I've been looking at oak column wrap at home depot, thin solid oak strips on a cloth? backing, I would like to face my seat fronts and possibly the outside cabin. Any thoughts. would I just epoxy the two surfaces to bond it to the plywood, I would then stain and varnish the oak face. Also interested in some sort of simple railing, mostly fo salty looks (this is for a pocket crusier) maybe even a pulpit. could I use black steel or painted galvanized maybe even copper. this i'snt for safety just for looks. I love a pure cat boat look but I keep getting the urge for railings. Thanks everybody.
Bill: A couple of points. Epoxy glue should work fine, but I would encasulate with epoxy after glueup, and then varnish. I'd probably use fiberglass cloth on the seats. They get a lot of wear and tear. Also stain BEFORE YOU GLUE or any glue smudges will be hard to remove and give you a poor stain job. I would use a UV resistant wood dye like Behlen's Solar-Lux :
http://www.woodfinishsupply.com/SolarLux.html.
It's not grain-raising and UV/fade resistant.
Dave
Bill: I checked out the product you refer to. The oak is a veneer adhered to MDF slats, not solid wood. MDF will essentially dissolve if water gets to it. You must be CERTAIN that the product is totally encased in epoxy, to keep any pssible water out, or the whole shebang will delaminate.
Dave
Thanks Dave, I guess I didn't look close enough, I thought it was solid on a backing. Everything on the boat is sealed is some fashion. After going to the wooden boat show in Mystic I have to get more wood finish on the boat. Thanks
MDF, regardless of treatment has no place on a boat. It's ungodly heavy and a single nick, pin hole or other surface imperfection will let in moisture, which will simply destroy a lot of work quickly. The veneer attached to this stuff is also flat sawn red oak, which looks terrible and rots with the mere mentioning of a moisture.
If you want a wainscot look on the cabin sides or cockpit seat faces, etc. there are two, fairly inexpensive ways to do this. The first and easiest is bead board, which is a plywood available in 1/4" and thicker sizes. This can be cut to shape and looks okay. It'll still look like crap to a purist, but 95% of the folks looking at it will think it's great. The other way is to make your own wainscoting. Run a 2x6 through a table saw, set at the thickness you want, say 5/16". Plane each ripped strip to 1/4" to smooth them up and route the edges of each with a profile you like. These are then cut to length and glued in place where you want them. This is the old school way and makes a real wainscoting, plus it'll be quarter sawn stock, which looks best (the purists will love you). I use this technique often on cockpit seats and cabin sides. It's tedious work, but the results are wonderful. The cost is very low, because you can rip a lot of strips out of a 2x6 and you can select a species that is light in color and weight, both good for the boat.
Thanks Paul, as usual too good to be true. Can't stand the noise from the planer (the neighbors either). Any thoughts about railings? 3/8" galvanized with the round "floor fittings" for bases, again just for looks not really for safety.
Hire the boards planned, there are a lot of shops or yards that will work the wood a bit for you, or insulate your shop. I am fortunate. I live in the country, have 10 acres, so last night at midnight I went out to the shop and sawed up some boards. The shop is 100 yards from the house so the noise doesn't bother the family. It is close to 100 here during the day so I work late at night at times.
Ear plugs and loud music . . .
Actually Paul I just tell myself I use to be able to make my wife make that much noise when I was younger. It helps me to think such things when doing loud, boring dusty work.