Veneers

[Don Landis]

So, I have a 28' Argosy MN 1978, and I'm redoing the interior skin, which is full of holes from all the PO"s modifications over the years. The plastic molding pieces I'm going to repair with epoxy resin (any suggestions?) and paint. But I'd like to do something different with the interior thermo bonded vinyl aluminum skin not covered by the plastic moldings.

I could either take the aluminum skin off and replace it with 1/8 or 1/4 wood veneer. Or I could glue on a very thin piece of wood veneer to the vinyl. Or I could cover it with marmoleum, linoleum, carpet, paint, or wall paper.

But in another Airstream chat group, someone said that the interior aluminum skin served as additional structural support and replacing it with a wood veneer would severely weaken the structure. I guess I could see that. They also said that glueing on a veneer wouldn't work, because all the road vibration would cause it to separate.

I intend to paint in some areas, but I would really like to do something different with some of the aluminum pieces? What say you?

don

[Kevin245]

Don,

Here is a recent thread on the subject.

Regards,

Kevin

Wood Veneers Anyone.....

[vswingfield]

With good surface prep, quality veneer, and the proper adhesive, there should be no problem attaching veneer to metal. I glued paper backed veneers to brass tubes for kaleidoscopes several years ago. I used 3M Vinyl Trim Adhesive (black instead of yellow, made much more sightly seams) and the biggest problem I had with adhesion was from the glue between the paper backing and the surface veneer, a problem from the manufacturer, but that was unusual.

Veneer is commonly used over honeycomb panels of all kinds, including aluminum, for aircraft and boat interiors. Those people really take luxury and quality seriously.

[RichHog]

Here are some photos and description of what I did:

Wood Veneer over old Plastic in 72 Tradewind