Hi
I have a few boards of tiger maple and would like it to use it as veneer. I plan on building a chest of drawer in maple. I want to use solid wood for my veneer substrate for the top and drawer front. I am planning on cutting my veneer 1/8 thick to make it easier to work with.
Here is a few question marks:
If I use maple veneer over maple core, do I need to veneer both side to prevent cupping?
If I use maple veneer over pine core or other wood, do I need to veneer both side to prevent cupping?
If I use a different wood for the core, do I need to consider the difference in wood movement?
I need to orient the veneer grain with the core grain, right?
My veneers will be from 4 to 8 inch wide. In the building of the top and drawer front, I plan on veneering each veneer board to a equal width core. Afterwards I will do the lamination. Does this sounds like a good plan?
thanks
Replies
Hi,
Sit down.
Lousy plan. I'm sorry to break the news, but your idea won't work. Not for very long at least. You see the problem is your substrate has to be stable so that the veneer doesn't peel off. A solid lumber core is going to want to move, to cup, to bend, to act like wood.
It doesn't matter if you veneer with both grain directions running the same way. If they're not from the same board the veneer and the substrate will move differently causing you problems.
You are right that you need to veneer both sides to prevent cupping. However your core has to be stable and neither maple nor pine are stable enough.
Now old lumber core plywood that I've seen is made up of lots of strips of quarter or rift sawn stock, each about 2" wide. This way these individual pieces want to move less across their width and so will stay flatter over time. But there's a reason plywood is made up of thin veneers or particleboard. It stays flatter.
Back to the drawing board for that tiger maple. You can still use it as veneer but over something much more stable.
Gary Rogowski
http://www.northwestwoodworking.com
Hi Gary
I appreciate your answer
They did veneer over solid wood in the old days, Do you know what was their approach.
There is also a very short article on the subject by Tage Frid, but lacks information.
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesPDF.aspx?id=2270
thanks
Martin
Of course they did. But as I said, the substrate was made up of small pieces usually rift or quartersawn. If they used flat sawn stock, it was used with alternating heart sides to minimize the inevitable effects of cupping. For an interesting insight, go find Dover's reprint of Blackie and Son's, The Victorian Cabinet-Maker's Assistant. In it they talk about veneer and the proper way to prepare the solid wood substrate. Gary Rogowski
http://www.northwestwoodworking.com
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled