December 23, 2015

Review of VENDIA marine plank by Adrian Morgan

Last April we wrote about Scottish Adrian Morgan who was fascinated by VENDIA marine plank and built Bob - 4,8 meters long skiff. Adrian found VENDIA marine plank from Richard Jagel's article in WoodenBoat magazine and wrote also a review of VENDIA marine plank himself in the same magazine later this autumn (issue September/October 2015). 

Read more of Adrian's experiences in the original article below and see how VENDIA marine plank was like in the hands of boat builder - writer.

December 04, 2015

Pulling boat made of VENDIA

A project started in April 2015 which aimed to design a sportier and lighter boat, so called pulling boat, mainly for use of boat building courses. The plan was to create a boat model that would be faster to build than traditional clinker boat. This feature would bring cost benefits especially for the boat building courses. In addition to the cost benefits the aim was to design a boat that would be fast and sensitive to row. The prototype was carried out in cooperation with VENDIA WOODS, boatbuilding line of Savonia vocational school and boat designer Jarmo Häkkinen.




The designer Jarmo Häkkinen said that the boat reached the targets that were set before building the project: “Couple rowing speed of the boat is 14,6 kph (9,07 mph) and single rowing speed is 9,8 kph (6,09 mph). For example speed of 7 kph (4,35 mph) is such that average rower could keep up for hours.” The boat is built of VENDIA marine plank with four pairs of planks. It is 1,44 meters wide and 5,8 meters in length. So the length of the boat is such that it is possible to build with two planks of VENDIA jointed together. Weight of the boat is 53 kg. The speed and directional stability are excellent and the lightness of rowing attracts hopefully new enthusiasts to the world of boat building and rowing”, says Jarmo.



The boat model is designed so that it is simple and quick to build on the boat building courses, especially by the newcomers. For a professional boat builder it takes approximately 41-43 hours to build this kind of boat model.

From this link you can watch the video that shows the building project of this boat.

Information and pictures: Jarmo Häkkinen

November 20, 2015

Sale of VENDIA products continues



Sale and manufacturing of VENDIA products continue by VENDIA WOODS. Increased demand of VENDIA products has enabled the continuation and we are taking orders normally. Easiest way to get VENDIA products is to use our e-shop, VENDIAstore. Information of products and prices are available at our website just like before.

September 04, 2015

VENDIA products available until further notice

Our customers have been very sad to hear the bad news that the manufacturing of VENDIA marine plank has been finished. Many of our customers have ordered large quantities of VENDIA marine plank because they still want to build wooden boats of this great material. We will manufacture all orders in the name of bankrupt’s estate until further notice.

We are trying to find a solution with our partners on how we could continue to manufacture VENDIA products in the future.

August 14, 2015

Manufacturing of VENDIA marine plank is finished


We managed to develop a great product, VENDIA marine plank, and we achieved great reception to our product. However, in such difficult times the product didn't reach the sufficient demand, so the manufacturing of the marine plank has been finished until further notice.

July 09, 2015

Joensuu Agricultural exhibition 2015

Joensuu Agricultural exhibition offered its' guests lot to see. Sunny days attracted lots of people to the  fair area and total 73 000 people visited at Joensuu Agricultural exhibition. We were also there presenting VENDIA marine plank and other VENDIA products. We had also our new product on view at the fair: VENDIA with a mahogany face veneer. In addition there were one wooden boat made of VENDIA marine plank. The boat was made by Boatyard Ruotsalainen from Nurmes.

The wooden boat and VENDIA marine plank attracted admiration and more than a one commented: "Wooden boat is always a wooden boat". It was nice to note that traditional craftsmanship is still valued.


VENDIA is now available also with a mahogany face veneer. Also other face veneer options are possible, for example the oak option in the picture.

July 01, 2015

Agricultural exhibition in Joensuu 2.-4.7.2015

VENDIA will be at Joensuu agricultural exhibition 2.-4.7.2015. On VENDIA’s presentation stand you will get to know to VENDIA marine plank and other products from VENDIA product family. There will be also our new product option, VENDIA marine plank with a mahogany face veneer.

You will find us from the section J 252, welcome!

June 29, 2015

VENDIA is now available also with mahogany face veneer!

VENDIA marine plank is now available also with mahogany face veneer. Body of the marine plank is still made of Finnish old-grown pine, but now we can offer sliced mahogany (khaya) veneer as a face veneer option. VENDIA marine plank with the mahogany face veneer is available on special order and delivery time for the product is approximately three weeks from the order. Other face veneer options are also possible.

mahogany, vendia

mahogany, vendia



Please contact us by e-mail (vendia@vendia.fi) and request an offer.

June 18, 2015

Veneer slicing video

We have been asked what the veneer slicing means in practice. Rotary cut veneer is more familiar for the most of us, whereas the veneer slicing is a quite unfamiliar method to produce veneers. We have been writing about the differences between sliced veneer and rotary cut veneer in this post. However we also shot a video how the veneer slicing happens and what is a starting point of VENDIA marine plank. Let the video speak for itself.

