Flying on the Cheap - - Door skins

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To All:

A 'door skin' is a 3' x 7' sheet of 1/8" Luan plywood. It differs from
a regular four-by-eight sheet of eighth-inch luan ply because door
skins are USUALLY fabricated using waterproof glue.

The simple test for waterproof glue is to boil a sample of the plywood.
The regular stuff comes apart almost as soon as you drop the coupons
in the water whereas the waterproof stuff can be boiled and dried
several times before it starts coming apart.

Door skins tend to cost about 10% more than the regular stuff, partly
because of the different glue but also because each sheet will have one
perfect face. Typical example of the cost difference (as of 18 March
2006) is $6.98 for a doorskin (ie, 21 square feet) vs $9.79 for a 4x8
sheet of 1/8" luan (ie, 32 square feet). (Dixieline Lumber, Escondido,
California)

The box stores tend to NOT carry door skins; most of their clerks won't
even know what you're talking about but will try very hard to sell you
whatever they do happen to carry.

Door skins have flown in Fly Babys, Volksplanes and a number of similar
designs, albeit without benefit of clergy. When properly glued,
carefully varnished and religiously maintained, the common door skin
has proven to be a trust-worthy material for those of us who are flying
on the cheap.

-R.S.Hoover

[Lou]

You are quite correct about the quality of the door skins, but I would
like to add to your point of the luan just in case someone doesn't care
and decides to buy it anyway.
The luan sold in the big box stores more and more have an non wood
center making it
even weaker than the luan was years ago.
Lou

[Ron Webb]

I've done some testing with regular luan sheets. I find that it doesn't
matter what kind of glue is used if you soak them in regular epoxy (west
systems or similar) since the epoxy soaks all the way through. I've boiled
test strips for 24 hours with no deterioration.

The "West" in West systems stands for "Wood/Epoxy Saturation Technique."
It's been used on boats for decades.

I use them as core for fiberglass, in place of foam. A bit more weight, but
cheaper, stronger, and easier to get.


> wrote in message
ups.com...
> To All:
>
> A 'door skin' is a 3' x 7' sheet of 1/8" Luan plywood. It differs from
> a regular four-by-eight sheet of eighth-inch luan ply because door
> skins are USUALLY fabricated using waterproof glue.
><Snip>
When properly glued,
> carefully varnished and religiously maintained, the common door skin
> has proven to be a trust-worthy material for those of us who are flying
> on the cheap.
>
> -R.S.Hoover
>