Buying veneer for laminating

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boguing

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I want to make some things from laminated wood, and would like to pick brains!

Just had a chat with Robbins Timber (who I used to use in a former life) and have some idea of prices for 0.6mm and 2mm veneer. The cost pro rates in a linear fashion, in that a 2mm thickness costs the same whether it's a single sheet of 2mm or 3 thicknesses of 0.6mm.

The upshot is that if I wanted to make a sheet of 6mm ply (2440x1220) would cost about £250 (plus glue). I don't want a sheet of ply, but that's a handy way to show the problem. The project requires an equivalent of 16 8' x 4' sheets, and that's £4,000, which is prohibitive.

The most obvious answer is to try and buy the wood from somewhere like China, but I have no idea where to start, other than Googling an infinite list of unknown traders.

Any bright ideas?
 
What are you trying to make boguing?

What i've done when making curved pieces is bandsaw solid timber into 2 or 3 mm thick leafs then set up on a former but even easier than that is to use aero (bendy) ply then face up and cap the surfaces you'll see....way cheaper?

I wouldn't goto china for the wood as you'd need to buy in quantaties that'll make the four grand you got quoted look cheap.

cheers roger
 
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I used to buy veneer from these guys.
http://www.capitalcrispin.com/veneer_index.aspx
Including ( waffly bit now) tulip wood to rebuild the Kaisers old collapsible double bed for his Edwardian yacht Meteor.

Great quality and good prices

Alternatively wouldn't it be cheaper to source solid and get it sliced/slice it yourself?

Another 'posh' timber co in W London would ( wood eh?) be Moss and Co @Hammersmith..but there are loads out there..

Howells @ Poole worth a call..

I have bought 'plantation' teak from Robbins, it is jolly expensive stuff for what it is!
 
Roger.

I don't really want to reveal what it actually is because I hope to make a bit of a living from it and need to have a flying start. Horribly intiguing, but you'll be among the first to see it, come the day. It's not a boat, but I was in the yachtbuilding business and will use that laminating experience (second hand) for this project.

Aeroply was something I hadn't thought of, and certainly reduces the cost significantly. I like it!

Scarborough.

No fixed ideas on which wood, but stiffness and lightness are desirable. I wasn't going to go into details in order to keep the question simple, but I will be making panels using either light core materials or if they are really thick panels they will be cored with wooden grids. Mahogany and Beech are cheap, but Ash would be good from the Robbins range, Western Red Cedar would be my first choice, but they don't do it and I need to find an alternative. The 'production' versions will probably be painted, so the appearance is only important for the 'demo' parts. I'll probably skin with Teak or Ash for those.
 
Not really sure I follow.
Working from your £4000 estimate, do you need 16 sheets of 8x4 teak that is 6mm thick? Or do you need 48 sheets of 8x4 that is 2mm thick?
If the former then maybe look at teak faced marine ply rather than ply made from three layers of teak.
If it's the later and you really do need 48 sheets then I expect there won't be a cheap option :)

Ah, ignore all that. I've just understood your point about laminate which somehow I'd manged to read and not take in the first time round. If it was me, the next question I'd be askign myself is whether I could design it with hollows or with a cheaper substitute wood (or other material) internally.
 
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Blueboatman.

Thanks for that link. Will look at it.

Slicing myself is certainly an option that I have thought about, but I once saw an industrial veneer cutter using whole rotating logs, and haven't got room for one! Any tips on where to look for more modest machines (very happy to by used equipment)?
 
Paul.

Right first time. 16 x 6mm sheets, but I was using 8'x4' and 6mm as an example. The largest panels will be about 6' x 2', but not flat, so using flat sheets for these is not an option. Other parts will be made from flat, but it's these bent ones I'm thinking about.
 
boguing said:
Blueboatman.

Thanks for that link. Will look at it.

Slicing myself is certainly an option that I have thought about, but I once saw an industrial veneer cutter using whole rotating logs, and haven't got room for one! Any tips on where to look for more modest machines (very happy to by used equipment)?
Click to expand...

Alas no but your project certainly sounds intriguing, best of luck

BTW If you are just looking for coring 'material' that is stable and have boatbuilding experience, have you discounted veneering down onto foam coring with epoxies and vacuum bagging it?
 
Blueboatman.

Shame, I like buying tools!

I have 'mentally' designed a slicer which could probably handle 6" wide planks. Something like two 6" x 4" C section steel joists to clamp ][, with a thick but sharp blade running along the top.

Cores: Trident Foams have been very helpful. I'll be using some of their stuff, whether plastic or balsa I haven't yet decided because the project won't be immersed and my natural aversion to balsa core doesn't apply. It'll come down to cost I guess.
 
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The only problem i found with Trident foams was the delivery costs; for 8' x 4's it cost more than the actual materials purchased.

Forgot to say try valeveneers.co.uk for decorative and constructional veneers, they have all the usual flavours plus some exotics like zebrano.
 
Roger.

I'll probably be buying a fair bit, so delivery might become more sensible, unless it's wrapped in lead!

Thanks for another handy link. Zebrano - yes, I've got a little bit of that, but hadn't thought of using it. It would look fabulous as a skin. Ta. (I was told that there is someone in Dorking who had a few cubic feet. Must follow that up).
 
It's a long time ago now, but I was involved in cold moulding Flying Fifteens, and we were able to obtain offcut material from a plywood manufacturer for no cost. This was hardwood of various varieties, which were peeled from logs, and obviously the areas were not enormous. Depending on the dimensions required, it might be worth checking plywood makers, to see what they do with their discards.
 
Norman.

Thanks, I'll follow that up via Google, but if anyone knows of a UL plywood manufacturer I'd appreciate a hint.

Peter.

Yellow Pages. Didn't think of that - I've routinely thrown it away for the last ten years. Damn. I'll ask a neighbour.
 
As part of my renovation project I am still undecided whether to re-varnish the cabin floor (holly & teak) or re veneer it. If I re-veneer what glue enables a degree of sliding so that the holly lines can be lined up?
 
Anything slow and waterproof!

A thixotropic contact adhesive would work, but I'd haven't got any on hand.

For that reason Epoxy would be my choice, thickened a little.
 
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Your calculations need to account for wastage.

Laminating your own 8*4 sheets is not going to be a straightforward job.

If nothing else I'd rig up some sort of roller table or something like an old mangle.

Climate control whilst curing is going to be necessary unless you can put up with 10 or 20% failure rates.

I'd seriously reconsider sourcing preveneered material
 
Nimbus.

I'm not making 8 x 4 sheets! I used it as a costing example to highlight the disparity between a bought sheet at £30 or make yer own for £250. I hope to find out where a plywood manufacturer would buy their veneer from, if they didn't slice it themselves. What's becoming clear is that you couldn't be a profitable ply maker if you didn't cut it yourself.

I'm actually going to make ring frames and curved panels. Frames either all wood veneer or steel cored. Panels are almost all '2D' curves and will be cored with cheap stuff inside veneer skins.
 
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