I have sanded and scraped through my last veneered plywood. I intend to start cutting my own veneer and this thought came to mind….At what thickness does veneer stop being dominated by the substrate and glue and begin to assert itself?? I have heard of veneers being 1/4 inch thick.How difficult is veneer that thick to glue down successfully? To be able to level the trim and veneer a person would want a thick enough skin to be sure of no slip-ups. Each wood contracts and expands differently, so no hard and fast rule would apply, but would 1/16 to 3/32 be too much to expect to stay glued down?? See what a really idle mind can conjure up?? Thanks for any thoughts on this….
Bob
Replies
Opinion, I think you're safe to assume veneer will act "like veneer" up to 1/16".
After that, it may, as you say, assert itself. Most of the veneers I buy are closer to a 32nd. I don't recall the last time I found anything that thick on a premade panel, such as plywood. I am at a loss to understand the thought process behind some of the things I see in lumberyards. You could sneeze your way through the surface layer.
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Thank you for your reply. I have a theory as to why the plywood is so poor now. It's because, I think, we buy it anyway. If nobody bought the product, maybe, just maybe, it would improve. I know for a fact, I am only using it when I can't do it any other way. Thanks again,BobSingle, retired woodworker living on a lake in a National Forest...why do I put up with it.......
Most shop sawn veneer is around 3/32"of an inch when finished. The advantage here is a veneer that still moves at a more predictable rate than 1/42" veneer and it still works and finishes like thicker wood.
I've had great success with this and still remains fairly stable.
Hope this helps.
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Suspicions confirmed.....Thanks for answering my post..To carry it a bit further, I would suspect that glue bleed through is somewhat less of a problem with thicker veneer.... Thanks again....BobSingle, retired woodworker living on a lake in a National Forest...why do I put up with it.......
Thicker veneer definitely helps prevent glue bleed through. This sort of leads to the question of what glue to use but that has been well covered in other forum threads. I use pre-catylized urea formaldehyde and I had a bleed through problem before I even knew what one was. Trying to get enough veneer from a single board, I got the veneer too thin and was dismayed when I took the veneered pieces out of the vacuum press and saw the bleed through. I thought all was lost so I just tried to sand the pieces to see what happened. With sanding, the bleed through disappeared! Even after finishing, there was no sign of bleed through. I was pleasantly shocked! I don't know if this is the case for all glues but I'm sticking with urea formaldehyde.
...tom
I aim for 1/16 to 3/32 after sanding. To get that, I set the saw to cut close to 1/8".
Many thanks to you also for replying......I will say again, this is the BEST forum for woodworkers.......What a helpful group of people....BobSingle, retired woodworker living on a lake in a National Forest...why do I put up with it.......
Bob,
Lake and all sounds just great !
Hey this may not be the info you want or maybe I don't get it but figured I would comment in case:
Here is an old post and I include it because I don't want to post part of it all over again
http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=46478.9
See one of the photos called "V J DT cropped" shows the front of the bench. The nice grain is a 1/4" veneer that I band sawed from a thick plank and glued on just for show to the more boring straight grained but more stable wood that makes up the bulk of the bench. See the top view pic with the planes; if you enlarge it you can see the seam on the front of the bench.
I don't think it maters if you make the veneer thick 1/4 or what ever on case work as long as you veneer both sides. Can use a lesser wood on the non-show side. It is just that thick veneer may be a waste of wood. I made it thick because I was going to plane the front square to the top and straight rather than just flat and pretty so I erred on the thick side.
Also see James Krenov's book for more info on thicker veneer ( 1/8 " etc. ) and veneering in general:
http://www.amazon.com/Impractical-Cabinetmaker-James-Krenov/dp/0941936511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=booksqid=1250734137&sr=1-1
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Edited 8/19/2009 10:21 pm by roc
WOW! Really nice work on that bench. To the contrary, your answer was what I was hoping to hear...a person can use thicker veneer, if it is necessary, either for design purposes or for machining variables. I will check into the Krenov book, also. Thanks for your reply...the lake IS great......BobSingle, retired woodworker living on a lake in a National Forest...why do I put up with it.......
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