Glueing veneer to deck

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Bassbug
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Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 1:09 pm
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
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Glueing veneer to deck

Post by Bassbug »

While constructing our Ranger, we found nice bookmatched walnut veneer that we wanted to glue onto the deck. The problem we had was how to attach it to the curved, triangular, domed deck. Finally we hit upon a great solution using a FoodSaver vacuum bagger. Here is what we did.

First we shaped the deck from basswood (read here easy to carve) and fit it inside the inner gunwales, positioned below the inwales the thickness of the veneer. We cut a curved to the deck end and glued a 1/8" thick strip of walnut to hide the basswood end and trimmed to deck dimensions.

The veneer pieces were taped (duct tape was what I had available) together and then cut 1/4" larger than the deck size. Both the veneer and basswood deck were coated with epoxy, with additional epoxy added as needed.

After 15 minutes, we fitted the pieces together, carefully aligning the centerlines, then slid it into a large vacuum bag and turned on the FoodSaver. The pulled all the air out, creating a nice tight bond and also it sealed the bag. We had a bit too much glue, so some soaked through the veneer and created a few minor bulges that we were able to squeeze out by working the epoxy to the edge.

Hours later we removed the bag, which did not stick to the epoxy, removed the tape, and trimmed the veneer to the deck edge. A cabinet scraper was useful to remove excess glue on top of the veneer.

I've attach a couple of photos to show the process. You can view our build at http://bluestempaddler.com/ranger/index.html

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Gunnelman
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Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:59 pm
Location: B.C West Coast, Canada

Post by Gunnelman »

That looks great bassbug ! Great idea, thanks for shareing. Cheers.
If only we could all Paddle to our Work !
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