shop made veneer thickness

[JohnnyR]

How thick can you make veneer and glue it to plywood? My son wants a coffee table out of walnut that he wants distressed. He wants a rough V groove between the "planks". Easy to make out of full stock. However, now he wants "ends" surrounding it. If just breadboard, no problem, but if it surrounds I can't deal with the wood movement so thinking of veneer. The veneer would have to be about 3/16" and I don't know if that would work glued to a substrate. Also, if it does work, and it's connected to 6 legs, do I need to also veneer the bottom?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Roy G]

James Krenov talks about veneering and says he uses 3/32" as his thickness. He is also using it over the same wood species as the carcass.

Roy G

 

[ehpoole]

If you look at antique furniture it was not uncommon for veneers to be as much as 3/16-1/4" thick, but the thicker the veneer the more movement of the veneer can distort the underlying material if they expand and contract at different rates and only one side (the visible side) has been veneered.

 

[danmart77]

John

Going the veneer path is fun and it can offer you more choices than random board glue ups. If you plan to border the table with mitered corners veneer is the best option. If I were in your place, I would veneer to thick MDF. Its flat, smooth and it does not expand. I have veneered 1/16-3/16 stuff to MDF with good results. If you want a different edge, you can border the table top with 1" walnut and veneer over the top to hide the edge effectively and need not worry about the movement. A width as small as 1" won't move enough under the veneer to cause problems.

Rule of Thumb: If you use 1/16 or thicker veneer un-supported(dovetailed drawer sides to the face) you need to veneer both sides. I did not veneer both sides of my drawer faces as the substrate was dovetailed to the sides.

Your options are endless with some thought and good veneer. Whats good veneer? Cut your own and match them up.

Here's slices from a very crooked board that was applied to low grade walnut boards for drawer fronts.

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[JGregJ]

Well those crooked boards sure turned out pretty!

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Stunning. What is your process for cutting veneer?

 

[jazzflute]

Stunning. What is your process for cutting veneer?

Dan uses an axe.

(He's OLD school, but VERY skilled...)

K

 

[danmart77]

Well those crooked boards sure turned out pretty!

Greg the veneer was cut from ONE board. It was anything but straight.

The process of cutting veneer from a "less than straight" board is to use a "knife edge" fence guide at the blade teeth. OK what in the world is he talking about.

Don't use a conventional straight guide fence for the job-- it won't work too well.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the guide I use in my veneer folder but I will try to take a photo in the next day or two. Essentially it is a V or a knife edge that the board rides on as it passes the cutting teeth. This allows the veneer to be cut to a uniform thickness at the moment the wood passes the teeth. The crooked board is not pushed along a straight fence here.

The board on the right is the one used to cut the veneer sheets. With a 4/4 board, I was able to get 6 individual sheets. Fairly thick and easy to match in the end.

As you can see on the drawer fronts on the early stages, I over size the faces and dress them down after being worked to the drawers. This keeps the edges in line.

Take a look in the Gallery under danmart77. There's a folder with desk work up stuff and a veneer folder. Maybe it will make more sense. I will try to further explain my cutting methods soon

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[jazzflute]

And I could have SWORN he used an axe.

Hmm.

BTW, although not actually posted by anyone yet, the magic word is: "bandsaw".

K