May 28, 2015

Impregnating agents and VENDIA

Impregnation of wooden boat is important to guarantee the decay resistance and longevity. We have made an absorption test of impregnating agents to see how VENDIA marine plank reacts with different impregnating agents. The test was made in accordance with Cobb-test, in which the impregnating agents were absorbed 168 hours (seven days) into the test materials. The test materials were normal structured 9 mm VENDIA (called evo1 in the pictures), 9 mm VENDIA Pro (called evo2 in the pictures) and birch plywood. The tested agents were Owatrol, Hempel, linseed oil mixed with zinc naphthenate and tar.

To increase the moisture and decay resistance the impregnating agent should be absorbed deep into the marine plank. For effective absorption it is essential how easily the impregnating agents can penetrate the glue layers of the marine planks or plywood.

The test results showed that all the tested impregnating agents were absorbed into VENDIA marine planks (red and blue bars in the picture) better than into birch plywood. The MUF adhesive used in VENDIA marine plank let the impregnating agents through whereas the phenol formaldehyde used in birch plywood didn’t have the same feature. In practise this meant that the impregnating agents couldn’t be absorbed deep into the plywood.



The absorption test results of tar were interesting – tar wasn’t absorbed into the wood as well as generally has been thought. The absorption of the tar used in the test into VENDIA or birch plywood was low. The tar only formed a layer on the marine plank’s surface which became thicker when the treatment was repeated. If tar is used it should be greatly diluted to enable proper absorption into the wood.

When impregnating a wooden boat, time and diligence are the key factors, no matter what impregnating agent is used. To increase moisture and decay resistance it is essential to have multiple treatments and a lot of time. The best result can be achieved by spreading the impregnating agent carefully and giving enough time for absorption between the treatments.

April 30, 2015

From Finland with love

… This was the pleasant heading of the article about VENDIA marine plank in Classic Boat magazine (March 2015) written by Scottish Adrian Morgan. Adrian first saw VENDIA on the Internet and was keen to try it, because, as he says himself, he hates ordinary plywood. He has been writing a blog about his project with the Gartside 16ft skiff Bob made of VENDIA. It has been pleasant to read about his project and his satisfaction with VENDIA.

Adrian started to build boats with his father when he was eight years old. Together they built several dinghies and a cruising boat, a plywood Waarschip 570. Two years ago after a career in journalism and working in a traditional boat yard in Ullapool, he began to build boats again himself. The first boat he built was a sjekte called FJ. With FJ he won the best boat at the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival in Portsoy. The boat was an 18ft clinker double ender with a Bermudan rig, designed by Karsten Ausland, who emigrated from Scandinavia to the US in the 1930s.

vendia, marine plank, wooden boat
Adrian Morgan
vendia, marine plank, wooden boat
The Gartside skiff Bob made of VENDIA marine plank.
vendia, marine plank, wooden boat
vendia, marine plank, wooden boat

Adrian has done a career in journalism, mostly writing about boats and sailing for magazines and newspapers. In March Adrian wrote an article about VENDIA marine plank to Classic Boat magazine. Adrian told that he doesn’t like ordinary plywood because it can’t be varnished, as it looks horrible. VENDIA looks like real wood and can be varnished. It is also nice to work, no splinters, planes well, smells good and most importantly comes in handy lengths… I can’t speak too highly of it, said Adrian.

Classic Boat article & Adrian's blogPHOTOS: Adrian Morgan

April 28, 2015

Pulling boat made of VENDIA marine plank

Designing of a more sporty, so called pulling boat, has started in Kuopio (Finland) by boatbuilding line of vocational school. The aim is to get a quick and sensitive boat to row. There will be three oarlock pairs, which makes the rowing possible also for two persons. The middle oarlock is for single rowing.

PICTURE: Veneopisto, Savon ammatti- ja aikuisopisto


The length of the boat will match with total length of two planks of VENDIA. The sides will be made of four pairs of VENDIA marine plank. Modelling of the structure has begun and there will be also an option for a slide seat. More pictures here >>

April 23, 2015

The MUF adhesive used in VENDIA marine plank

Phenol formaldehyde adhesive is the most commonly used glue in marine plywood. It is water-resistant and commonly used in plywood industry. Originally the phenol formaldehyde adhesive is colourless but effect of air and oxygen convert the phenol into brown. That is why the dark glue seams stand out in plank board joints and edges if wooden boat is made of normal marine plywood.

When developing VENDIA marine plank our goal was to create a marine plank that is beautiful and durable. We wanted to get rid of the dark seams of normal marine plywood. When we started to develop VENDIA marine plank, one of the criteria in addition to the water-resistance was that the glue should be colourless. Our choice was MUF adhesive because of its colourless feature, water-resistance and strong references. MUF adhesive is commonly used among high-quality marine plywood producers.

The MUF adhesive is a two-component glue including adhesive and hardener. It is Weather Boil Proof (WBP) glue and meets the requirements of British Standard 1088 for marine plywood. The glue has passed the boiling test, which means that the glue must withstand boiling of 24 hours. In addition to boiling test, we have also made the absorption test of impregnating agents. In the test we had Owatrol, Hempel and linseed oil mixed with zinc naphthenate and it proved that all these impregnating agents were absorbed well also through the glue layers.

