Wood laminate over fiberglass

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Greg - 05 May 2008 19:15 GMT

Hi,
I recently bought a 1965 Korsar 161/2' skiff (US # 6) It's in good
shape structurally but kinda ugly. I plan on refinishing the hull and
deck at the end of the summer. I saw a Flying Dutchman with a glass
hull and a mahogony laminate over the glass on the deck. I really
liked the way it looked. Does anybody have any experience at laying
wood laminate over glass ?
Thanks, Greg

Reply to this Message

Bruce in Bangkok - 06 May 2008 02:50 GMT

>Hi,
>I recently bought a 1965 Korsar 161/2' skiff (US # 6) It's in good
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>wood laminate over glass ?
>Thanks, Greg

When you say "wood laminate" exactly what do you mean?

But in any event putting an ornamental wood surface on a fiberglass
structure is a fairly simple project.

You need to get the surface you are applying the overlay onto sanded
down to a good solid surface, no paint, loose or cracked gelcoat (in
fact it would technically be best to get down to the fiberglass) and
faired as perfectly as possible. As in painting, "what you see now is
what you will see when the job is done".

Depending on the thickness of your overlay you can use either epoxy or
one of the poly-whatever adhesives (Sikaflex, 5200, etc.).

The main problem is that once you apply the overlay you must hold it
firmly in place while the attaching substance hardens. This could
range from vacuum bagging to sand bags to mechanical clamps.

The problems usually arise in the clamping process in my experience as
the rest of the process is quite straight forward.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Reply to this Message

marierdj@nb.sympatico.ca - 06 May 2008 11:33 GMT

>>Hi,
>>I recently bought a 1965 Korsar 161/2' skiff (US # 6) It's in good
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> Bruce-in-Bangkok
> (correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Bruce, once overlay (teak) as been applied and a crack shows up in one of
the piece of wood, what is the best way to fix it so it does not aggravates
later. I my case I thinking of sanding it and apply three coast of Cetol
over it. What to you think?
Denis of Rothesay

Reply to this Message

Bruce in Bangkok - 06 May 2008 13:46 GMT

>>>Hi,
>>>I recently bought a 1965 Korsar 161/2' skiff (US # 6) It's in good
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>over it. What to you think?
>Denis of Rothesay

It depends on how the teak was applied. Is it screwed down or actually
glued to the deck? How big is the damage? Is the damage right out in
the middle of the deck, or hidden away in a corner?

Most modern decks are only about 1/4 - 3/8 inch thick and the planks
are sawn from a straight piece of timber, planned to thickness and
then forced into place resulting in some pretty large stress being
placed on the "planks" as they are bent sideways (edge set) to follow
the curve of the deck. It is quite possible for a plank to split under
that kind of torture.

If it were my deck, and depending on how badly cracked and the
location of the crack I would consider routing out the crack, right
down to the deck and caulking the resulting groove. This should,
hopefully, relieve the stress on the plank that caused the crack and
if the routed groove is laid out artistically it might even look like
part of the original installation. Or, it might be possible to replace
a short section of one plank where the crack occurred.

You could also attempt to inject waterproof glue into the crack and
hope it stopped any further growth of the crack although this is
probably a last resort sort of thing.

What I would not do is to put any oil, Cetol, etc., on it until I had
decided whether a mechanical repair is going to be worth while as teak
is difficult enough to glue without added oil.

Of course, if it is just one little place in a corner somewhere then
Cetol it and nobody will probably ever notice.

So called "teak decks" are hard to discuss as they do vary a lot. I
have a small power boat that had teak decks that were nearly an inch
thick and a structural part of the boat. Most are just 1/4" strips
screwed down on the deck (that will always give problems at some date
due to leaks into the core) and newer designs seem to be just strips
glued to the deck. The latter two types being cosmetic only.

Basically you want to stop the crack, waterproof it and make it
pretty.

Sorry if I seem vague but it is difficult to diagnose without seeing
the patient :-)

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Reply to this Message

Glenn Ashmore - 07 May 2008 13:00 GMT

I think I would use epoxy and 1/24" thick veneer. Any thicker and you would
have trouble getting it to conform to the hull. Any thinner and the epoxy
might squeeze through screwing up the finish. As Bruce said clamping is
the challenge. Vacuum bagging would be the easiest route but you would have
to do the whole hull in one bagging. The cured squeeze out would make it
impossible to fit the next strip if you try to do it piece at a time. Tight
seams are the key to a good looking veneer. Also, as Bruce said the hull
needs to be near perfect. The vacuum bag will telegraph any defect right
through the veneer and you don't have much material to work with once the
veneer is on.

I think you could dry fit everything and tape it down really well. It would
take a lot of pretty strong tape to hold everything in place until the bag
can be pulled tight which presents another problem. The vacuum will force
the tape adhesive into the pores so once cured you will have to scrub it
down with Goofoff or some other adhesive solvent before sanding.

Signature

Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

> Hi,
> I recently bought a 1965 Korsar 161/2' skiff (US # 6) It's in good
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> wood laminate over glass ?
> Thanks, Greg

Reply to this Message

Boat Forum / Building / May 2008

Wood laminate over fiberglass