Need help with veneers

[Andrew Connolly]

i am building a 20ft speed boat from a clarkcraft kit and have the plywood deck on the boat. I would like the top of the boat to be mahogony and am thinking of veneering the top.

The deck is 3/8" ply screwed / epoxyed to the hull. The original plans have the deck sanded and covered with a layer of 6-7 oz glass and then wetted out with epoxy follwed by sanding / varnish etc etc. I do not like the look of the ply but also do not wnat to paint the top.

I would like to understand how I could apply a mahogony veneer to the ply and then glass / epoxy on top of that to get a nice wood looking finish. The structure would be difficult to clamp the veneer down on vacuum bag so contact adhesive would be the best way i think. I am looking at veneers 4" wide and placing on the ply in strips at 45 deg to the center line.

Any input / experience uisng veneers like this under would be a real help. I have no experience with veneers at all and the all the information out there is difficult to understand what will really work for waht I want to do.:eek:

[Nate Carey]

Andrew, how thick is the mahogany veneer you plan to use? Vacuum bagging is the ideal method (perhaps the only practical method); sealing the bag around or over almost any shape is do-able. I wouldn't consider any adhesive but epoxy appropriate for your application.

[dan petroski]

andrew how large a surface are you doing?

can you remove that section to veneer it or do you want to veneer over the screws.

is the serface curved

i veneer old sewing machine cabinets with the largest pieces being 2'x3'.i've tried several methods of veneering and will be glad to share my methods results but i am no expert.