April 16, 2015

Greetings from Kallavesj’ 2015 exhibition

VENDIA was on view in Kuopio, Finland at Kallavesj’ 2015 boat show on 10.-12.4.2015. There were exhibitors from the fields of boating, tourism and leisure time and during the weekend there were approximately 25 000 visitors. At the boat show we were together with Boatyard Aki Ruotsalainen, so the crowd also had the ability to see two boats made of VENDIA marine plank. The wooden boats and their smell attracted people to our presentation point, and it was nice to notice what kind of bustle the wooden boats and the smell of tar brought on alongside the modern fiberglass boats.

Like in Helsinki International Boat Show, VENDIA marine plank piqued lots of interest and the fair visitors were very interested in VENDIA’s technical characteristics. The fair visitors especially liked the high quality material of VENDIA, the beautiful and knot-free appearance as well as the structure that combines the good features of solid wood and plywood. One of the visitors commented: “This is just a incomparable material, a great invention!”

vendia, marine plank, wooden boat, boatbuilding

vendia, marine plank, wooden boat, boatbuilding
The Boat: Boatyard Aki Ruotsalainen, Nurmes

vendia, marine plank, wooden boat, boatbuilding

vendia, marine plank, wooden boat, boatbuilding
The Boat: Boatyard Aki Ruotsalainen, Nurmes

vendia, marine plank, wooden boat, boatbuilding
The Boat: Boatyard Aki Ruotsalainen, Nurmes

April 10, 2015

What is the difference between VENDIA marine plank and plywood?

There are certain similarities and differences between VENDIA marine plank and plywood. Few weeks ago we wrote (link) about the differences between sliced and peeled veneer. VENDIA is always made of sliced veneer and this is one of the most important differences between VENDIA and plywood. But there are also other differences, for example structure, glue, raw material, form of the final product, and finishing.


Structure


Glued structure is the common feature of VENDIA and normal plywood but there are also essential differences. Plywood is completely made of cross-laminated veneers, which means that every second veneer is lengthwise and every second is crosswise veneer. The idea of cross-lamination is to reduce the tendency of solid wood to crack and also to make the panel stiff across all directions. The crack resistance, longevity, and longitudinal stiffness of marine plank are important features when building a wooden boat. Many boatbuilders prefer VENDIA to the plywood because VENDIA has the maximized longitudinal stiffness whereas plywood is stiff across all directions. VENDIA marine plank has crosswise veneers only the amount what ensures the crack resistance of the marine plank. Depending on the thickness, there are 1-2 crosswise veneers in VENDIA. This structure ensures the crack resistance but keeps the other good characteristics of solid wood and increases the longitudinal stiffness of the marine plank. Plywood is made of veneers that have the same thickness, so after the calibration the face veneer will be the thinnest. Compared to VENDIA the normal plywood is harder to work with because of the thin face veneer and the crosswise veneer right below the face veneer. In VENDIA the face veneer is always the thickest. 

The structure: VENDIA on the left and softwood plywood on the right. (The picture on the right borrowed from: lahdenmaki.fi)


Glue 


Commonly used glue in plywood panels is water resistant, brown phenol resin adhesive. In VENDIA we use water resistant, colourless MUF adhesive (melamine-urea-formaldehyde). MUF adhesive is commonly used for example in traditional marine plywood, so it is very suitable also for nautical environment. Clear advantage of MUF adhesive is its’ neutrality. When working with plywood the phenol resin adhesive appears as a dark seam in the edges and joints of the plank because of the plywood’s structure. Colourless MUF adhesive is in turn indistinguishable. 

birch plywood
Commonly used glue in birch plywood is brown phenol resin adhesive.

vendia, wooden boat, boatbuilding, marine plank, MUF
In VENDIA we use colourless MUF adhesive.


Raw material


Raw material of VENDIA marine plank is Finnish, old-grown pine butt logs, which means that the raw material is the same high-quality wood as traditionally used in wooden boatbuilding. The vast majority of plywood is manufactured from lower quality raw material, which weakens the longevity of plywood when considering boatbuilding. Wood species have also an impact on the longevity. Birch and Okoumé are faster decaying species while conifers are generally more resistant to decay.


Form of the final product


The fact that VENDIA looks more like natural solid wood and plywood doesn’t, results mainly from the differences between sliced and peeled veneer. Also the form of the final product affects in the appearance. Plywood is manufactured and sold in large sheets while VENDIA already in finished planks. Each VENDIA marine plank is handmade and sliced veneer is centralized in the middle of the plank according to veneer’s pattern. 

Spruce plywood on the left and Okoumé on the right.

vendia, wooden boat, marine plank, boatbuilding


Finishing 

There is also a difference in the features of impregnation. In absorption test of impregnating agents, the absorption of impregnation agent was 1 ½-2 –fold better in VENDIA than in birch plywood.