decking strips

DomCee

DomCee

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Sep 23, 2021
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Hi,

Any suggestions for a good lighter coloured wood type to use as the decking strips for my Cutty Sark? The dark red/brown sapele strips I have are much darker than the actual planks on the ship so I want to change them out. Most of the usual suppliers have limited choice of wood types in the correct size in stock at the moment and I don't want to be waiting weeks. Is maple a good choice for decking, I can get hold of that? Lime wood strips also available but may be a bit too white? I also found a supply of limba wood strips at a very good price but I have no experience of that wood, what is its colour like and how fine grained is it? Has anybody used this type of wood and is it good choice for decking?

Thanks

Dom


1673994724451.png
 
DomCee said:
Hi,

Any suggestions for a good lighter coloured wood type to use as the decking strips for my Cutty Sark? The dark red/brown sapele strips I have are much darker than the actual planks on the ship so I want to change them out. Most of the usual suppliers have limited choice of wood types in the correct size in stock at the moment and I don't want to be waiting weeks. Is maple a good choice for decking, I can get hold of that? Lime wood strips also available but may be a bit too white? I also found a supply of limba wood strips at a very good price but I have no experience of that wood, what is its colour like and how fine grained is it? Has anybody used this type of wood and is it good choice for decking?

Thanks

Dom


View attachment 352047
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I have built a deck with all limewood and I didn't like it because it is too light. But of course you could apply a dark stain to get the desired effect. Just my opinion
 
I have used nordic birch in many models. I cut my own strips of 1 mm or 1,5 mm birch veneer, which is very cheap in this part of world.
 
thanks for the suggestions. The choice of wood type is very limited from the usual suppliers because of all the supply issues and I do not have the equipment to cut my own strips. Limewood and maple are about the only two light woods that are in good stock in the size I need. Limewood is definitely too white so I have ordered some stains to see if I can tone it down to give a "sun-bleached teak" look. I have also found a furniture veneer supplier that has a good range and I have ordered a few samples of different wood types from them. They only supply edge strips and large sheets so I would need to cut them to the strip size I need but that should be OK to do with a good cutter.
 
I've always used tanganyika wood for decks. There are plenty of light color suitable hardwoods to choose from. Birch is often used. Some have even used maple. although the grain on maple has little contrast in appearance. Being rather plain, it would work if you are looking to produce the color and texture matching your photo above. Those lookin for darker decks use darker woods, such as cherry.
 
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
I've always used tanganyika wood for decks. There are plenty of light color suitable hardwoods to choose from. Birch is often used. Some have even used maple. although the grain on maple has little contrast in appearance. Being rather plain, it would work if you are looking to produce the color and texture matching your photo above. Those lookin for darker decks use darker woods, such as cherry.
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Hi Kurt,

I'll get a few samples including the Tanganyika to see if any are what I am after. It is a trade off between going for a light brown "teak" as would have been on the ship when built or the light grey as you can see in the picture after being weathered and sun-bleached. Certainly I am after a much lighter colour than the dark red-brown of the sapele strips that I have. I tried to find some real teak strips of the correct size but there are no stocks in the UK and ordering from outside the UK can be very expensive - or takes a long time - if I can find a supplier. I can get hold of some veneer sheets so I will probably end up cutting my own strips. In the mean time I have some spare limewood strips so I am trying a few wood stains that I have to see if I can "grey" them a little bit. I want to get it right before I commit to the decking - lay in haste, repent at leisure!

Dom
 
DomCee said:
Hi Kurt,

I'll get a few samples including the Tanganyika to see if any are what I am after. It is a trade off between going for a light brown "teak" as would have been on the ship when built or the light grey as you can see in the picture after being weathered and sun-bleached. Certainly I am after a much lighter colour than the dark red-brown of the sapele strips that I have. I tried to find some real teak strips of the correct size but there are no stocks in the UK and ordering from outside the UK can be very expensive - or takes a long time - if I can find a supplier. I can get hold of some veneer sheets so I will probably end up cutting my own strips. In the mean time I have some spare limewood strips so I am trying a few wood stains that I have to see if I can "grey" them a little bit. I want to get it right before I commit to the decking - lay in haste, repent at leisure!

Dom
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Teak is course wood, and as such, the grain would not look right on a small scale model. Cutting strips of quality veneer is an option. You may try maple, since it is very pale, has small grain, doesn't have contrasting grain colors, and can be stained a tad on the grey side if you want the sun bleached look. Make samples for yourself, try some staining, varnished or oiled samples and choose what looks best to you.
 
DomCee said:
Hi Kurt,

I'll get a few samples including the Tanganyika to see if any are what I am after. It is a trade off between going for a light brown "teak" as would have been on the ship when built or the light grey as you can see in the picture after being weathered and sun-bleached. Certainly I am after a much lighter colour than the dark red-brown of the sapele strips that I have. I tried to find some real teak strips of the correct size but there are no stocks in the UK and ordering from outside the UK can be very expensive - or takes a long time - if I can find a supplier. I can get hold of some veneer sheets so I will probably end up cutting my own strips. In the mean time I have some spare limewood strips so I am trying a few wood stains that I have to see if I can "grey" them a little bit. I want to get it right before I commit to the decking - lay in haste, repent at leisure!

