Engineered Wood Veneers

[maznaz]

Hi folks. Has anyone used the above in any projects? I came across them while researching stuff for making my own kitchen cabinets that look like real wood but use sheet goods. I ordered samples in A4 sheets from justwoodveneer.co.uk and they seem pretty good. I've done lots of wood veneer panels using real wood veneers laminated onto plywood and it's a bit fiddly. These things look pretty "real" in A4 sheets but I wonder how that translates to larger sizes. Anybody tried it out? From the a4 sheets I'm not sure I could tell them apart from real wood.

I have no affiliation with the company by the way, I just ordered samples from their site when I was looking for real veneers.

 

[Spectric]

Hi

Why not use veneered ply rather than just buying the veneer? Crown Cut Oak Veneered Plywood 2440mm x 1220mm (8' x 4') - Atlantic Timber

or veneered MDF Veneered MDF Crown Cut Oak

or even veneered chipboard but take into consideration your construction/jointing technique when deciding on material.

 

[maznaz]

Hi

Why not use veneered ply rather than just buying the veneer? Crown Cut Oak Veneered Plywood 2440mm x 1220mm (8' x 4') - Atlantic Timber

or veneered MDF Veneered MDF Crown Cut Oak

or even veneered chipboard but take into consideration your construction/jointing technique when deciding on material.

I actually just got some 10mm veneered mdf from Arnold Laver to try out. It seems pretty good, but I was still curious about the engineered stuff as the samples just arrived in the post today.

Thanks for the links above though, I'll get a piece of the ply to compare as well.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Hi folks. Has anyone used the above in any projects?

I have, a few times now. The last time was just before lockdown in March last year, so I've never seen the completed project, nor got a photograph of the veneered doors, panels, pilasters that made up the wardrobe and other bedroom elements - I was contracted specifically to do the veneering, and not involved in building, finishing, or installing the work. On that occasion the job comprised roughly 75 - 80m² of panel faces veneered on both sides, most with walnut on both sides (doors), and some panels, hidden on the back face, that had a cheaper balancing veneer applied.

The engineered walnut veneer sheets I worked with were all about 3m long by 600 mm wide. Most of the panels (doors mostly) were about ±2,400 mm long by about 450 - 550 mm wide with other panels at different lengths and widths. Because they were engineered each sheet was near enough identical which means a book match wouldn't gradually change over a wide series of panels, although in my case I did a slip match, which worked equally well regarding consistency of pattern across the width. As to working with the stuff, especially on this scale, its positives are consistency of pattern, stability and lack of faults, such as lumps, bumps, voids, and so on.

Mostly it was a case of cutting to size ensuring consistency in pattern repetition, and careful preparation of edges where they had to be taped together. Lacking a guillotine, cutting to size was undertaken with an MDF straight edge, a veneer saw, a sharp Stanley knife, and straightening edges that had to be taped together with a handplane lying on its side with a cobbled up shooting board, i.e., the two pieces of veneer trapped between two sheets of MDF with the edges barely protruding. Glue-up was Titebond veneer adhesive (mostly) in a vac-bag with a melamine faced base board and a melamine faced board on top with a series of very shallow grooves cut through the melamine of top and base board to aid air passage. In some ways, getting the panels into the bag and sealing it properly was possibly the most challenging aspect of the job.

Anyway, I can say that this type of veneer product is a good option in many ways, especially for a large job. Slainte.

 

[Droogs]

Engineered veneer is a great material if you want to make anything like the following:

or this

or this

 

[maznaz]

I have, a few times now. The last time was just before lockdown in March last year, so I've never seen the completed project, nor got a photograph of the veneered doors, panels, pilasters that made up the wardrobe and other bedroom elements - I was contracted specifically to do the veneering, and not involved in building, finishing, or installing the work. On that occasion the job comprised roughly 75 - 80m² of panel faces veneered on both sides, most with walnut on both sides (doors), and some panels, hidden on the back face, that had a cheaper balancing veneer applied.

The engineered walnut veneer sheets I worked with were all about 3m long by 600 mm wide. Most of the panels (doors mostly) were about ±2,400 mm long by about 450 - 550 mm wide with other panels at different lengths and widths. Because they were engineered each sheet was near enough identical which means a book match wouldn't gradually change over a wide series of panels, although in my case I did a slip match, which worked equally well regarding consistency of pattern across the width. As to working with the stuff, especially on this scale, its positives are consistency of pattern, stability and lack of faults, such as lumps, bumps, voids, and so on.

Mostly it was a case of cutting to size ensuring consistency in pattern repetition, and careful preparation of edges where they had to be taped together. Lacking a guillotine, cutting to size was undertaken with an MDF straight edge, a veneer saw, a sharp Stanley knife, and straightening edges that had to be taped together with a handplane lying on its side with a cobbled up shooting board, i.e., the two pieces of veneer trapped between two sheets of MDF with the edges barely protruding. Glue-up was Titebond veneer adhesive (mostly) in a vac-bag with a melamine faced base board and a melamine faced board on top with a series of very shallow grooves cut through the melamine of top and base board to aid air passage. In some ways, getting the panels into the bag and sealing it properly was possibly the most challenging aspect of the job.

Anyway, I can say that this type of veneer product is a good option in many ways, especially for a large job. Slainte.

This is brilliant information and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.

 

[David bonner]

Um not keen it though but best to use original veneer ok also don’t like the sound of engeeered stuff as it’s synthetic stuff ok.

 

[ol_london]

Um not keen it though but best to use original veneer ok also don’t like the sound of engeeered stuff as it’s synthetic stuff ok.

It’s real wood, usually a sustainable hardwood like ayous/obeche. It’s dyed to make it look like various other woods. I don’t know what you mean by synthetic...it’s processed but still very much wood.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Um not keen it though but best to use original veneer ok also don’t like the sound of engeeered stuff as it’s synthetic stuff ok.

A curious post, David. Is your opinion based on personal experience of using these engineered veneers, which you found unsatisfactory because the material was/is, for example, sub-standard, or because you've seen poor end results, such as being aesthetically unattractive in 'grain' pattern, or the job incompetently executed? Slainte.