Tim, you might want to consider re-sawing a piece of your choosen wood to
about 1/8" thickness and laminating it to a piece of plywood. That way, you
get the strength of plywood, won't have to worry about the dash warping,
twisting or cupping - and you won't have the drawbacks of a paper-thin piece
of veneer. At 1/8", you can sand and shape (speedo/tach holes) as necessary,
without having to worry about fragile veneer.
If you have access to a planer and a bandsaw, re-saw a piece of 4/4 stock to
about 3/16" and plane to 1/8". Then, take the leftover piece and plane it -
you'll have nearly a 1/2" piece left over for another project. Seems a shame
to just plane a 3/4" board down to 1/8", plus a big pile of shavings! Just my
.02
Tim Gaines wrote:
> Martin Secrest wrote:
> >
> >Scrub off the old veneer with a good orbital sander, taking the dash down
> >to the first layer of sub-lattice. (Incidentally, plywood has more
> >strength than a solid piece of wood of the same size.)
> >
>
> >Martin Secrest
> >73 GT6
> >72 TR6
>
> I am sure that plywood is stronger, but I have been toying with the
> idea of planing a piece of mahogany down to proper thickness and making
> my own dash. Just what is the proper thickness, and would it be
> foolhardy to think that solid mahogany (or walnut) at that thickness
> would hold up? Has anyone done this? Also, I have a couple of ideas
> about how to get perfect holes cut for the big instruments, but any
> first hand experience would help a lot.
>
> Tim Gaines
> 1980 Spitfire
> 1974 TR6
--
Michael Ferguson
Vernon CT
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