Ready for Teak Veneer

We've been working on finishing off all the details necessary before veneer. This includes drawer guides and door hinges and stays. We also have faired and primed the interior of all the cabinets and spaces behind the dinette. Below is a shot thru the head doorway of the shower stall which has been glassed and faired and painted with Awlgrip.

We have also made the panels for the dinette seat cushions. These are try-cell panels glued to the right curve in place and fit with just the right amount of clearance for the upholstery. Then the edges are routed out and packed with thickened epoxy. Then they are coated with epoxy and sent off to be upholstered in really nice soft leather.

This photo shows most of the galley doors and drawers in place.

Below we have started sanding the cabinet faces to insure that everything is completely flat and smooth. We use black spray paint as a sanding guide and fill any low spots or small dents with epoxy.

This shot shows blocking let into the bulkhead to support the TV The TV will be a flat screen mounted in a teak frame that can be rotated out to a fore and aft orientation for better viewing from the dinette or latched up against the bulkhead for security while at sea and for better viewing from the bunk. The tall inboard block is for a piano hinge, the center block is for one end of a gas strut and the outboard block is to provide a mounting location for the latch.

The next several photos show a technique for butting sheets of veneer together that has worked well for us. We first fit the edges we want to joint with a small block plane and a sanding block to ensure a tight seam. Then we hold the two pieces tightly together with blue masking tape.

This method works equally well with wood backed or paper backed veneer. Here we have paper back veneer and we are flexing the seam open for visibility. What we do is to flex the seam open ever so slightly and apply medium viscosity super glue into the seam, then wipe off the excess and while rubbing the seam with a veneering block, spray the super glue with it's accelerator.

This is what it looks like when were done. You have to have a very smooth work surface for this as you need to sand both sides with a hard block and any bumps in your table can quickly result in a hole.


As seen below the result is very nice. The seam is all but invisible and smooth to the touch.

The pen is on the seam. You can click on these photos for a closer.

We start veneering with the smaller less visible areas first and work our way up to the larger more visible ones as we get more into the groove. We are not joining the veneer on the foot well face because the piece is also the front of the drawers and it would be VERY difficult to get it lined up at one end and have it come out right at the other end 10' away. So these are joined in place.

Below we have veneered the forward side of the bulkhead and the hanging lockers. Thru the hanging lockers you can see the aromatic red cedar closet lining on the inside of the hanging lockers.

The next two photos show the forward side of the bulkhead. We apply a thinned out coat of varnish on the veneer the same day that we apply it. This helps seal the veneer and provides a little protection.