Trim

[maxtorque]

Advice, please:

Boat: Sealine Senator 240:

Had delisions of grandeur recently when I decided to replace the existing side cabin vinyl panels together with the dash panel at the base of the windscreen with walnut burr (like the stuff facing you in your luxury car dash board).
Spoke to Richard Poole @ sealine spares who told me of a process where they dip cut aluminium panels to shape and dip them in a chemical and laminate them. They turn out as 5mm thick burr panels. Anyway when the quote came through you can imagine the response when he said it would cost approx £800+vat for the 3 panels!!!
Anyway I went to plan 'b' which was to buy real walnut burr veneer (1mm thick) and stick it to 5mm marine ply, cost: £80!!!
Problem now is that the finished product needs "edging" to set it off properly. Because the panel is 6mm 'proud' of the cabin surface and looks unfinished.

Any ideas?

I did think of running trim around it (the stuff that runs around the edges of door hatches and lockers etc - this is atleast pliable to the extent that it can do a 180 degree turn in about a 3" radius!

Would be grateful for suggestions and where to get the stuff.

Many thanks.



WT

 

[DavidJ]

Sorry
I can't think of anything worse than walnut on a sexy boat like the 240.
It reminds me of Rover cars for some reason and Jap cars trying to look posh.
Sealine have thankfully replaced their walnut dash by a slick aluminium one which is lovely.
I think you have to be careful with resale value when taking a boat away from original spec. I always thought the 240 interior was a bit smart.
Sorry again...not the reply you wanted
David

 

[Chris_d]

Yeh sorry maxtorque, I'd have to aggree, if its not done by the factory in the way you described it could look terrible after a few years in the sun, when the edges start to curl up. Very old fashioned anyway IMHO.

 

[Strathglass]

If you think that's. I once was given the job to make a manogany dashboard and door trims for an accountants Lada.

Iain

 

[ccscott49]

The edges of cut outs in ply/burr veneer panels in rolls royce cars, are painted, with a very good brown paint, building up the layers, until smooooooth. That was the way it was done. Dont worry about the edges curling up, if you glued it down properly in the first place, it will be ok. use lots of very good two pack varnish on the panels to protect them from UV/knock damage, just as you would in an old Jag or whatever. I like wood dashboards, but I'm old fashioned anyway and proud of it!

 

[SteveJ]

Sealine 240- sexy boat i thnk not!!

 

[DavidJ]

Ok, not the bird puller of a Shakespeare but a great looking, well designed and built, family boat.
I like it better than the new S23
David

 

[paulineb]

Is a Shakespeare a bird puller ????

Pxx

 

[byron]

<font color=blue> Ah! and how many other than poor old me knew Bill Shakespeare of Shakespeare boats who sadly died racing one of his boats on the Belgian canals back in about 1971 ?


http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[coliholic]

An no doubt you knew Noah when he was sea trialing his Ark too eh Byron?

 

[tcm]

Trim: a good kicking enclosed for PBO behaviour

First problem - luxury cars don't have burr walnut. Okay, ancient Jag and Rovers do , but these aren't luxury cars at all. These are driveway fillers, a great favourite amongst the nearly-deads who want their grandchildren to visit regularly: "They'll be worth a fortune when they're dead - obviously aren't spending it on cars, eh?"

Second problem was ringing up dearest S'line for advice on interior decor. Yes alright - they aren't too bad BUT there's a senior in-house lunatic somewhere who can't get the idea out of his head that sheets of aluminium covered in bird's-eye-or-jeez-is-it-burr-walnut-effect glossy paint is utterly fab. This person is almost certainly aged between 54 and 59 (cos it's been going on a long time).

Unfortunately, it might have been nice in 1978, but these days it is cheap and nasty. Actually, as you've found out, it's worse - fake wood is expensive and nasty. No longevity whatsoever, it doen't age but starts off looking old and then gets chipped, stained, bent, worn. Keeps straight in the showroom though, and fine for the warranty period.

No point in anyone trying to say otherwise though - they seemed devoted to the stuff, and don't miss even the slightest opportunity to use it. Circuit breaker panels, dashboards, flybridge dashboards, the latest models actually manage to get a whole kitchen made from the stuff. Ugh.

Fact is, most humans can tell real wood from plastic these days. If they can't tell when it's new, they can certainly tell when it's a year old. Platic or fake wood gets old. Real wood ages, and matures. Or, it's been through a very clever manufacturing process in a car plant (NB: no car plants in kidderminster) and is indeed in a car, but in very small quantities. Not in big sheets.

