When is veneering just gluing two boards together? (Plus teaser pics!)

[Turtlewood]

Hey All,

I'm rebuilding the stairs in our house. Typical story... used to be carpeted, now working on hardwood treads install. I'm using handmade Brazilian cherry (jatoba) as it matches the floors I put down a few years ago.

Wife now says that she would like Jatoba risers too, not white painted ones.

So I'm planning to buy some 1/4 plywood and glue 1/8 resawed jatoba for the riser face. Given the fairly thick 1/8 "veneer" that I'm gluing onto the 1/4 plywood, do I need to glue something to the back side... say some maple that I have lying around.

I know that the golden rule is veneer on front and back, but in this case am I simply crossing over into "glueing two boards together" territory with 1/8 inch think resaw/show face?

Thanks in advance,
-Kevin

PS: Here's some teaser shots of building the treads. I'll post more in-depth later once I've made more progress:

(Some of you may recognize the bench.... :eusa_thin)

 

[Howard Acheson]

No, you don't want to glue the veneered plywood to solid wood. The solid wood will expand/contract with seasonal changes in relative humidity. The plywood will inhibit that movement and your risers will warp. You can glue thicker plywood to the back of the 1/4" plywood substrate you plan to glue your veneer to as long as you resawn veneer is 1/8" or less.

 

[Turtlewood]

You can glue thicker plywood to the back of the 1/4" plywood substrate you plan to glue your veneer to as long as you resawn veneer is 1/8" or less.

Hey Howard,

Thanks for your comments, but I'm confused on that last part. If I glue thicker (than 1/4, say 1/2"?) plywood onto the back, in addition to the 1/4" plywood and the 1/8" jatoba slice then I'll end up with close to an inch thick riser.

My plan is to use 1/2" risers. So other than 1/2" Jatoba risers, what are my options here for both 1/8" think resaws or thinner resaws?

Note that the risers are only max 8" wide. Not sure how much movement that brings into the picture.

Thanks,
-Kevin

 

[DonDeJ]

If it gets too thick you could always rabbet out the back of the risers where they contact the stringer. Then you get the stability of the thicker riser with the apparent thickness of a normal riser.

 

[jhreed]

I worked in a plywood plant for 36 years. What you are doing is fine. 1/8" is a very common thickness for the composition of plywood. You are just adding one ply to the existing plywood. Say going from 3 ply to 4 ply.
send pictures of finished project.
James

 

[Howard Acheson]

What is it that limits you to 1/2"? It it's going into a slot or groove, make up your 1/8"+1/4"+ 3/4" and rabbet the edges to 1/2". Another approach is to just glue on a three 3/4" x 2" strips of 3/4" plywood to the back. Size the length so that it is shorter than the whole width by the amount that gives you clearance.

The problem is that I don't really know the construction or what you are doing with the steps and risers.