# Temporarily fixing veneer



## Gill (20 Apr 2007)

Veneers are too thin in this country to withstand the rigours of a scroll saw, so if I was to saw a marquetry picture I would need to reinforce the veneer with some sort of thin backer board. What would be the best way to temporarily fix the veneer to such a backer board? Re-positionable spray mount adhesive?

Has anyone ever tried to do this?

Gill


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## Mike M (20 Apr 2007)

Most use an exacto knife or a very thin blade. Check this site for more information.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve_annie/page7.html
Mike


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## Taffy Turner (20 Apr 2007)

Gill,

Spray mount adhesive would be my guess, or maybe clamping it between two bits of sacrificial ply or mdf, and then wrapping packing tape around the whole lot to hold it together?

I haven't tried either method mind you!

Regards

Gary


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## scroller frank (21 Apr 2007)

Gill,
I have cut 1.mm brass & copper sheet ,by trapping it between 2 bits of
thin ply and pinning it ,with panel pins, something like Garry sugests,
it worked for me !  
-Frank-


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## Anonymous (21 Apr 2007)

I think Mike M has the right idea as thin veneer is just as easy cut with a knife as it is with a scroll saw so why make life difficult !


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## Gill (21 Apr 2007)

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I actually began scrolling because I cut marquetry with a knife and was looking for a quicker way to do it. When I started out, though, UK veneers were too thin to withstand a saw. Now that I've got a little more experience, I've started wondering how some of my segmentation patterns would look cut out of real, contrasting woods. I could go the intarsia route, I suppose, but my first thought was to explore the possibility of marquetry. It would be a bit like turning the wheel full circle in terms of my woodworking.

Gill


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## Chris Knight (21 Apr 2007)

Gill,
You can buy veneers in different thicknesses - see here for example http://www.english-veneer.com/english_v ... neers.html


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## Gill (21 Apr 2007)

Thanks very much, Chris - I wasn't aware of that and I'll certainly be getting in touch with the English Veneer Company on Monday.







Gill


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## Mark68 (22 Apr 2007)

Hi Gill.

I've just been cutting 0.6mm veneers tonight,,but by hand with a fretsaw, i need to decorate a box i'm making,,and its about the only way i can cut the design out. 
what you need to do is make what they call a pad up, kind of a sandwich of veneers.

If you have a look on this site http://www.redbridgemarquetrygroup.org/ ... _Pages.htm

there's tutorials on how to do it with a priecing saw,,,i would think it would be the same ideal on a scroll saw.

I,ve just packed it up tonight because the saw blades i got are too thick,so just ordered some thinner ones, 6/0 size ones.

I've got a brilliant book here,,"The marquetry course" in there they use Hegner machines to do the fancy work.

Hope this helps a bit.
Mark


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## Mark68 (22 Apr 2007)

Hi again.

just been reading through that site,,,a little bit of a different way...

Heres how i make a pad up......choose the veneers you want to use and trim them to about an inch bigger than you want. Cover these on one side with brown paper parcel tape if you can find it for sell,,,i can't, so i use strips of veneer tape to cover the veneers completely up,,,this stops corners and delicate pieces breaking off,,kind of holds it together.
then take two pieces of cheap veneer,,on one stick the picture you want to cut out ,,i use pritt stick. Then sandwich your good veneer between the two cheap pieces and use a stapler to staple the whole lot together into a pad to stop it all moving about.
then cut it out,,discarding the cheap veneer pieces.

Once it's all cut out,,put your picture together and use veneer tape to hold the pieces together,,then glue it to your base,,,once the glue is dry,,moisten the veneer tape and use a scraper to scrape the tape off, but then if you've done marquetry you'll know how the tape bit works.

Hope that makes sense.
mark.


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## Gill (22 Apr 2007)

Hi Mark

Do you make a lot of marquetry? I find it absorbing but there aren't many people here who do it. If you've any pictures of your work, I'd love to see them.

I used to enjoy marquetry but found that cutting with a knife could be slow and tedious, especially when making repeat passes over hard woods. I actually bought my first scroll saw as a means of mechanising my marquetry but it was too powerful and shredded the veneers.

Now, many years later, I'm looking at some of the segmentation patterns I'm designing and thinking they would look nice as marquetry pieces. I could always cut them as intarsia, but the range of available woods isn't as extensive as the range of veneers for marquetry, and it's more expensive. I've learned a lot about using scroll saws over the years and I'm sure I could now turn my hand to marquetry using one.

I hate wasting wood. Yet there's no disputing that thin veneers need some sort of support. So I've saved a breakfast cereal box and I'm going to use that instead of a waste veneer! It _should _work... :? . I'm also going to get in touch with the English veneer company about thicker veneers too and see if they offer the sort of robustness I'm looking for.

Gill


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## Mark68 (22 Apr 2007)

Hi.

I've been doing the marquetry, or parquetry as i think the straight line work is called, for about 4 years now. Started off doing a coffee table with the classic chess board design on it, then moved on to making jewellery boxes and a few different things. I make the boxes myself out of plywood and then think up a design to go on them,,,i enjoy it.

I know what you mean about it being a bit tedious at times,,like when your cutting scores of little pieces to do a border design,,but then all part of the fun i guess. I've just started a pyramid shaped box,,thats where i've been using the fretsaw,,,trying to cut out egyptian designs to go on it, proving to be quite "interesting".

I've only got a few photos of some of the things i've done,,should take more really,,something to look back on.
I'll start a new topic and post a few,,but their a little bit different???

If you look on e-bay theres 3 or 4 different veneer suppliers on there,,all good to use,,sometimes they have veneer up to 3mm thick,,also theres anita marquetry on the internet, they do thick veneers too,,,,all pretty well priced.

Mark.


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