Veneer flattening

[TRITON]

I have some waterfall bubinga veneer which is mostly the figured bit with some plain along one side and its the plain bit that has a distinct warp to it. How would I best flatten the sheet so it doesnt crack ?. I think theres about consecutive sheets to do.
I wondered about soaking it, then pressing between two boards with a lot of weight. I intend to remove the plain section and maybe use it to face something like a small maple drawer unit.(on the drawer fronts.

 

[Ttrees]

You might find this video from David Savage of interest.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I use the same process as Scot Grove, the drying is as important as the wetting and pressing. If you just wet and press it will go mouldy unless you have a heated platen press to steam it out.



Cheers

Peter

 

[profchris]

It's worth trying with a domestic steam iron - that will usually (largely) flatten instrument sides which I've bent inaccurately, and those are around 2mm thick. With veneer I'd start with steam, then turn the steam off and keep ironing until all the moisture has gone. Putting it under weights straight away, for a couple of hours, is probably useful too.

If the iron will be used for clothes again, iron through a cloth in case of wood residue on the iron.

 

[Droogs]

Nearly all my stuff is veneered in some way or another and I use the same process as Scott Grove. The big advantage to Scotts way is that the softening mix also acts as a rejuvenater for old dry veneers and allows for long term storage without having to worry about the flatness of the veneer for a couple of years. All veneers will bubble, warp and curl over time as the dry out (even with weight on them) but the solution slows this process considerably. If you want to learn more about it all then go to his website www.imaginegrove.com. Scott is a master regarding modern veneering, I have seen him carry out live realtime 3 dimensional compound veneering on on a statue and a baseball, while chatting away and explaining what he is doing. Scott also comes over to Edinburgh every year to teach the veneering section of the long term furniture course at the Chippendale School in Haddington. For more about traditional veneering look up Yannick Chastang


hth

 

[TRITON]

I'd seen this rejuvenation stuff in some YT vids, but at the time tracking it down it kind of looked expensive stuff, and being Scottish....
But if you reckonits the best stuff for the job, maybe its the way to go, and the veneer is nice stuff and I dont want it to break up.

If the iron will be used for clothes again, iron through a cloth in case of wood residue on the iron.

One of the things my family doesnt get is the nice iron they got me when i moved into a flat was only ever used in my furniture making. I dont think its ever going to be capable of ironing clothes ever again
It was last used to iron on some madrona burl around a convex taper, using the dried pva, and a bit of brown paper technique where thee iron heats and softens the glue and the veneer bends with the heat and the weight of the iron help set it all. As such theres still a bit of glue and other residues on it.

I mean honestly Giving me an iron. What did they think i was going to use it for ??

 

[Droogs]

my recipe for restorer is
3 parts water
2 parts hide glue or yellow wood glue (i try to avoid PVA as it can interfere with later finishes)
1 part veggie glycerin
1 part IPA

and a drop or 2 of lemon oil (just smells nice)

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Here's a link to a page at my website that describes a similar process to the one Peter linked to above; just text and images I'm afraid, no video, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[MARK.B.]

I mean honestly Giving me an iron. What did they think i was going to use it for ??

Door stop