As an onlay, I was entertaining the option of using pressed and dried fall leaves...has anyone done this before?
Obviously, they would have to be completely dried, and care taken when applying epoxy and glass, but just curious if thse would break down over time or create some other havoc?
Paul (NH Builder)
Yes I have put real leaves under the fiberglass and it works great and looks cool. I like your yellow leaves. i dried my leaves but they were still curled up a bit so i used a small iron to flatten them out and just glued them on with titebond wood glue. I didn't put the stems on instead used a woodburner to simulate the stem.
For what it's worth, the leaves will still decay and may or may not look good over time. If you look at the kayakbuildersforum, Robert Pruden has done this in the past and eventually removed the leaves for a different option. It does look very cool but how long it lasts will depend entirely on how hard/often you use the boat and how well everything is sealed.
FrankP