Ski Builders Forum

Anyone ever try a “ceruse finish” on their veneer skis or boards? Like this guitar:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Luthier/s/PgiC1uDit0

If you have, I would love to see your pics and hear your experiences and/or tips. I love the look. My thought is to do the finish on the veneer before pressing so the epoxy doesn’t seal the grain, and maybe use paper backed veneer because it’s a bit thicker and sturdier than the unbacked I usually buy. I have no clue if the grain will be deep enough on veneer though. I imagine the other challenge will be keeping the finish nice during post-press shaping, sanding, sharpening, etc..

Anyway, I’m gonna give it a shot one of these days. I’ll post my experience over in journals.

Cheers!

I have a feeling that the veneers we use (or at least the ones I use) are way too thin for this type of treatment. I suspect that even the paper backed types would also be too thin, and this is from experience having sanded through the veneer on a woodworking project several years ago. If you do attempt this I would love to hear about the results.

However, I do like your idea of 'finishing' the veneer before pressing but I wonder if that would impact the flexibility of the veneer or its adhesion to the ski...definitely worth experimenting on my next pair.

so I haven't purchased anything specifically for ceruse yet ($100 for a kit https://guitarkitfabric.co.uk/products/ ... ffect.html) but I'm really curious about the feasibility so I dug around the shop and tried a proof of concept using stuff I have laying around -

the veneer sample is this stuff:
https://www.veneersupplies.com/products ... 2-x-4.html

the green pigment is specially formulated for epoxy compatibility (usually use it for colored sidewalls)

the wire brushes are ancient, I think the previous homeowner left them here.. I also had a little screwdriver brush that I mainly ended up using

I wasn't confident about using latex paint for the black - concern would be that it would fill in the grain because it's thick? maybe I could mix it with some paint thinner? dunno - maybe I'll try that on the other half - so I used ebony stain..







at this point I realized I made a mistake.. I had to put a little paint thinner on a paper towel to get the dye to wipe off the black parts and it was taking the black with it. I forgot to do the seal coat before grain filler which probably would've been important for protecting the black from the paint thinner..



here's the end result - I think it's definitely feasible! the brushed grain was deep enough to retain the green dye! I imagine it would look a lot better using the correct type of paint, brushes (or spraycans?), sealers, grainfiller (also in a brighter green), etc.

the next question is will it bond well with epoxy.. the paper did absorb some stain, mainly around the edges of the veneer, but I imagine if I rough up the paper backing with some coarse sandpaper it'll more than likely stick

I think the next step is to order a proper ceruse kit, follow the instructions and see!

The image of that guitar finish looks like the veneer still has texture in the grain. If you want the same you can put a thin compressible layer above your board during layup.
I've used 2mm think flooring stuff, it's like a firm rubber. It has just enough give to let the grain keep some shape, so you can feel the grain not just see it