: I've used the trick of steaming to raise the grain on dented and scratched
: wood (place a damp cloth over the area and run an iron over it). Has
: anyone tried this on staple holes to see if the wood will swell to fill
: them?

Hi Brian

I have used steaming quite a bit, but, to remove dents and such. Usually, if the grain isn't broken, it will work very well, but, in the case of nails, brads, staples and deep scratches it won't bring them out. The moisture entering the open grain will discolor the area as Spidey mentioned. Something you might try, if you don't want to see the holes, might be to take "Spackle" ( white ) and add stain to it, in order to get the proper color. The spackle is very sandable, and takes color well, and with waterbased stains, shouldn't give you any problems. On little holes, if you get the stain close, it will disappear, but, on large areas, it will look like a blob, as with anything else. Test it on a small piece of ply or wood. Hope this helps. :)

Rehd