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.

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

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.

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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

Next generation of VENDIA marine plank

The new version of VENDIA marine plank, VENDIA Pro, was introduced at Helsinki International Boat Show on February 2015. Thinner cross veneers and extra lengthwise core veneer are the differences compared to the first generation of VENDIA marine plank. The new structure still ensures that the plank does not crack and the thinner cross veneers make the edge even tighter and increase the longitudinal stiffness of the marine plank. Thickness of VENDIA Pro is 9 mm but it meets the longitudinal stiffness of 12 mm solid plank. 

Compared to the first generation of 9 mm VENDIA marine plank, VENDIA Pro has eight veneer layers in total instead of seven in the normal VENDIA marine plank. VENDIA Pro consists of six lengthwise and two cross veneers, whereas normal 9 mm VENDIA marine plank consists of five lengthwise and two cross veneers. Lengthwise core veneers are still 1.2 mm thick in VENDIA Pro but cross veneers are now thinner, only 0.6 mm. In the normal VENDIA marine plank all the cross veneers are 1.2 mm thick. Face veneer thickness is 1.5 mm in both, normal VENDIA and VENDIA Pro. All the veneers are sliced.

First comments from the boatbuilders who have tested VENDIA Pro have been very positive. As one of the boatbuilders said: “I don’t know how a marine plank could be any better.”

Try VENDIA Pro yourself - now available on VENDIAstore!

Sliced veneer vs. peeled veneer

Many people have asked what is the difference between VENDIA marine plank and normal plywood. We will introduce more detailed the differences and features of VENDIA and normal plywood in a separate posting, but today we are introducing the differences in making the veneers. 

The both, VENDIA and normal plywood are made of veneer but the most significant difference is the way how the veneer is cut. VENDIA marine plank is made of sliced veneers whereas plywood is made of peeled veneers. What is the difference between sliced veneer and peeled veneer then?

Photo: hrzn.net

Sliced veneer is made by shaving veneer sheets from the log. By slicing, the grain pattern will remain natural. Also the veneer surface remains unbroken and it doesn’t include small micro-cracks such as in veneer made by peeling. The features of sliced veneer are better than peeled veneer, and therefore it is often used for more demanding purposes. The appearance of the veneer depends on the cutting direction. The face veneers of quarter cut VENDIA marine plank are sliced radially and face veneers of crown cut VENDIA are sliced tangentially. Appearance of radially sliced veneer is straighter and more regular than tangentially sliced veneer.

Surface of the sliced veneer remains unbroken.

Surface of the peeled veneer includes small cracks.

Peeling is cost-effective method to make veneers. When peeling, the log is rotating against a stationary blade. This method produces continuous “rug” of veneer. The veneer is curved and it has to be flattened before using, at the same time causing small micro-cracks on the surface of the veneer. This weakens the longevity and life of the veneer. Also the finishing is more difficult than in sliced veneer. The blade slices through growth rings and then the appearance of the veneer is not so natural than in sliced veneer.

Crown cut VENDIA marine plank.

Quarter cut VENDIA marine plank.

The most significant disadvantages of peeled veneer for boatbuilding are the small micro-cracks. The small micro-cracks of peeled veneer expose the plywood panel to decay fungi. As a result the paint or varnish can be damaged over the time. These small cracks allow also the water absorption to the traditional marine plywood. The most important advantages of sliced veneer for VENDIA marine plank are the beautiful and natural appearance and longevity.

VENDIA in Wooden Boat magazine

VENDIA has drawn attention on the international markets once again. Wooden Boat magazine published a very interesting article about VENDIA marine plank in November/December 2014 issue. The article was written by Richard Jagels, an expert in a field of woodworking industry and emeritus professor of forest biology at the University of Maine.

According to Jagels, VENDIA marine plank resembles exterior-grade plywood but differs in features and appearance from normal plywood. Normal exterior-grade plywood is made of a rotary cut veneers whereas VENDIA marine plank is made of sliced veneers. Jagels shows his expertise by highlighting the weaknesses of rotary cut veneer. One of the problems is that it is kind of broken wood which means that the surface of the veneer includes small checks. After drying and flattening into plywood panels these checks will open and expose the plywood panel to decay fungi. As a result the paint or varnish can be damaged over time.

Since VENDIA marine plank is made of sliced veneer the structure of the wood remains solid and check-free giving VENDIA the outlook of sawn wood. Knot-free veneers are always selected as face veneers which also makes VENDIA marine plank very durable. Regular structure of VENDIA marine plank makes bending of the plank a lot easier compared to traditional sawn wood plank.

Jagels brings out also the MUF-glue used in VENDIA marine plank. MUF-glue has extremely good tolerance of humidity and weather condition changes. The glue provides also esthetically beautiful outcome. MUF-glue is transparent and makes the joints unnoticeable. Traditionally used dark-coloured phenol formaldehydeglue makes the joints very dark. VENDIA has passed glue boiling tests and complies with the technical requirements of British standard BS 1088 used in marine planks.

Jagels has presented the technical features of VENDIA marine plank very extensively and with great expertise. It has been our pleasure to read an article like this here in VENDIA. Full text article can be found by clicking here >>.

Let us introduce the VENDIA manufacturing path

 1. RAW MATERIAL

Raw material used in VENDIA marine plank is butt logs from old grown Finnish pine. A good quality raw material is the most important part of VENDIA. Whereas ideal soil, clean air, clear water and slow growth are the key factors of high quality raw material.

A good quality raw material and sliced veneers make VENDIA beautiful and durable.

2. HARVESTING

Since the high quality raw material is the key factor of VENDIA, is careful harvesting and log sorting an important step in VENDIA manufacturing path.  The wood is good quality and sturdy butt logs from PEFC certified forests.

3. MANUFACTURING

We have modern production line, professional personnel and the desire to produce the best product to boatbuilders. Producing a good product for wooden boatbuilding includes many stages until finished product is delivered to customers. The first step is log debarking and 72 hours cooking in 90 degrees (194 °F). Then the logs are sliced into veneers and dried. After that the veneers are clipped and spliced into its’ shape. After that the veneers are glued and pressed, rib sawed, cut and sanded into its’ final shape. Final step is quality control and packing. Now VENDIA marine plank is ready to be send to customers.

4. VENDIA marine plank

These are the components of VENDIA marine plank.

We hope that you will like our VENDIA marine plank product!