Problem with veneer, what am I doing wrong?

[Loading17]

Hello all,

I've finally put some cherry veneer on my spires and am now doing a touch up on all the edges, running into some problems.

In order to get the edges nice and flush while sanding I 'oversand' a little and scuff up the nice veneer. It makes it much more pale then the rest of the panel. I also have a piece on one of the sides that was glued together at the veneer factory and you can see the glue line, so I was told to lightly sand it out. Now the center of the panel and the edges are much lighter then the rest, and it looks terrible.

If I take a wet cloth and wipe down the entire panel it all comes back together. You can no longer notice the sanded spots, everything is the same 'shade' and the grain really pops. Once it dries, it's back to a horrible looking oversanded hack job. I have some oil based lacquer crap that I'm going to spray the speakers with. Will that have the same effect as the water does?

Also, when I was putting the contact cement on, I got a little bit on the adjacent veneered side. It's a pain to sand it out, and makes the 'oversanding' problem even worse. Is there an easier way to get rid of the dried contact cement?

Help!

[fastbike1]

Don't sand your edges to clean them up. Either use a router with a flush cut bit or use a hand veneer trimmer. If you don't have a router, a small trim router can be had for ~$100 USD. A veneer trimmer is available in the US at woodworkers shops like Rocklers and Woodcraft and costs less than $20 USD. If neither of these appeal to you, a little care, patience and a utility knife can work.

Next time, check your veneer first and make sure any glue lines are not used or end up at the edge or on the back of the speaker.

To even your finish, you may have to stain everything. Cherry is not an easy wood to finish because different parts absorb stain unevenly (blotchy).

When you say you're going to spray some "oil based laquer crap", what do you mean? Are you using a HVLP sprayer? If not, you might want to look into a wipe on finish. Most of these finishes will self level. As it is, if you spray the finish you will need to sand everything since you raised the grain with the wet cloth.

[Loading17]

I do have a router with a flush trim bit, but I was told not to use it as it may chip away at the veneer. (Sanding has chipped away a couple small corners already..) I could give it a quick try on the back of one of the speakers.

I was also advised not to stain because of that blotchy issue, and that it would make the grain less 'poppy.'

It's a spray can of 'semi-gloss' finish. The guy at the lumber store told me that wipe on finishes are more difficult to apply.

I'm thinking I got some bad advice.

[MJL21193]

Unfinished cherry gets darker when exposed to light and oxygen (from the air). I would lightly sand the entire box (in the direction of the grain) and leave it sit for a few days until the colour evens out.
Exposure to direct sunlight will speed this up.

[Loading17]

Ok, I tried the router and it actually works really well. Thanks!

MJL, can I spray the box before letting it even out? I've got a limited amount of shop time to get them 'done' by.

What would a good wipe on product be? I don't want anything that's hard to use/apply as I'm terrible at this sorta stuff.

[MJL21193]

Originally Posted by Loading17

MJL, can I spray the box before letting it even out? I've got a limited amount of shop time to get them 'done' by.

Like I said above, the darkening process requires light and air, remove one and it stops.
Look at how it is after you have sanded it, wipe it with Varsol (mineral spirits) - if it looks even when you wipe it, it will most likely look that way once finished.

[Loading17]

Originally Posted by MJL21193

Like I said above, the darkening process requires light and air, remove one and it stops.
Look at how it is after you have sanded it, wipe it with Varsol (mineral spirits) - if it looks even when you wipe it, it will most likely look that way once finished.

Looks like I may have been fed some more bad information. The folks at the timber store told me it would continue to 'age' (darken) even after I had put the lacquer finish on.

What I ultimately want is a 'red' cherry (the dark cherry) right now I've got a golden light cherry. I was going to let it naturally age but now I'm not so sure.

Should I stain it, then put some sort of lacquer finish on? Should I leave them completely unprotected (no finish) and let them age naturally? (Not sure how long that will take, days are really short here, not much sunlight, and it's to cold to have them exposed to direct sunlight. Best I could do is have them in a room that gets about 5 hours of sunlight a day..)

So after I put finish on them, they'll completely stop aging?

[Loading17]

Ok, I've done some more research, I've stumbled upon BLO. It seems like an easy to use product. Since these are speakers and shouldn't get much abuse, I may just use BLO and not bother with a finish on top of it.

[MJL21193]

Yes boiled linseed oil is ok and the veneer will continue to darken with this finish (not as air tight). Even with lacquer or polyurethane the veneer will still darken, it just takes a LOT longer and it will not get as dark as the raw wood will.
I would not stain cherry, if you wanted a darker colour you could have picked a darker veneer, such as jatoba (Brazilian cherry) which is a dark red colour to begin with.

[fastbike1]

Instead of BLO, you might get a more durable finish with Howards Feed-N-Wax: (Howard Feed-N-Wax). You can find this at Home Depot, Rockler's, etc. I could not find it at Lowes.

This type of finish will also allow the wood to age.

For the future, I find that while a "rattle can" is the easiest to apply, it is also the hardest to get a good finish for a number of reasons.

If you do more natural wood finishes, you need to understand the particular wood's characteristics. In particular, some wood finishes better with a pigment stain which covers pores and makes a more even finish. Other woods work well with a dye stain. Some, like Cherry, are difficult to put any stain on.