Laminating teak

[Hezz]

My hubby and I aren't fine cabinetmakers, although we are trying to fake it somewhat. :)

Here's the story:
We removed 4 1970's vintage non-function instruments off the bulkhead of our cabin, leaving randomly placed, gaping holes. The plan is to make lovely teak plaques (one for each side of the companion way because hubby has a thing about symmetry) to cover the holes and mount new instruments in them. We need the plaques to be 13" wide and 12" deep to cover all the mess. Of course our local supplier of teak hasn't anything wide enough so we have two pieces of 8" wide by 1/2" (planed) teak. The idea is to glue them together and create a wide enough piece out of which to cut the plaques.

My question is, will this be strong enough - mounted to a flat surface - not to split? Or should we do a biscuit join (and can you in a board that thin)?

[Raka025]

My boat had brass/bronze plates over those holes to mount new style square instruments. Because they were through the bulkhead, I laminated some 1/4" x 2" mahogany against the bulkheads to cover the holes and wires from the inside. I was quite pleased with myself.

[jackster]

Just my 2 cents, but I think I would consider using teak plywood (1/4 or 3/8? what ever will take the bend) and trim with solid wood!
What do you think?

[Hezz]

Good point about the movement. Does it matter that its going onto fibreglass?

[paladin]

No...you aren't worried about the fiberglas moving, it's the teak plank that will move. The most stable way would be teak veneered plywood with 1/4 inch teak solids along the edge. Coat the edges of the ply with epoxy, thoroughly clean the teak down with acetone, let it dry for a good 12 hours, then epoxy it to the edges of the ply.....or use Andrews solution. Use caution on sanding the ply if you use the plywood as the veneer is very thin. Boulter has small cutoffs occasionally of plywood and you can purchase quarter sheets or smaller...ask if they have anything the size you need if there's no other use for the material...I don't have any teak veneer...just some rosewood at the moment.

[Todd D]

I don't see a problem with it. I edge glue hardwood planks, including teak all the time. I have never had a glue seam fail. I would use bisquits to get a bit of extra strength and to keep things aligned. Also, wipe the teal edges down with acetone before you apply the epoxy to remove surface oils.

For a laminated piece of wood that will be outside, coat all surfaces with epoxy and then varnish well.

Incidentally, the exterior trim on the high end sail and power boats built locally is pretty much all laminated these days. I have never seen one of their glue seams fail either. I am talking about builders like Hinckley, Morris and Jock Williams.

[JimConlin]

I also had a glass boat where the cockpit instruments became obsolete, leaving some ugly holes in the back face of the house. My solution was to make panels of 1/4" white acrylic. They were shaped to cover the upper half of the aft face of the house and virtually disappeared when applied to the white glass house face with a white goo.
Holes for the new instruments were cut through the plexi and the glass. The inside was ugly, but it was inside a cabinet and nobody knew.
There was plenty of other cockpit brightwork around so I didn't feel the need to get decorative.
If you want to overkill it, 3/16" G-10 panel painted to match the house, would be OK.

Patching the glass panel would be much too much work.

Here's a bad photo:
http://72.230.211.183/Alberg35/Projects/MagicTour/Magic02.JPEG

[David G]

Hezz,

Actually, I'd be happier if the teak were thicker than 1/2", but you should be fine.

The teak will move. Much more across the grain than along it. The fiberglass under it will move too, but less. This is known as: Differing Coefficients of Expansion, in engineering terms.

ACB is right that the most common way to cope with DC of E is to fix one edge, and allow the rest of the panel to float. You can do this floating bit by clipping the rest of the panel to the fiberglass, rather than gluing and screwing it into place. Regrettably, this wise fellow is incorrect about gluing your teak to a sheet of plywood. This trick can work if the teak is thin enough (veneer thickness... no more than 1/16", maybe 1/8" with luck). Otherwise the teak WILL move, and overpower any adhesives/fasteners employed - leading to failure down the road.

So... join your pieces of teak. Biscuits are ok, but not absolutely necessary - and won't work well with epoxy, as they need to expand from the glue's moisture (expoxy has none) in order to serve an alignment function.

Sand. Your joint will likely not be perfectly aligned - even if you use biscuits with an appropriate glue. A quick workover with a belt sander, or a slightly longer session with a random orbit sander should take care of it. Then prep for finish.

Varnish the heck out of the teak... front and back. Keep that endgrain wet... it'll soak up far more than the rest of the surfaces, and leave you with insufficient coverage if you're not liberal with it.

Attach firmly along one edge, and clip around the rest of the perimeter - so that the slab of teak can creep as it accordions with seasonal and other changes in humidity. I can't say more about the details of clipping without seeing the circumstances. There are various store-bought metal ones available, or you may need to fabricate some wood ones.


"Free advice is worth the price" -- Robert Half

[Lew Barrett]

I have an entirely different sense about this, agreeing with Todd, especially for panels the size you are proposing.

However, to avoid all the annoyance, as these items you are proposing are nothing more than bezels, I wouldn't stop at my local purveyor seeking an appropriately sized timber. Twelve inch teak planks are available, and in the small quantities you require you can easily afford to ship them across country.

Why bother joining to get widths if you can use something else. And honestly, for inserts and the like, mahogany, African hardwoods or some other exotics will be virtually as nice. Don't reinvent the wheel unless you are determined to make a project out of this. Nobody but you will know that it isn't some other specie that is acting as a panel for your instruments. Or, jazz it up and buy something big enough that is intentionally different. There's plenty enough to do around a boat. We're talking one board foot of wood here.

http://www.eastteak.com/

http://www.crosscuthardwoods.com/