RogerM":1pxs4vuo said:
How did you find the veneering? Any tips you can pass on to us amateurs?
What I learned was this;
Number each leaf of burr veneer as they come out of the pack so that you can use them sequentially- the pattern changes slighty between the first leaf and the last.
Burr veneer arrives all 'bumpy' and has to be flattened before use. This done by wetting it slightly all over with water from one of those houseplant spray bottles and clamping two sheets at a time between pieces of lining paper. I made simple 'presses' for this process from pieces of 25mm MDF and G-clamps.
The most important tools required are a very sharp scalpel and a very heavy metal straight-edge. A light one will move around as you cut along it with the scalpel. DAMHIK!
For book-matching the burr veneer cut a template of the size panel you need from 6mm MDF and place it on the first sheet of veneer so that it covers the most attractive part of the pattern. A template of perspex or even glass would make this easier as you could see the pattern through it. Carefully cut the veneer to the exact size of your template.
Use this first piece of veneer to mark out the other pieces of burr required for that lay-out. By flipping it over as appropriate you can line up the pattern perfectly with the next leaf and get that classic bookmatched effect. Cut each leaf with the straight edge and scalpel.
Working from the reverse side stick the leaves together with masking tape. Then put the semi-completed lay-out back between a couple of sheets of MDF to prevent it drying out and going all 'bumpy' again.
For the cross-banding you need a lot of very straight grained veneer. My main mistake with this job was not ordering enough - consequently I was unable to match up the cross-banding from one door to the next.
Cut the veneer across the grain in strips a little wider than the finished size. Square up the ends of each strip. Working from the reverse side tape together the individual short strips into several long ones, again using masking tape.
Then turn your long strips over and tape the joins with veneer tape - a very thin paper tape that comes pre-gummed but which you have to lick to moisten the gum - like old envelopes. Then trim the edges of your long strips to the finished size with the straight-edge and scalpel.
We are then ready to apply the cross-banding to the bookmatched burr panels. Working again from the reverse side fasten the strips in place using masking tape. Masking tape at this stage is very forgiving and allows you undo any mistakes. Overlap the strips at each corner - do not attempt to pre-cut your mitres!
The mitres at each corner are cut simply by placing the straight edge between the corner of the burr panel and the point at the extremity where the two pieces of crossbanding overlap. Cut along this line carefully with the scalpel through both pieces of cross band veneer
from the outside towards the inside. This point is important as if you cut the other way it is almost inevitable that you will lose a bit of veneer at the point of the corner. DAMHIK (again!) If you nick the corner of the burr panel with the scalpel it doesn't matter as this is the reverse side.
Flip the lay-put over and apply veneer tape to all the joins. Then flip it over again and remove the masking tape. Then put the whole thing between sheets of MDF again to keep it flat and move onto the next lay-out.
When all the lay-outs are complete we need to make up balancers for the reverse sides of all our veneered panels. These are simply made from leaves of a matching but cheaper and less decorative veneer. I used American Black Walnut for the balancers on this job.
The cores of each panel on this job were MDF with walnut lippings which I had prepared earlier.
Actually glueing up is pretty straightforward. I used a 3 platten traditional screw type veneer press and One-Shot glue. Others prefer bag presses and/or PVA.
As you can see, I learned a lot from this process and I am glad to have written it down before I forgot!
Cheers
Brad
