Adding Wood Veneer to Deck

[richwill1]

I have a Dumas EC12 purchased in 6/89 which I have sailed happily since then. The deck has a realistic pattern of non-skid areas molded into the deck surface. I want to cover these non-skid areas with a wood veneer to simulate a wood deck. As such, I've purchased a sheet of golden maple veneer which I intend to cut out and glue to the non-skid arears. My question is what is the best way to glue the veneer in place. After cut to shape, should I use polyester resin or 3hr epoxy to glue the pieces in place? What's the best tape to use to hold them down to the deck curvature while the glue cures? All comments and suggestions appreciated, and thanks for all responses, Rich

Rich

[PaulP]

Rich,
Veneers are usually installed with contact cement. But moisture and wood and contact cement don't play nice together.

My suggestion is a slow set (45min) epoxy. That will allow you to put the veneer in place, Tape it so it won't move, then cover it with Wax Paper and weights that will conform to the radius of the deck. You could use large phone books, stack of magazines, shot filled bags.

If you used about 4" of magazines, then a weight on top of that, the load should be distributed as evenly as you could hope for. If the deck were not installed, I'd suggest vacuum bagging but that gets a little complicated.

Hope the suggestions help

Paul

ps, make sure you don't have too much epoxy that it runs out the edges when compressed.

[richwill1]

Thanks for your response, Paul. Yes, it was a big help. Rich

Rich

[greerdr]

On this topic of covering a deck:
What recommendations for me to ruin a very nice RMG deck.I like a mahogany or teak vaneer.

R.C.Greer

[PaulP]

Doc,
You can purchase veneer (mahogany or teak) at woodworking stores. Look for a Woodcraft or Rockler near you. You can then bond that to the RMG deck, after you've roughed it up by sanding. Use epoxy to fix into place.

It is difficult to purchase 5' lengths. You may have to butt two sheets to get the length you need. I did this on one build, putting the butt joint in line with the back of the hatch. The joint was not noticeable.

You might Google "mahogany veneer" to find an online source that provides longer lengths.

If you haven't built the boat yet, Blue Crab (Scott Todd) has some decks with the woodgrain pattern molded in already.

Be aware you are adding weight, above the waterline. You'll need to compensate by cutting some lead out.

Paul

[greerdr]

Thank you.Woodcraft seems to have some wonderful product.

R.C.Greer

[RMDJBD]

Paul

I have a special mold that I replace the white gel coat with wood (Birch or Mahogany or any other type with no paper backing) in one piece and vacuum the the deck with my foam and the deck gains about 1 to 1.5 oz.

This process is only for a replacement or new build. The weight of the deck is about 16 oz with the hatch opening not cut out (owner cuts the hatch out), in other words you can deduct the weight of the hatch opening from the starting weight of the deck, also you have about 1.5-2.0 Oz's coming off when you trim the extra deck flange off after installing the deck.

The finished deck installed with the hatch cut out is about 12 to 13 Oz's ( my new birch deck came in at 11.8 oz installed and yes " The shoe makers kids are getting a new pair of shoes" and a new boat).The first hull out of the new mold is retiring and the new will be #140 out of the mold.

To save even more weight I am going to use Min Wax, like on a dinning room table, and wax the deck instead of putting a varnish or urethane finish on it, that is where the weight increases dramatically, using wax makes repairing a lot easier since you will not get a chemical ring or mismatch color or have to refinish the whole deck around the repair.

I did some decks for Dr.Greer and Ed Gelina and two others and they came out beautiful,these weights were before hatch cut out and installation, Ed's was 16oz and Doc's was 16.5 because it had a paper backing and absorbed some resin.

I have been getting my wood at WWW.CONSTANTINES.COM, they kill me on freight since they package it in a SPECIAL HANDLING box, since the wood is fragile.

Only one thing I have not figured out yet is how to build a deck with a light or dark wood opposing center line strip, can not see the placement in the mold when vacuuming down the deck.

If anyone is interested in obtaining a wood deck contact me, you can supply the wood or I can, if you supply, I need to know what kind and thickness.

Bob Dudinsky
R.M.D.MARINE

[Al Stein]

OR, you could lay down a wood veneer deck with contact cement and put a layer of light fiberglass over the wood -- it's extremely light and virtually invisible once it's sanded out properly -- and it'll never let moisture get near your wood.



<b><i> . . . Aim High!</i></b>

[Doug Wotring]

be carefull with the ammount of epoxy used when adhearing to fiberglass. excess has a habit of leaking through the veneer leaving a nice splotch (technical term) on the visible side.

Blue crab offers severa fiberglass wood veneers on thier decks. No added weight or wood problems