Wood glue for flexible panel

[skipmac]

Redoing some trim and found one of the plywood headliner panels has an area about 12"X18" that is delaminating. No rot and the wood is basically sound so want to glue the layers of the plywood back together and reuse the panel.

However, that section of the cabin top is pretty curved and to get the panel back into place I have to warp it a good bit. Normally I would pour a little epoxy between the layers, press it under a sheet of ply to cure and be done but not sure if epoxy would make the panel too rigid or brittle to go back in place.

The panel is about 4 1/2' long, 2' wide and bows up in the middle 5-6". To get it behind a trim piece I have to further bend one corner another couple of inches.

Need something that isn't too viscous so it can either pour down into the crack between the wood layers (an not create lumps) or really thin so it can penetrate through the outer layer into the layers below.

Am I overthinking this and the epoxy would be fine? I read that Titebond II or III might be good for a flexible application. Also thought about using a spray can of contact cement since that would be very flexible but would it be the best for this application?

[SV Windrush II]

How thick is your plywood you are trying to bend? if it is 1/4" you will not have an issue with bending it using epoxy. It will stiffen the board somewhat but 5" bend in that long of a piece is not a problem unless of course it has dry rot in it.
If you are really concerned then I would try curing it with the bend in it. You can sandwich your repaired piece in between two other sheets of plywood and bend the whole thing create a type of mold. Just make sure they don't all stick together
But I don't think that's necessary

[skipmac]

Thanks. It is 1/4" ply. I was leaning toward the epoxy but wanted to be sure since screwing it up would mean redoing all the headliners in the forepeak to match.

I had thought about curing with a bend but rejected that as too much hassle.

[SV Windrush II]

Oh, one more thing to keep in mind. Screws alone may not hold it. when I am bending 1/4" ply, I usually install molding over the plywood to apply even pressure all along the edge.
If there is too much pressure on the screw heads, the plywood may push right through them. Here is a Pic of bending 3/16" ply on a 12" radius

[skipmac]

Headliner on my Pearson uses a similar technique and is overall fairly easy to remove to access the underside of the deck to chase those inevitable leaks.

The headliner is made up of 2' wide panels that run all the way athwartship. The panels aren't actually attached but supported by 2" teak trim strips between the panels and on the ends. Remove one or two of the athwartship trim strips and the panel drops out.

Thanks again. Tomorrow, glue day.

[SV Windrush II]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Headliner on my Pearson uses a similar technique and is overall fairly easy to remove to access the underside of the deck to chase those inevitable leaks.

The headliner is made up of 2' wide panels that run all the way athwartship. The panels aren't actually attached but supported by 2" teak trim strips between the panels and on the ends. Remove one or two of the athwartship trim strips and the panel drops out.

Thanks again. Tomorrow, glue day.

Perfect!