So, at least you've avoided the not-wood stuff. But have replaced it instead with veneer stuck on to plywood. So the plywood shows around the edge. But going around with some plastic will look result in not the effect you wanted. It will be a "bloody-hell-the-previous-owner's-swapped-the-acceptable-vinyl-with-horrid-plastic-edged-veneer-covered-plywood" sort of effect. Everyone's next thought will be "Christ, keep smiling, can't say it's shite cos he's obviously done it himself"

So, throw away the 80 quid's worth of shitey plywood, and take up again the original vinyl covered stuff. I'm hoping you haven't thrown it away as is often the way. Ask yourself why you thought it needed replacing. Probably cos it looks a bit, well, nasty and old. You options should start with some new vinyl, or new leather. Leather would be quite decent. A professional could re-upholster the viyl covered things. Leather has the same sort of material qualities, at least indoors, but is undeniably smarter. You'll have to protect the stuff from sun and water.

But! Don't spend too much money! I have a sneaking susprisicion that your boat is fine really, and will be a Sealine regardless of the material you use to disguise it: much more pressing is the fact that you need to replace your car. And NOT with a car with a home-made veneer-covered plywood dashboard.

 

[DavidJ]

I guess from your comment it isn't. Perhaps its the character of the bronzed hunks who drive then that 'pulls'
I won't ask what a Sealine 240 does for you 'cos I think Maxtorque is having a bad enough day as it is.
David

 

[jfm]

Dont use the plastic edging trim - it will look unbelievably bodgy diy, dreadful, sprite caravan 1974.

5mm is too thick. If you want to use the wood idea (though I agree TCM's leather suggestion might be better) then dont go near 5mm or it will look like a breadboard. Use 3mm. And use MDF, because you can then varnish the edges (as suggested by someone else) in the same shade as the walnut. MDF will need far fewer coats than ply. Better still, chamfer the MDF edges before glueing the walnut on - I mean feather the edges down to 1.5mm thick from about 20mm in. Then carefully glue the walnut on (you will have to make it lie on a compound curve, but shd be ok with good glue). Then lacquer the whole thing

All imho.......

 

[maxtorque]

Well, 12 responses, 3 made sense, 1 made nonsense from someone obviously bitter and twisted 'cos he hasn't got a classic car -or something (rabbitting on and on). The remaining 8 came from those of you who twitter on and on about in house jokes which have nothing constructive to say about the topic!!
Still a 25% success rate is better than nothing I suppose.

So a big thanks to those who helped me make the decision to throw the whole idea overboard! I've now got a 10' x 4' panel of pristine mahogany burr veneer!!!! FOR SALE! I'm going to trim the panels in the new re-upholstery that the rest of the boat is being done in...Cream vinyl with cobalt blue piping.
Now what the hell am I going to do with 40 sq feet of mahogany burr.............[don't answer that!].



WT

 

[ccscott49]

If you don't want the mahogany, I'll take it off your hands, is it self adhesive and can it be rolled for posting? I need to cover some very nasty sanded though exposed ply on a couple of places. Send me a PM.

 

[tcm]

oi, MaxBadtaste

Humm.

If you come on ere and ask advice, anyone can respond how they like, so long as they obey the rules. You asked a question which also required responders to consider the tastefulness of your plans. Your first idea showed horrendous bad taste, in my humble opinion - although nobody demurred except you, did you notice?

Not sure that cream vinyl with cobalt blue is any better. In fact, yeuch, sounds awful, like a mid-70's searay. But it's your choice, unfortunately. I expect the next project will be do choose the pattern for the polystyrene ceiling tiles in the living room eh? Or will you have plain white to contrast with the pink and green wallpaper?

Seriously, the worst aspect of your project is not your spectacular bad taste, but your incompetence in starting a job with no idea of how to complete it. Do you also complain at the sort of knots that the lifeboat use to tow you home?

 

[halcyon]

Can you remind me which panel you have in your boat.

Brian

 

[DavidJ]

Sealines mock walnut

I love Sealines, as you have probably guessed, but there is some interior designer clinging onto mock-walnut-birds-eye-whatever. When I had mine built last year I asked for the interior electrics panel to match the interior wood and not be of 'walnut' which everyone I spoke to at Sealine thought a nice idea and obliged. There is someone there with great power who no one wants to challenge.
David

 

[halcyon]

OK located which panel you have, little concerned regarding your planned mods and the panels satisfactory operation.

Brian

 

[halcyon]

Re: Sealines mock walnut

They still using the same walnut burr formica?, got a load of off-cuts left from when we stopped making switch panels.

Brian