Dom
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From all of the suggested timbers in this thread in the UK we are limited. Due to the close grain I fin maple the more precisely milled and better quality. (Cornwall usually the best price and service) Holly, cedar, pear we have to import unless you're happy with 0.6mm veneer which limits any sanding. If you lightly oil maple it will take a more even stain (Thank you Olha Batchvarov!) Colron's range of wood stains at B&Q can be colour mixed to get the exact shade you want. I have plenty of teak taken of an old trawler deck which is quite easy to mill (I have a lot of tools!) Colourwise it's a bit browner than Sapelle and just as dark so may not be what you're looking for (and the splinters are lethal!!)
 
Moxis said:
I have used nordic birch in many models. I cut my own strips of 1 mm or 1,5 mm birch veneer, which is very cheap in this part of world.
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I use 1/32" birch plywood cut into strips with a PREAC saw for my finish decking. It is installed over a plywood subdeck. The appearance of this material after staining with a natural stian is shown below:
Fig 29 stained deck.jpeg
 
DARIVS ARCHITECTVS said:
I've always used tanganyika wood for decks. There are plenty of light color suitable hardwoods to choose from. Birch is often used. Some have even used maple. although the grain on maple has little contrast in appearance. Being rather plain, it would work if you are looking to produce the color and texture matching your photo above. Those lookin for darker decks use darker woods, such as cherry.
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Note that cherry darkens on its own over time. Needs no stain.
 
Thank you all.

Lots of good suggestions. I am experimenting with a few stains on birch, beech, maple and limewood so hopefully I will find a combination that will give me something close to the deck washed colour in the picture.

Dom
 
I use common woods such as boxwood or even the standard basswood for decking and hull planking. I have also used common poplar but I needed to cut my own planking strips with that. I picked up a 1/4inch x 3inch x 2feet blank from my local Lowes store and cut very nice planking/decking strips from it. If, for example, I use boxwood strips, I then use paints or stains to get the deck tone I want. If I stain, I apply a wood conditioner first to better control the tone of the stain. Wood conditioner can also be used prior to painting to create a wash effect. I also use a very pale grey acrylic paint which, when applied, still shows the grain and gives a light white grey washed and salt dried deck tone. I would use my grey paint to get close to the color of your attached photo. There are several stains adequate for creating the teak brown tones of more recent ships of sail. I rarely, if ever, try to match a wood to a deck tone I am trying to achieve…
 
I managed to recover a substantial Holley trunk being removed from a London park over 20 years ago, which I cut into shorter lengths of approx 8x8''.
Still have it!
 
When I think of all the wood I've cut up into firewood over the decades before getting back into this hobby, it brings me to the brink of tears! :( I did find a supplier of holly & boxwood within 20miles, BUT no matter how little I required,his minimum order was £100, so I guess it's all still on the shelf in his mill! I wonder at these sort of 'traders', don't they want to do business?
 
DomCee said:
Hi,

Any suggestions for a good lighter coloured wood type to use as the decking strips for my Cutty Sark? The dark red/brown sapele strips I have are much darker than the actual planks on the ship so I want to change them out. Most of the usual suppliers have limited choice of wood types in the correct size in stock at the moment and I don't want to be waiting weeks. Is maple a good choice for decking, I can get hold of that? Lime wood strips also available but may be a bit too white? I also found a supply of limba wood strips at a very good price but I have no experience of that wood, what is its colour like and how fine grained is it? Has anybody used this type of wood and is it good choice for decking?

Thanks

Dom


View attachment 352047
Click to expand...
Lime is toooo soft! You need a hardwood. Apple, lemon, pear. swiss pear, maple, holly, hornbeam have all been used and would do a good job in your application.
 
Mmm. Getting that scrubbed deck, sun bleached timber look. Of course it's really a light grey colour you are trying to achieve if this is the look you are after. There are some timber colouring/aging colours you can get that model railroad folk like for their old sun bleached timber building in the days of steam. I believe Micro Mark sell some products but they will only ship them continental US because of the chemical composition so that hardly helps you does it.
There is the iron vinegar process....https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/how-to-age-wood/. but you need to start with a light timber like basswood/limewood
 
Thanks again for the advice. I was able to buy some little test pots of a variety of grey wood stains from a furniture restoration supplier. I tried them on different woods and found this "driftwood grey" diluted 60/40 gave a very good effect on limewood strips. I made up some small test pieces and they are not far off from the actual planking as you can see in the picture (it looks much better by eye than what comes out in the images due to the camera exposure). I agree that the limewood is a bit soft but I think it will be fine for the decking after a coat of sealing lacquer.

Decision made - no going back!


1674852039273.pngdeck wash.JPG
 
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