veneered ply colour?

[crosser]

my boat is lined with ash faced ply which has aged and gone to golden colour...  ive brought some more as refitting some of the boat and its alot lighter in colour and also the ash ive brought is 2 different shades....   im just wondering over time will it all go the same colour or will it always be different?  thanks

[Alan de Enfield]

Its a bit like buying paint or wall paper, every 'batch' is a slightly different colour and will always remain a different colour, it will 'mature / age' and change colour but it will never be likely to age to match a different batch.

 

This is why paint and wallpaper manufacturers always state "buy enough to complete the job"

[agg221]

Aged and gone to a golden colour - that is most likely the finish (varnish?) which has gradually oxidised and yellowed in the process. Assuming you use a similar varnish it will all do that in time.

 

Darker vs. lighter - ash can be quite variable and that will be permanent. Unless the varnish is so thick that it start to become the colour itself, the wood underneath will always provide a darker or lighter backing colour. It's likely that the original was more like the sample on the right.

 

Options - you could use the darker wood in particular areas to create a feature of it, or stain everything to match the darker colour using very dilute stains. It's usually best to put a first sealing coat on the wood when trying to do this, so the stain doesn't soak in very far at all, otherwise it tends to come out too dark.

 

Alec

[OldGoat]

Paint it all white, throw some light coloured cushions around and sell the boat for loadsa' monay...

[crosser]

thanks...   i didnt think it would all go the same colour so i think staining might be the only option....  the problem is all the wood has been oiled with danish oil..  will stain go over the top ok?   

 

[BWM]

4 minutes ago, crosser said:

thanks...   i didnt think it would all go the same colour so i think staining might be the only option....  the problem is all the wood has been oiled with danish oil..  will stain go over the top ok?   

 

If it's been oiled I'd be surprised if the colour didn't end up very close to the earlier ply if you treat in the same way. 

[agg221]

1 hour ago, BWM said:

If it's been oiled I'd be surprised if the colour didn't end up very close to the earlier ply if you treat in the same way. 

I agree - I would expect the old and the new lighter material to all end up very similar. It’s the new darker material which will look different.

 

If you want to stain over the Danish oil it can be done but be aware it won’t soak in. This means it will have the visual effect but will wear or chip away - another couple of layers of Danish on top will protect against that happening.

 

Alec