Veneer Thickness and Wood Movement
Desertcity_Furniture
| Posted in General Discussion on
I know that veneer is an almost universally accepted practice in fine furniture, but I never use it on anything that will get touched or moved, because dents, dings, and scrapes will eventually happen, and the thought of substrate showing through on something I made is mortifying to me. So my question is: at what thickness does wood movement become an issue when veneering over wide panels that have almost none? Is shop-made veneer at ¼” too much, so that neither scrapes not wood movement is a problem? 3/16″? Where does the line get drawn at?
–Peter Spaulding, High Desert Custom Furniture
Lancaster, CA
Replies
If you saw veneer as thick as 1/4 inch it will act (move) like solid wood. You’d be much better off at 3/32-7/64 which gives plenty of room for hand planing, sanding, etc.
Anything over 1/16-in. is likely to move on it's own.
When is the last time you scrapped a 1/6-in. off of a piece of wood? You have to work pretty hard to plane that much off!
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