Veneer

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Hi everyone

I've got my first set of cabinets done and I am ready for the veneer. I got birch veneer, and it looks pretty nice.
I know the basic principle to applying it, I've done kitchen counters with laminate before (glue, smear, roll). I just wanted to know if anyone had any tricks for doing it that would make it easier.

Thanks

Nathan
 
I used a mixture of 95% wood glue 5% water and painted both surfaces, after it dried, I put another coat on till both sides were shiney when dry.

Grab a clothing iron and put it on "Cotton" and iron the veneer on to the cabinet. Sand any "burnt" off and you are good to go.

It was REAL easy to do it this way with one person.
 
Use a veneer saw as Jack recommended. It is definitely worth the $25. If you decide to use a burl or difficult grain on a later project you'll be much happier with the results and ease of use. I also recommend some of the new slow speed yellow glues. Much easier, forgiving and very strong.
 
The clothing iron is indeed a good idea, but the "cotton" setting is quite high..
a temp. setting below 100 C is quite sufficient. It takes some more "ironing" but creates less discoloration. Do some tests..the setting on the irons varies quite alot, in ranges of 10 deg C or so...

Classical veneering used to be made with large heated metal plates in larges press fixtures. Hide glue is also commonly used in furniture restoration. Otherwisw, normal white wood PVA glue does the job.If there is a local cabinet maker, try to visit and ask for a few tips....

The veneering saw is a wise investment. It gives a much better control, and tighter edge joints. When approaching the edges and corners, use only "inward" motions, i.e towards the center of the work piece, to avoid splitting at the edges.
As mentioned, a utility knife will try to follow the grain of the veneer. Might give some unwanted surprises.....

I checked the link to the swedish pages...
he uses contact cement,- which can be used, but it is hard to get rid of the small lumps often created during the application of the glue. I have also had a few incidents with contact cement loosing grip when the object was left in sunlight, with the subsequent heating that follows... Also- contact cement bites! There's absolutely no leeway in placing the veneer pieces!
 
router bit for trimming

a flush trimming router bit works very well if you've got 90-degree angles. The bearing of a good bit will not mar the veneer at all. The whole process is much faster than other methods.

if your edges don't come together in 90-degree angles of course you'll have to do something else!
 
Nathan,
I've veneered 3 sets of speakers in the last year, and I've arrived at a method that works for me:
- Cut the veneer approx 1/4 inch larger on all four dimensions than what you need, 1/2 inch is OK too if you have enough
- Apply solvent based contact cement (I use a brand called Weldwood).
- Don't use the water based contact cement, it is worthless
- The solvent based cement is really easy to use, just brush it on both the back of the veneer and the surface to be veneered and let it dry for about 20 minutes. Be sure you have good ventilation, the fumes are pretty bad and also flammable so be careful.
- 'Carefully' apply the veneer to your speaker. The _instant_ the two surfaces touch they will bond, so be sure to line the grain up carefully and be sure that you have at least 1/4 inch extra veneer on all four sides.
- Use a J-roller to press the veneer down _hard_ against the speaker. Pressure is what makes the cement cure, so push as hard as is practical. Be carefull around the edges though, you don't want to damage the sharp edge of the cabinet. Also, it helps to start at the center and roll toward the edges, this helps knock out any air bubbles. Just to be safe re-roller the edges to be sure that you have good contact, you don't want the veneer to delaminate a month from now at a corner.
- use a flush trim bit on your router and clean up the edges. This is really easy and leaves a very clean edge. I've tried trimming with a knife or veneer saw and always had trouble with the veneer ripping or chipping out along the grain. The router does a much better job IMHO.
- if you use paper backed veneer (I do) you might have to trim any paper that the router pushed at 90 degrees to the veneer. A little 220 grit sand paper usually does the trick.

Good luck!
 
I used a router bit with ball bearing guide to trim the edges, and on the timber I used (silky oak) I had some chunks being torn out. I suspect that whether this problem happens will be highly dependent on the timber. For birch, which should be straight grained, it may work OK, provided that you are cutting in the right direction.

Mick
 
veneer + Nathan + Nathan's psycho brother + beer = $30 out the window

Oh man,

Well tonight we decided to get to the veneering...we bought a 28 of Canadian after work and started right away on it...the beer I mean:idea:. After dinner we got to the veneer. Anyways, we thought it would be like doing his kitchen counter tops. Unfortunately this stuff I bought is very brittle and unforgiving.
Maybe you've seen it in stores, It's about 12" wide and 100" long and very dry. Needless to say it cracks very very easily.
:bawling:
So anyways We've cracked two edges thus far and I am thinking I will have to remove the veneer somehow (does beer thin contact cement?:cannotbe: ) and start over.
Next time I will use a flush router bit for the corners.

I also like the idea of using the wood glue and water because I frigged a panel up when placing it with the contact cement...although I'm sure, had I not been drinking I wouldn't have had this problem.

You know it's weird. In the past when I've been working on something (my brothers car, Civic with a ZC...FAST!!! Eats beemers :eek: Needs turbo and intercooler does anyone have?) Beer has always made it much easier and more fun to work on.

Thanks for all the advice on veneer. I really appreciate the time you have taken to help me. I will not be an idiot next time and be sober.

BTW What brands of beer do my fellow Canadians consume? Just curious.

Thanks again for all your help
 
Veneering is rather easy, for my first time I bought veneer, I found that the veneer I purchase was rather delicate and would split easily. So, I got the Ultra Flexible veneer, Professional Quality No fume Cement Glue, and tried that. First I would cut the veneer to desired size, Took a brush and wiped on the glue evenly on the whole surface. Waited (40 min.) for the glue to become clear and glossy, lined up the veneer and pressed from the center outwards. I had some bubbles at some point, but the weight that I had on the veneer(Paint cans on a flat piece of wood) seemed to press them out...Whew! Well, I hope you enjoy your project and that you will have some posted pics of the finished speakers on the forum in short time!

PS
did you buy the veneer from bennet? If youd did, look around for the ultra flexible stuff, very strong, I even stepped on a roll and NOTHING happened! I was also extremely frustrated when a split would occur, cha-ching there goes 50 bucks!
 
I live in Ottawa. I veneered my speakers in sherry and I used contact cement. I will never do this again. Contact cement is flexible and when the house became dryer in winter, the veneer cracked. I have made test with carpenter white glue that I let dry on both surface. When dry, I use the iron method to glue together. Works fine so far.
 
Hi, So you live in Ottawa, Canada. I live in Merlin Oregon.
You mention Contact cement. Some are better than others,but can come unglued if the conditions are wrong like you experienced. There used to be powered glue made for doing vaneer work,but I do not know where to obtain it now.
Sounds like things worked out fine in the end.Thats the main thing.
Allan
 
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