocket screws, which is working quite well. Not the fastest operation, but it beats finishing the inside of the box. The other thing is it crosscuts beautifully with a combination blade. On the finished side, there's no splintering at all and the usual splintering on the unfinished side. If you get it with both sides finished, it looks like it's been cut with a laser on both sides. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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