Help with burr veneer please

[Sgian Dubh]

One problem I have had with this mixture is minute black spots developing. I thought at first it may be steel contamination but now I think it may be some kind of fungal stain. It's easily removed with oxalic acid. Perhaps Richard (Sibn Duhb or whatever he's called) will be along with more detail. Chris

Chris, I've come across that spotting myself every now and then and I haven't found a way of preventing it. I have wondered if the cause might be iron in the water, and perhaps distilled water might reduce the chance of it occurring, but I really don't know if that would help. Like you, I've resorted to removal with a little oxalic acid, although I've also tried a few careful localised dabs of domestic bleach with some success. Slainte.

 

[custard]

I can't quite get my head around the price difference between ...

I suspect the price difference may be caused by the temperature the mats or pads from AirPress are capable of reaching safely compared to the electric blankets from John Lewis. It wouldn't surprise me to find the AirPress items can heat up rapidly to ~60ºC, this being the sort of temperature used in hot presses. Even veneering with urea formaldehyde at this temperature means the veneered panel can be removed from the press after less than five minutes. Slainte.

I'm sure you're right, but a fast hardner with UF at 25 degrees C means a pressing time of just 30 minutes, so effectively the same as PVA. That'll do me!

 

[yetloh]

Chris, I've come across that spotting myself every now and then and I haven't found a way of preventing it. I have wondered if the cause might be iron in the water, and perhaps distilled water might reduce the chance of it occurring, but I really don't know if that would help. Like you, I've resorted to removal with a little oxalic acid, although I've also tried a few careful localised dabs of domestic bleach with some success. Slainte.

That sounds highly plausible to me from my recollections of Yorkshire's often very soft, peaty and therefore presumably acid water which could easily carry iron impurities.

Jim