I have veneered to mdf and plywood numerous times with great results. My question: Is it possible to veneer to solid wood for doorfronts and drawer fronts to obtain a real wood edge without having to band wood or veneer around the perimeter of a man made substrate? I have heard talk of veneering to a “bonded solid wood core”, but I am not sure what that means. I have also heard of veneering to solid wood in a way that you cross the grains of the veneer and the solid substrate in order to “lock” the panel and prevent it from moving.
This theory just seems to be in contradiction of all I know about wood movement, but then again I don’t know much!!!
Thanks for any help,
Clay Crocker
Replies
Clay,
You can indeed veneer over solid wood, but you should keep the grain direction identical. Otherwise, you may have cracking problems. You should also apply a balancing veneer on the back side, unless the core is thick enough to hold its shape. A friend and I have been building drawers using a drawer front applied to a drawer box. I have experienced a little cupping when I did not use the backer veneer on a 3/4" core.
Good luck, Tom.
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