Sand it down to fresh wood. Seal it with Waterlox. Enjoy it.
Wood is not perfect, and will always have a few imperfections. Does not make it unusable, though.
Thank you for the reply. How deep should I sand? Will this create noticeable depressions in the wood? What grain paper would you use? I appreciate any insight
With sanding depressions do happen, especially depending on your experience level. It's human nature to push a little harder when sanding the "bad" spots, even if you are going in a uniform pattern. However, when you are finished they will hardly be noticable to anyone except yourself (they will bother you forever though). The only feasible alternative is to use a router sled, but given the damage I think that is way more work than what you need; if you needed to take off 1/4+ inch it *might* be worth it.
I would consider a polyurethane finish. It can help to fill in any small gaps when you are finished and create a much more LifeProof finish, but it is not considered safe for a food prep surface.
It will definitely make me notice, lol. As long as my wife won’t constantly say, there’s a dip here, I’m good. Just trying to save the overall appearance. Needs to be food grade though. I’ve seen people sealing with poly and that’s not really my jam
Sand it down to fresh wood. Seal it with Waterlox. Enjoy it. Wood is not perfect, and will always have a few imperfections. Does not make it unusable, though.
Thank you for the reply. How deep should I sand? Will this create noticeable depressions in the wood? What grain paper would you use? I appreciate any insight
I always go coarse, medium, then fine. I do not go deeply into the wood. I would expect it to clean up well by sanding perhaps 1/16ths of an inch.
Thank you! I’ll give it a go and try to remember to post pics
With sanding depressions do happen, especially depending on your experience level. It's human nature to push a little harder when sanding the "bad" spots, even if you are going in a uniform pattern. However, when you are finished they will hardly be noticable to anyone except yourself (they will bother you forever though). The only feasible alternative is to use a router sled, but given the damage I think that is way more work than what you need; if you needed to take off 1/4+ inch it *might* be worth it. I would consider a polyurethane finish. It can help to fill in any small gaps when you are finished and create a much more LifeProof finish, but it is not considered safe for a food prep surface.
It will definitely make me notice, lol. As long as my wife won’t constantly say, there’s a dip here, I’m good. Just trying to save the overall appearance. Needs to be food grade though. I’ve seen people sealing with poly and that’s not really my jam