: Sara: You are right, those photos certainaly are tiny!

: I will be taking the veneer route as you are. I wanted to stay with a pure
: S&G boat but make it distinctive so I have ordered veneer which will be
: glued to the deck panels before stitching.

: Although I have not tried this before Rehd (a common contributor here)
: assured me that contact cement was the way to go. Once the panels are
: glassed then I do not see any concern regarding lifting of the veneer.

: I will follow your progress with interest.

: grant

Hi Grant and Sara

I used to work in a shop that built laminate counter tops for cabinets as well as some pretty bizzaar projects for the " Artzy-Fartzy " crowd. We used many wood veneers as well. We used contact cement exclusively.
But!!!
You must check with the local supplier ( hardware or building supply store ) to be sure you get the proper adhesive. On something like this, I would not use the 3M super-77 spray, (which is very popular and an excellent adhesive for many uses". It would be a bit pricy for something this size. I would look for the type of adhesive used for bigger projects.
We used spray type adhesives ( not aerosol, but spray-gun ) and with a regular spray gun they come out as a stringy, spiderweb type spray. Total saturation is not neccessary in that case.
They also have spreadable types that would work very well for this type project. If you're not sure, ask the dealer/supplier which to use and how to apply ( if not already written on the can ). Most are laquer thinner clean up.

Contact adhesives work very well and moisture doesn't attack them like regular glues. Also, regular glues have much moisture in them and will cause veneers to wrinkle while curing.

Contact adhesives are very easy to use, But.. again.. you must be careful when aligning your pieces as any contact at all and it's STUCK!!!

I always use dowels spaces a few inches apart to space the pieces until it's all aligned and start from the middle, check both ends for alignment and pull the center dowel out and press down on the veneer. Then, move in one direction and remove one at a time and just slide your hand along behind the dowels until you reach the end. Start again in the middle and go the other way until it's all down ( and hopefully aligned properly ). Then go back with a lenoeum roller and roll over the entire length of the project to press down the veneer for good solid contact and squeeze out any air or lumps of glue.

When cutting your veneer, always allow a little over-hang all the way around the piece being covered. Dry fit and put alignment marks on both the base material and veneer to aid in alignment. Then you can go back and trim off excess. Better than to go all the way to one end and find it 1/16" short or crooked.

If you have any questions email me and I'll try to answer them as best I can.

Rehd