Paperback veneer-Homemade?

[Dave Lehnert]

I have a jewelry box I'm making that has a curved top. The veneer is 8" x 10". You make the curved top with poster board sandwiched in between.
The plans used paperback veneer. My veneer I have is not. Should I try to glue paper on the back before making the bend or jut use the veneer as is (no paper)?
If I would use paper is building paper too thick? News print? Other?

[Jamie Buxton]

Use the unbacked veneer as-is. It will be fine.

Backing veneer with paper is common in industry where somebody is assembling large sheets of veneer from many individual leaves. For instance, some manufacturer might be making 32"x80" sheets which somebody else will be laminating on to doors. The manufacturer is using leafs which might be only 8" or 10" across. The paper backing holds the leafs together into the large sheet, and it reduces splitting at the ends. You have no need for the paper.

[David DeCristoforo]

Gluing paper on the back of a "full thickness" veneer will not be any different that gluing your veneer to a piece of cardboard. If you look at paper backed veneer, one of the things you will notice is that the veneer is extraordinarily thin. More than anything else, this is what gives paper backed veneer it's flexibility and stability. You will not be able accomplish this "at home". I believe Jamie is correct in that your box top is small enough that you should be able to glue a "fill thickness" veneer directly to the poster board. You do not mention how you plan to do this. Contact cement? Pressed with a form? If you plan to use contact cement, you will run the same risk as you would in bonding unbacked veneer to any substrate. But, again, you may "get away with it" simply by virtue of the small area. Is there any sort of "binding" on the edges of this box that might help hold the veneer down?

[Chris Padilla]

I would not use contact cement. I would use a glue that dries very hard like plastic resin or urea. I also wouldn't use any of the PVAs (yellow and white) since they dry somewhat flexible (give the rise to glue creep).

[george wilson]

Veneer glued down with contact cement can come loose in places,and cause lumpy spots in the veneer,which will not stick back down. Hide glue is the best thing to veneer with.