I am restoring a Hope Chest from my family. The veneer that was original was badly “bubbled” and cracked. I have removed ALL veneer from the cedar chest and have now a plain “body” of the hope chest. I attempted to veneer the exterior of the hope chest this past weekend, but had lots of trouble.
My main trouble is I have no good way of clamping or putting pressure on this. Because the chest is already assembled, but Mahogany veneer that I put down on it buckled and bubbled. I did not have good adhesion. My question is this…how can I successfully clamp this down? At first I tried a piece of plywood with lots of weights on it. That did not work. Then I tried another side of the chest and used some pipe clamps to clamps across the chest and pull the plywood to the surface. That was good around the edges, but the middle look horrible. How can I do this?
I used Titebond II for my glue. I have tested Titebond II on scrap pieces and it worked great. Should I use another type of glue for the veneering project of this chest? I was thinking that maybe I could get some deep C-Clamps (the hope chest is only 11″ deep) so that way I could get the veneer down in the middle…is that ok?
Thanks!
Dark Magneto
Replies
I think hammer veneering it with hide glue would be your best bet. Rob Millard has made several posts about this technique. You may want to search some threads he has posted in.
Tom
Douglasville, GA
Tom,
I appreciate your suggestion of Hide Glue and Hammer Veneering it. Why do you recommend it over a regular "yellow" glue. I am unsure of the benefits.
Thanks!Dark
Honestly I am no expert on the subject. I do nearly all my veneering using urea formaldehyde glues in a vacuum press but if I were to restore a peice I would learn to hammer veneer it with hot hide glue.
I don't like pva glues for veneering because of creep issues and also the very high moisture content the put in the veneer during glue up. Hot hide glue has been used for centuries for veneering and I am told it is a fairly simple process to learn. Rob Millard uses this process for all his veneering and his results are stunning.
Some people may recommend using pva glues and ironing the veneer on but I feel this process leaves a thick (undesireable) glue line and will not stand the test of time.Tom
Douglasville, GA
Hammer veneering with hide glue is a great method. First, you don't need any clamps because the glue is heat activated and sets within a few minutes. If you make a mistake, you can re-activate it with a clothing iron, and move it. The glue acts as a partial grain filler and won't interfere with stains and finishes (an added benefit). There are tons of articles on the technique, but you don't need a lot of equipment. I use a home made veneer hammer (which is of course, not a striking hammer, but more of a squeegee, upon which you can apply a lot of pressure.) An electric glue pot is nice, but you can heat a tin can with glue, in a pot of hot water. (about 105 degrees)
If you are commited to yellow glue, you can apply the glue to both the veneer and substrate (chest, in this case) and let them both dry. You then apply the veneer and iron the veneer on, re-activating the glue with heat, and forming an instant bond, again, without clamps. The only thing is, when you do this, you will never be able to move or easily remove the veneer if you make a mistake. I have used both methods and I would say that if you don't have a lot of joints to make, try the iron on method. If you do have joints to make, try the hide glue.
Dark Magneto
I have an old art deco hope chest with rounded edges for which I will also be replacing some missing veneer. I haven't got to it yet, but if there are curves or uneven surfaces in your project, try using sandbags for "clamping" pressure. They conform to the shape. Not my original thought -something I must have read here.
Not relevant for this chest but something I have seen for curved surfaces is a box with inner tubes between the top and the piece.These were inflated with a piece of thin ply next to the work and with the box lid in place. Even pressure all over and standard tyre pump so no special equipment.
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