Questions about veneering

[Erik]

Guss asked:
could you refer me to a good place where I could buy some mahogany veneer online ?

The classic veneer shop is Constantines. They have been in business since God knows when and have been know for high quality stuff. The old man closed down the shop in Brooklyn years ago but I understand his son carries on the tradition from a shop in Florida.


http://www.constantines.com/

I have purchased some very nice raw veneers from an Ebay user named "thouge", but I haven't seen her around much recently.
]

[Pete Mazz]

I always veneer first then do driver cutouts. But I always make a template of the baffle on scrap and use a pattern bit or collar guide to route the driver holes. Once the template is correct, all you have to worry about is depth of cut for flush mounted drivers.

TapeEase

B&B

Oakwood

Pete

[mwmkravchenko]

On the subject ofglueing down veneer use a small paint roller to spread out the glue. Pour a small amount in the middle of the cabinet surface ( or veneer surface ) and spread it out in a thin even coat. Two thin coats are much better than one thick one. It may take longer but it will actually dry faster and ensure a more even coverage of the suface. Oh yeh coat one way and after it dries coat at 90 degrees to the first way. More even coverage and less possibility of creating glue lines.

Mark

Cabinetmaker untill the f@#$%king ex sold my shop!!!!

[elektratig]

I did my first veneering just the other week -- a sealed downfiring Tempest sub -- using yellow glue and an iron. I bought the veneer (flexible paperbacked) online at Constantine's. Shipped the next day, showed up shortly thereafter. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

[ScottRHinson]

When I use the iron on method of veneering I have a plastic glue spreader I like to use. I have a 3" wide plastic putty knife that I cut 3/16" deep notches in, spaced 1/4" (roughly) apart. Made the spreader on my table saw. I push the glue around with that for a while, then I use a plain chip brush to even it out. I have to work fairly quickly but the process works well.

If the veneer wrinkles a bit I mist it down with water (non glue side) before I hit it with the iron. I only mist what I'm about to iron. I think the water helps get the heat to the glue too, because those sections seem to glue down faster.

I've also used some of the cold press glues without a vacuum press by waiting until they get very tacky, then putting the veneer down. I then use a veneer hammer to press the veneer down completely. I have seen some older panels bubble with this method, but those were on speakers that I did right after starting with this method so it could be a lack of practice.

I agree that getting contact cement on flat so that imperfections of the glue don't telegraph through is dificult at best. I wish I had the capability to spray it on well.

Scott

[Flames]

Can anyone direct me to a supplier of veneers and accessories in Sydney Australia?

I am having difficulty in locating anything except the iron-on pre glued veneers and I have heard variable reports about success levels with them.

Any assistance appreciated.

[creek]

I have tried three ways, hide glue, yellow glue and contact cement.
I like contact cement the best. especialy for paperbacked.
Hide glue was recomended to me by a guy at woodcraft. It stinks, takes a long time to dry and doesn't work at all in humid weather.

[tktran]

Hi all,

I've just finished veneering some box floorstanding speakers.

Pete Mazz's iron/PVA glue recipe works very well. It has been over a week and there are no bubbles or warping of any kind.
Thanks Pete!

I followed Erik's advice and purchased the Shurline 3" trim roller. It's a touchup/paint roller but works ok for glue. Some of the fibres came off and stuck to the substrate but I could easily pick them out. This made rolling the glue on far easier and faster than a metal glue spreader that I previously used.

I used 2400 mm x 1200 mm x 0.6mm raw Tasmanian Myrtle (Australian) timber veneer. This is a large sheet but on closer inspection it is made of leaves approximately 1100mm long x 170mm wide. Since my speaker panels are wider than 170mm, each veneered sheet is actually 2 leaves.

I used cross-linking PVA glue, which claims to be stronger than normal PVA but the downside is that it sets faster (20min) so you have to work fast! I can also testify that MDF absorbs glue readily- 2 layers is a minimum.

Also I did not iron the veneer directly- instead I ironed over a cotton bedsheet. Any old cotton T-shirt or spare sheets should be fine- I highly recommend this to prevent your veneer from scorching. (my bedsheet was scorched at several spots, thus saving the veneer)

I didn't have sufficient clamps, so I used about 50kg of MDF panels. I followed the glue manufacturers instructions, and only clamped for 30mins, but waited for a few hours to dry before sanding and trimming.

However,

Within a few days of trimming and sanded the edges, I discovered that the veneer had shrunk. Not a lot, but at least ~1mm along my 222mm wide front baffle. Now the veneer does not fully extend to the edges of the MDF. The next time I try veneering I will wait at least a few days after glueing and shrinking before trimming and sanding excess veneer. I had no idea that veneer could shrink! Maybe this is due to the hot iron (expansion/contraction?), or maybe it was due to the glue?

Second, splits along veneer leaves (where the leaves had been book-matched and joined at the factory) developed. These run along the complete length of the veneer. The splits are about 1mm, and is probably due to the same shrinking problem described above. It may also be due to my ironing method- to remove the bubbles and flatten the curled veneer (glue to veneer causes it to curl) I ironed from the centreline towards the edges.

I wonder if this can be remedied by using masking tape to hold the leaves together? Actually I did this but took it off prior to claminping. What on earth was I thinking?
. Next time I will leave the tape on for a least a few days.

My only concern is that the glue on the masking take will stain the veneer during the ironing?

Has anyone tried veneering tape?
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/gclk-6.htm

No idea where to buy such a thing, but certainly it seems to be ideal since you leave it on permanently.

[tktran]

The split is a fraction of a millimetre, and not visible from a ~1m. However at close range it is clearly visible. In the photo below the shine in the midline is due to the reflection of the camera flash from the dried PVA glue, and shows the approximate width of the split.

Why would this split? And how would I prevent this in future?

[Sandy H.]

I built a pair of speakers and veneered unbacked ash using contact cement. Thy both looked fine at first. I left one in the non-heated garage (in winter) and the other inside the house and left for a week around Christmas. Upon coming back, the one in the garage still looked fine, but the one in the house had split at seams, similar to your result. Once I brought the other speaker inside, it also split. I had left the veneer out for about a month prior to get used to the environment, but probably the change in humidity inside from Nov to Dec was significant. I plan to veneer during more constant humidity next time, if possible.

Sandy.