Self adhesive real wood veneers.

[Britman]

Been looking at real wood self adhesive veneers.

I've never used them before, are they any good or best avoided.

Or am I best going regular veneer and using contact adhesive?

The price seems pretty bad God compared to veneered MDF or Ply.

 

[Glynne]

It depends very much on what you're looking to veneer.
Using regular veneer you will need to be able to press the veneer onto your substrate using a press, a vacuum bag or several cauls depending on the size of panel you are going to use. Even with self adhesive ones I would suggest applying pressure if you can.
For larger panels, then veneered MDF / Ply isn't a bad option especially if you can a matching edge strip.

 

[Britman]

Cheers, the area isn't massive and the substrate will be MDF.
Are they prone to separating after a few years?

 

[Yojevol]

I've only used a ready glue coated veneer once. I obtained a large batch of veneer offcuts and leftovers from a company closing down. This particular veneer, sapele, was probably made for application in an industrial manufacturing process. The adhesive was PVA. I used it for small items and applied it using a hot ironing iron working slowly across the workpiece. I've also used PVA sheet using the same iron-on method. No particular problems but you do need to keep a bit of pressure on the veneer behind the iron as the glue cools. This was traditionally done with a veneer hammer.
Brian

 

[AFFF]

I have some experience with this stuff. I built a set of high quality hi-fi speakers about 3 years ago. Made from 18mm MDF. The goal was to produce a pair that sounded top notch AND looked good as well. After some research online about veneers and veneering (never done it before) I settled for some american walnut that was backed with an adhesive coating. I found it easy to use but beware, there is no possibility of moving the stuff once its made contact with the MDF. It really sticks! After 3 years there is no sign of any lifting. Happily use and recommend this stuff. I'll see if I can dig out the supplier's details and post them here

 

[AFFF]

https://www.thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/collections/peel-and-stick-wood-veneer