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Using graphite for plank caulking.

Bryian

Bryian

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Hi Gang,
I was watching a you tube video on timber marquetry, and stumbled across a great idea. For highlighting the caulking seams on planks you can use a black graphite pencil lead.
But instead of marking the side of the plank with a pencil, you mix the crushed graphite pencil lead with glue.
I have been experimenting with white pva glue and 2 pack epoxy glue, and both work superbly. I used one of those thick builders pencils in the picture. Just split the pencil open and extract the lead.

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Great results Brian Thumbsup The caulking looks like a true black rather than the dark grey you get using a normal HB pencil on the edge.I would say the one important thing with these techniques is that the plank edges need to be perfectly true and smooth.Some of the "furry" kit planking would result in a black line that waved about all over.

Kind Regards

Nigel
 
Great idea! Another idea that I have used in the past is to run a hard artist charcoal stick down the edges of the planks. As we know Charcoal sticks are used by artists for charcoal drawings and available in art supply stores. Now, here is the trick...charcoal sticks come in different degrees of softness (or conversely hardness). Do not get "soft" sticks as the dust they generate will simply get all over everything...including the plank tops. Look for and get a hard grade of charcoal stick. One huge issue...any charcoal stick application needs to be clean to avoid spreading charcoal around upon finish sanding. I apply a coat of sanding sealer to seal the charcoal. The graphite and glue method avoids this peccadillo.
 
Let me tell you about one attempt to simulate deck plank caulking I did many years back on one model...and never repeated the process. I actually laid heavy duty black thread between each plank as I glued it down. Looked great. But what a job. Took forever and was not easy to get it right. But it did look good...
 
Wow, Jim! That's dedication! What model was that?

Polydoc: Just a caution. Depending upon the wood, using a permanent marker might result in "bleeding" of the black into the plank; especially the end grain.
 
Hi Brian, So you cleaned up the planks with Brynes thickness sander, how would you clean them up when they were laid on the deck? Would that just be hand sanding or with a scraper? Cheers Tony
 
Hi Tony,
thats a difficult question to answer, but I think it would be best to laminate the deck planks onto thin plywood and sand it before fitting to the model.
 
Hi Brian, I am sure that would work well. I still lay my planks using the black paper/light card method, that is stuck onto my board prior to cutting the individual planks, then laying them on to a ply sub deck using pins and epoxy then using a sanding block and a scraper to level the boards prior to applying more clear epoxy to seal everything from water as my craft all need to sail. Regards TonyIMG_0362.JPG
 
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