What type of Wood is in the '65 Tradewind ?

[Rocker66]

Looking to fix and restore my original wood cabs in a 65 , need to know what type of wood was used for both the panels and the thicker pieces ( shelving and cabinet bases.) Thanks

[Cochese]

My 66 over lander international has a combo of mostly walnut & mahogany; strange but appears to be original. I don't care for either ,little dark for a fairly narrow space!

[Cochese]

Meant to say 65!

[Rocker66]

Do you know where to find the paneling ? Lowes or HD don't have them..

[Cochese]

Specialty wood distributors can order anything you want

[Glenritas]

Funny you should ask .... I just was at Home Depot looking at paneling . My local store had Maple and Red Oak.

[Tom_T]

Originally Posted by Glenritas

Funny you should ask .... I just was at Home Depot looking at paneling . My local store had Maple and Red Oak.

The "new" paneling skins which they are selling now at HD & Lowes etc., are actually a couple of mm of wood "shaved" & bonded to a paper or formica-like backer with interior adhesives, & this is nowhere near durable enough for trailer or kitchen/bath use - let alone exterior use IMHO (I'm an Architect used to spec'ing materials). This new stuff is just doo-doo!

I've been going crazy trying to find some good old fashioned 3/32" - 5/64" thick solid wood veneers, as used to be used on cabinetry & on exterior doors, etc. I need to re-skin the 90+ year old front door of our 1921 Craftsman Bungalow home in Walnut, Oak, etc. - & will soon need some in Birch for some cabinetry of our 1960 Avion, & cannot find this long standing material anywhere - not even at the specialty wood suppliers around the LA/OC & other SoCal areas.

So I too await someone with an actual known source for this now NLA wood product!

Waiting .....
Tom
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[Tony S]

Go to where the cabinet makers of your area go to find high quality 1/4" or 5.2 mil ( I guess) material.

The 65 I think had Mahogany. Sometimes ribbon mahogany. Which is, if fir, called vertical grain. It is how it is milled from the log.

One problem you might find, if it is a problem to you, is the core are MDF not plys. It is heavy but provides a very nice surface for the manufacturer to apply the mahogany to.

Anyway good luck. Oh, you can order even plywood on line but it is a stretch in my book.

Tony

[thesignlady]

White oak was used as well, often it has been stained to a darker colour though...

Take a close up shot of your wood grain and post it if you are able :-)

[hamiltonmj]

My most recent issue of Airstream Life (Spring 2015) has a great article on 1965 Trailers (I have a '65 Caravel) and it says the wood was "...either fine grained Phiiippine or hand rubbed African Khaya Mahogany in the basic Land Yacht trailers and hand rubbed walnut in the top end international trailers." I have bought good veneer from Rockler...try them.

[Thalweg]

I occasionally look here for wood suppliers: Woodfinder: Find Sources of Lumber, Veneer and Sawmill Services

I would suspect that there would be a good selection of suppliers in Las Vegas with all the construction, but searches don't show that. I guesss you've got to "know a guy".

My '62 had red oak veneer wood in it. I replaced several panels with 1/4" oak veneer plywood from Home Depot. The thickness was slightly different than the original, so it took some manipulation, but now you can't tell it from the original.

[StPierre]

We finished our 65 Safari 2 years ago. We had to rebuild every cabinet. Originally the Safari had all mahagony. The only solid mahagony we could find was African mahagony. On veneer we got lucky and found some South American mahagony at a Sacramento speciality hardwood supplier. We are very pleased with the results. We were able to match the original color with the new color.

[Toldfield]

We used red oak in our Caravel. I bought most of it from Arroyo Hardwoods in Pasadena. They are knowledgeable and helpful.

Tom