Have any of y'all had experience working with spalted walnut? I've got a nice slab with some color and character towards the sappier wood. I sawed and grinded veneers down to about .018". It's pretty enough that I wanted to try my first spalted veneers on clear glass. usually when I'm working with character wood, I can splash a little naptha on the surface and get it to "pop" a bit and I can see what the finished product might look like. This stuff completely washed out. The piece on the left is what that looked even after it had dried a bit. I lost all of the visible color variation and zoning. Is this what I can expect if I laminate this under .040 gordon's glass? Also, I'm curious if the EA-40 will sort of stabilize the veneer when laminating it, or if I would need to do anything additional to it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Spalted Walnut.jpg
That's what it will look like- some wood loses all contrast when you add a finish while others "pop" when you do. I use alcohol to check but always make sure to let it flash off well and resend before glueup
I have some really nice Bolivian rosewood that has Beautifull contrast when dry- add a finish it's boring:)
Stagmitis, I really like using naptha in the shop for a few reasons, but one is that it doesn't raise grain so it's as smooth after it dries back of as it was before, and it takes longer to flash off, so you can soak a rag in it and use it for much longer. It's also great at breaking down adhesives and other contaminants that might be on the wood. It's great stuff!
Yup.... Different kinds of wood wash out grain configuration completely. Wenge is another one that just turns black. I've actually had great grain pop using black walnut veneers, but any dark veneer stock you use shows any imperfection in the so called clear glass BIG time. You get streaks, and cloudy spots sometimes. And sometimes after shooting the bow awhile you'll even see little micro checks or cracks in the glass. Its not a structural issue, but it looks bad.
When i get requests for dark limb veneers i always warn my customers that there is always a chance for defects in the glass, and i do not guarantee "Clear" glass and i do not rebuild limbs with cosmetic defects in transparent glass. It is what it is...
.02 cents worth. Kirk
Thanks Kirk. Any word on the stabilization question? wanted to ask if there was such a thing as too thin on veneers as well. I got some to .015 just testing trying it out.
Hey brian I use naphtha too but only for wet sanding as it does a better job than plain water- it's a petroleum based product and for that reason I don't use it on bare wood but your mileage may vary. When I process lams or risers there are no contaminants there and I like to keep it that way by not introducing any type of solvent but rather sandpaper, a wire brush and compressed air.
Thin veneers are easy to break when you get the weight of glue on them.
If I use any under .030, I lay them on butcher paper taped to bench(slick side up) with the veneer at edge and the glass that goes against it against the veneer. Spread glue on both at once and flip glass over on top of veneer because you won't break the glass moving it. Then flip them both over to continue gluing.
Actually I do same with .030 ...
I usually just use acetone on lams because some are oily and it helps the epoxy adhere. I use naptha on the glass a lot after I pull the tape. I always get the residue I have to deal with. It's petroleum based hydrocarbon with all volatile, so after it flashes there's no residue to my understanding. I could be wrong tho.
Thanks Kenny! You probably just saved me a mid glue up catastrophe!
Quote from: Brian from GA on May 25, 2025, 03:30:15 PMThanks Kirk. Any word on the stabilization question? wanted to ask if there was such a thing as too thin on veneers as well. I got some to .015 just testing trying it out.
I rarely use ultra thin veneers myself any more. I played with it years ago trying to get uni carbon closer to the back of the limb backing. I was running .020 glass over .012 veneers, over .030 uni carbon trying to increase performance. Btw..... this was a prototype that ended up being my favorite hunting bow. I hunted it for 3 years years before having issues with that thin glass splintering on the edge. I repaired it, and painted the limbs in a camo pattern and she still lives today 12 years later.
I rarely go skinnier than .022- .025 on veneers. The thin splayed veneers will soak up the epoxy and be fine structurally. No worries there. No need to stabilize before hand.
Haven't really even cleaned it up yet but I was happy with how it came out. Didn't wash out as much as I feared but definitely lost a bit of the zoning in the spalt.
https://youtube.com/shorts/eWcNzXgvSpo?si=Ry8Q065JwOLjf8gv