Rolling up veneer, for shipping purposes

[dirk martin]

I've got some sheets of veneer that I need to ship to several people.
All different types and sizes of veneer.

This is raw veneer. No backing.

Some is nice and flat, but some of the mahogany crotch is wavy and has some buckles to it. Even the flat stuff is stiff and brittle.

I want to get some glycerin, and mix 20% of it with water, and then spray the veneer, so that I can roll it up, and then put it in a tube for shipping.

1) Am I making a nightmare for my customer?
2) Will it come out of the tube, stiff, and rolled up, such that my customer can't unroll it?
3) Can I spray it, roll it up, and pack it in the tube all at once, or do I need to let it dry, or partially dry before tubing?
4) Is a 80% water / 20% glycerin mixture correct?

[david brum]

The veneer I've received was rolled into a large cardboard box, so the diameter of the roll was around 16". I was still instructed to take it out of the box ASAP and let it relax. It worked fine and I'm pretty sure it wasn't treated with any softener.

[Thomas S Stockton]

Dirk
Don't roll the crotches or if you have it burl it is just to brittle and fragile. Most the veneer I buy is sent rolled up, they usually use a piece of brown paper longer than the veneer on the outside on roll it up tight, I don't think you need to do anything to soften it up.
The burls and crotches I have received have always come packaged flat in 3 or 4 layers of cardboard and are also sometimes wrapped in plastic.
Personally I wouldn't mess with softening it, I think you could be creating a real mess for yourself. When I soften veneers I hang them to drip dry and then further dry them in my vacuum press switching out newsprint as I go to absorb moisture. I could see that if you softened the stuff and then packed it and shipped it cross country after a week the person on the other end could end up with a moldy mess.
I buy my softening agent premixed from www.pro-glue.com
Tom

[Mike Henderson]

Dirk
Don't roll the crotches or if you have it burl it is just to brittle and fragile. Most the veneer I buy is sent rolled up, they usually use a piece of brown paper longer than the veneer on the outside on roll it up tight, I don't think you need to do anything to soften it up.
The burls and crotches I have received have always come packaged flat in 3 or 4 layers of cardboard and are also sometimes wrapped in plastic.
Personally I wouldn't mess with softening it, I think you could be creating a real mess for yourself. When I soften veneers I hang them to drip dry and then further dry them in my vacuum press switching out newsprint as I go to absorb moisture. I could see that if you softened the stuff and then packed it and shipped it cross country after a week the person on the other end could end up with a moldy mess.
I buy my softening agent premixed from www.pro-glue.com (http://www.pro-glue.com)
Tom
I agree with Tom. Fragile veneers have to be shipped flat. Take cardboard and use several layers on each side so that it doesn't get bent during shipping.

The ONLY reason to go through flattening them before shipping is if they are so warped you can't put the veneer flat between the cardboard without breaking it. I make my own flattening solution but pre-made is easier. The active ingredient is glycerin because it is hygroscopic, and it keeps the veneer from drying out so much.

I, too, often use my vacuum press to process veneer to flatten it, but for small stuff, I'll just use some MDF as cauls.

Mike

[Frank Drew]

Dirk

I agree with the previous posters. It might be useful to have a helper when it comes time to roll up the veneers, and find some sturdy wrapping paper that will roll up on the outside of the veneers, as Thomas mentions. You can then tape the paper which will hold the roll securely but not stick to and possibly damage the veneers.