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Clear topsheet over wood veneer
Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:27 pm
by bender
Hi all
About to start my build but I need to know if anyone has put a plastic top sheet over a wood veneer as a graphic layer?
I have managed to get two sheets of "book matched' Rimu veneer which is a native wood here in New Zealand, but I want to protect it as much as possible.
Regards
Nathan
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:06 am
by hugocacola
just put a thin layer of epoxy, sand it and varnish him....
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:31 pm
by jlutz05
I didn't personally but I watched someone lay up a snowboard that way, it worked out pretty well in a vacuum bag. the only problem was one or two small bubbles that got trapped in the top sheet, but he was able to fix them by using "watered" down epoxy in a needle syringe.
Reasons for the question
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:44 pm
by bender
The main reason I had was I am vacume bagging and if I top sheet then I don't need to have a peel ply layer. I was also concered that resion would seep through the veneer and stain the wood. I understand that it will add a bit of stiffness but I am using a pine core so I don't think it will be a problem.
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:15 am
by jono
I use maple veneer as a topsheet on my skis. The epoxy does soak through the veneer and this can look splotchy. The splotchiness goes away after sanding and applying several thin coats of spar varnish to the veneer.
The epoxy impregnated veneer is very tough and does not seem to require an additional clear top sheet.
In this year's skis I am thinking about using water based stains to "pre stain" my veneer. This should help keep the splotchy epoxy parts from interfering with the penetration of the stain.
I paint a stripe on my skis with an oil based paint. This graphics layer goes on before the varnish. Wood veneers hold and accept many types of graphics and a top coat of varnish or epoxy offers a good level of protection.
Last year I made a pair with two layers of maple veneer and a pine core. They were so stiff that I had to plane the ski down to the core and repress with one layer of veneer and lighter fiberglass to get a more reasonable flex. All things considered, I think the additional layer of veneer did play a large part in the ski being so stiff. This would be a good fix for skis that turn out to be too soft (especially if you put an additional layer of thin fiberglass between the veneer layers).
Good luck!!!