Re: Local plywood

Posted by Mark Camp on Nov 11, 2005

From one non-expert to another :-) *

I would gladly believe any advice I received that says its ok to glue oak plywood with epoxy, as long as the adviser convinced me that he is familiar with the well-known issue of high tannic acid levels in some oaks interfering with epoxy bonding.

Any of these would convince me: He...

(0) is a technical expert from Gougeon Bros. or another reputable epoxy manufacturer

(0.7) is named John Harris and works for CLC

(0.5) is named Dr. Richard Jagels and writes the Wood Technology feature for Wooden Boat Magazine.

(1) provides a procedure to neutralize the acid (sodium bicarb wash, etc) that he has successfully used on oak plywood--not just oak lumber.

(2) tells me that in his experience, red/white oak plywood is/is not a problem, due to the well-known difference in tannic acid levels (so well-known I forget which is which)

(3) convinces me that something in plywood processing eliminates the tannic acid in both red and white oak plywood, and has experience to prove it.

* (I really DIDN'T ever store kayaks in the Himalayas, and you really SHOULDN'T fill them with cement and whack them with a hammer. And I really am going to give up my efforts at being funny. Tomorrow, or maybe Tuesday.)

In Response to: Re: Local plywood by Chris on Nov 10, 2005

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