Veneer/ laminate ?

[dvddvd]

Slightly different question to the one asking about buying a veneer press.

I started looking at buying veneers already cut to a 0.6mm thickness

They are quite reasonable priced for the size I want..The items I'm making is only 70mm x 18mm x 1.8mm.

I also saw shops selling construction veneers, which are 2mm thick but only in the less exotic hardwoods.

So I thought how would the idea of gluing 3 pieces of veneer together, since they are 0.6mm thick sound? So like a plywood?
I could even put the middle piece at 90 degrees so the grain is running the other way to give it more strength. Would the middle piece be better in a different wood?

Any problems you can see?

 

[TRITON]

that would effectively make it a bit of plywood, but tbh i cant see that having a different species would make that much difference.

Since buying a bagpress system, ive been meaning to do a bit more veneering, and after a bit of looking about, its incredible the types of veneer that is now available.

German company specializes in them
https://designholz.com/en/veneer/saraifo-veneer/?p=1

 

[Yojevol]

I tried making my own plywood out of 7 x 0.6 veneers but I had trouble in keeping the result flat. I then realised that I was introducing a lot of water by using PVA so i changed to PU. Problem solved.
Advice, use a non-water based glue.
Brian

 

[6x4]

I was going to say something like yojevol above so won’t repeat that.

The thicker veneers allow a bit more scope to sand/plane albeit still with care - I’ve sawn 3 mm veneers for this reason and it’s nice to have.

Laminations of 0.7 mm veneers could still show if you sand through the top layer or want to put a very small chamfer on the arris. Doubly so with a 90 degree alternate layup or a different species.

What do you want to achieve with a lamination? Will you still glue it to a substrate or do you want to make plywood?

Cheers

 

[recipio]

You will make your 1.8 mm veneers this way certainly. However they will come out of the pressing form like a banana. Only useful if you are going to glue them down to a solid substrate.
Sanding veneers should start with 240 grit progressing to 320. Anything coarser risks going through the top layer all too quickly.

 

[niall Y]

One doesn't have to have alternate layers at a full 90 degrees to each other. Drawer side ply is an example of this. Consequently, it is more akin to solid wood in its appearance and behaviour when planing.

 

[dvddvd]

You will make your 1.8 mm veneers this way certainly. However they will come out of the pressing form like a banana. Only useful if you are going to glue them down to a solid substrate.
Sanding veneers should start with 240 grit progressing to 320. Anything coarser risks going through the top layer all too quickly.

Hi thanks, so its not a good idea? I did fear that they will not come out as hoped. Three wavy pieces of thin wood glued together, will come out as a thick wavy piece of wood?

I have been looking on lots of veneer sites and see some selling constuction veneer, which is 1.5mm thick. I could up the thickness and make the pieces out of a piece of construction veneer 1.5mm thick and a piece of 0.5-0.6mm exotic veneer? So it would be 2mm thick.

Would that work better?

 

[dvddvd]

I was going to say something like yojevol above so won’t repeat that.

The thicker veneers allow a bit more scope to sand/plane albeit still with care - I’ve sawn 3 mm veneers for this reason and it’s nice to have.

Laminations of 0.7 mm veneers could still show if you sand through the top layer or want to put a very small chamfer on the arris. Doubly so with a 90 degree alternate layup or a different species.

What do you want to achieve with a lamination? Will you still glue it to a substrate or do you want to make plywood?

Cheers

No it will be cut into small 70mm x 18mm x 2mm pieces. So no substrate. More of a plywood

Initially i wanted to cut some 2mm thick pieces of Maple or Mahogony with my bandsaw, which didnt really go to plan. I have since ordered a Bow bandsaw featherboard which im awaiting to arrive so will give it another go..

So after the bandsaw disaster I started looking at veneers and had the idea of making a 2mm thick piece up with various veneers.
Then the more exotic veneers caught my eye which would be expensive if i bought a chunk of wood and I thought i may try them instead of the normal Maple or Sapele. I have seen some construction veneers which are 1.5mm thick and I could glue on a piece of exotic hardwood veneer (0.6mm) to the face.

Its all a bit of trail and error....

 

[6x4]

I get that bandsaws can misbehave - a pass through a thicknesses, drum sander an/or work with a hand plane can still give good results. For pieces your size I’ve used a handsaw - it works.

Other than that, the suggestion to
use non water based glue - PU or epoxy, not PVA/Titebond plus a decent effort at making a temporary press will still work.

 

[Harry Hare]

Hi, if you want to achieve an accurate component out of veneer measuring 2 mm , this could be done 100%. Yes using either standard 0.6mm, or constructional 3mm veneers.

Standard 0.6mm

Use 4 layers and sand to .5mm, obviously measure with callipers. Then clamp them together using veneer glue which you can get from the bag press company, or if you are only doing a small amount, I would try and use a good PVA to save money. Make the veneers 10mm longer and wider, glue up and then trim back to the finish size.

Stick it in a bag or just clamp it together , and use plastic or wax in between to stop the veneers sticking to the bag press slave board (bottom) and same for top board.

Or

Buy in some constructional veneer and sand to the required thickness.

Hopefully this helps

 

[recipio]

You must remember it is the glue line which exerts tension in lamination. A single layer will always warp the piece so you need at least a double glue line ( top and bottom ) to balance out the stresses as the glue dries. You can use an exotic veneer certainly as the display layer as long as you balance it with two other veneers. Crosslaying the middle layer is of little use and would make planing the edge difficult.
An open sided box with a snug top pressed down with G clamps is a cheap way of doing this. Wax the box first to stop the veneers sticking and use the glue very sparingly.I would suggest Titebond Cold Veneer glue which does not bleed through the veneers very easily.
Andrew Crawford the renowned box maker gets lovely results using brightly coloured laminations as veneer keys in mitred boxes.

 

[dvddvd]

I did see this

Which for £60 didn't seem that bad. It's A4 size and could put extra quick release clamps around the edge. 10mm steel platen