Replacing Bulkheads: Veneer or not to Veneer...

...that is the question.

http://www.boulterplywood.com/

If you look at Boulter's "Maine Plywood" section, you'll find they have a nice selection. However, could any of these plywood board be varnished bright, without adding veneer?

I understand this is somewhat of an open question, but I'm interested in your comments.

 

Yes, all of them would look fine if finished bright, though a couple may have issues, particularly Douglas fir.

Personally I would never own or clear coat for a client, a plywood panel with rotary cut veneers. They look like crap, regardless of species. Now, a sliced veneer sheet is a different story and I'd brightly finish these in a heart beat if the grain was suitable. You see the problem is, most folks (of younger generations) don't know why rotary cut veneers should be avoided in natural finished products. They lovingly install cabinetry and furniture with wild *** grain and think "all this wood" looks good. These are the people that will varnish Douglas fir CDX panels and think that a mahogany stain makes it "just right".

 

"Hey...."..( they say )
" its cheap ...and it`s wood ......"

Personally I prefer paint ...(over) that ( specifically ) mentioned ( rotary )
"wild *** grain"......

What IS this obsession with GRAIN ?

Paint it .....paint it .....

 

Each to his own i guess,i much prefer the look of rotary cut veneers to that ugly *** ribbon cut crap they used in all the old Chris Crafts etc.Then again i dont care for the Teak cave look either,i much prefer the lighter hues of birch or ash such as used in the J30 and Carl Schumacher designed Express 37 or else paint it.I do agree that wild grain is ugly but most rotary cut veneers are not wild grain,you have to be selective,Doug fir should never be bright finished,stained or otherwise unless its prime vertical grain.
Just my opinion.
Steve.

 

You can apply a thick home made veneer over any old ugly plywood, no matter what seems ugly to you personally. Set up a table saw to cut 1/8" slices halfway to the middle of a plank, flip, and repeat. If you have good wood and work carefully on a good saw, you can make beautiful veneers---- you will have to run the pieces through a thicknessing sander (find a local shop if you don't own one) as the pieces are too thin to plane.

 

What kind of wood?

I'm in the process of dismantling the interior of my Cheoy Lee Offshore 40 for a thorough cabin refit.

What kind(s) of wood do you see here?

 

Honduras mahogany I think. Close-ups of the wood would help. If it's teak it's very reddish, either from the photo or from red stain.

 

Window frames look like teak! Rest like Mahogany, yes.

 

mike just paint it flamingo pink

use a roller its faster

 

Mike, I can't disagree with anything said except perhaps the painting part. I've used the okume bs 1088 from Boulter in my Silverton, it's a pleasure to work with. Your interior looks considerably more elaborate than mine but FWIW I made a decision to go with high pressure decorative laminate on all my interior bulkheads. It's more work than painting, but the stuff wears like iron and cleans up with a doobie pad and some soft scrub cleanser. I don't have to worry about scratching and messing up a painted surface. I plan to have my boat for a long time and I think the HPDL will outlive me.

I did mine in a white mat finish. Light colors make any interior look larger than it really is and it improves my mood too! Think Wilsonart or Formica but on the wall instead of the counter.


MIA

 

High pressure decorative laminate .

Even better than paint.

What do the " cover strips " look like......

Always objected to that look.

 

If it's an older Choy Lee, it's probably all teak. There looks to be a repair area under the sink that may be something else, other then that it all looks fairly rift, though it's difficult to see from this distance.

 

I switched to guessing teak---- not cause of PAR, but because the piece below the sink isn't Mahogany, so it must be teak on that boat.

 

It's a 1970.

Thanks all for the replies. I've begin ripping out the galley.

 

This is great advice, and something I'll look into. There's so much wood in my interior that some light color would be a nice change and, as you say, it makes the interior look bigger.