Need help

[rockaukum]

I know this has been done with a maple leaf. I have tried to find the post with no luck.. So here goes...
I want to press a live (freshly picked) leaf and press it into the base of some skis. Clear base with wood core showing. Do you think it will cause any problems? I plan on the leaf being completley encapsulated and between the glass and the base material. How well do you think the nice color of the leaf will last?
Any help or ideas on this? Any one remember who did this with the maple leaf?
Thanks Much,
rockaukum

[ruudsjoukes]

Based on epoxy specs it should be possible.

There is one big BUT...
.. you need to dry the leaves before you put them in between.

Put them between sheets of paper, press it down by a couple of books to let all the juice of the leaves get out. Otherwise your epoxy will never stick.

That's as far as knowledge goes, never tried it.

[OnDeck]

For what it's worth, i picked some fall laves, dried them out, then encapsulated them in a heavy varnish on an interior door. Cute, right? Wrong. The first year was OK, but bythe second year they just looked like dead leaves. It's gotten pretty maudlin in that room by now.

i donl;t think moisture is the issue so i supect it's some toxic harshness in the varnish that is leaching color from the leaf. i would expect somethig similar in epoxy.

[MontuckyMadman]

I grew up in NE. I remember from arts and crafts a fixative or spray agent they can be used in your leaf press to hold these fall colors. They will never be as vibrant as the day they fell from the tree or was picked. A scrap booking (gasp!) or perhaps arts and crafts store would have such a thing or online perhaps.

I say take hi rez pics, print and them put in there?

[sammer]

I've toyed with the idea of maple leafs or flower petals encapsulated under my topsheet for awhile now.
Still haven't gotten around to it.
If you try it please let us know how it works out.
I'm curious!

sam

[rockaukum]

I have the pics in other places on the ski. IE in the text. I can do without the leaf in the design, but it sure would make it complete. If I do it, it will have to be a fresh leaf, not dried out. By the way it will not be a fall leaf, just a nice fresh new leaf (or two).
Thanks for the input!
ra

[OnDeck]

Personally, i wouldn;t bother with a freh leaf. The combination of moisture and the epoxy make it unlikely, IMHO, that it woudl look fresh for very long.

[rockaukum]

Okay, so here is what I have found out so far. The guy at Gougeon Brothers Inc (West Systems) said that there was a guy that used to work there who did this with all kinds of things and had no problem with it. Anything from animals to seed pods. So it was his opinion that it would work fine.
I did some poking around on the net and found that while it is connom practice to preserve leaves, the green ones are not green(?) it is the chlorophyll. "Leaves aren’t green. They are the color that you see in the Fall. The chlorophyll is green, and you can’t preserve it"
I know this is too much information, but it has led me to rethink the design and go with a picture of the leaf. Not the effect I was looking for but It will have to do. I don't plan on keeping these skis so If I was to press a leaf into the base I would not be able to monitor the condition with time. Also I don't want a ski going to someone else and having it delaminate due to the leaf.
ra

[doughboyshredder]

Definitely needs to be dry, I would think.

As far as the color fading, I would guess that is from UV exposure.