Veneer over Linseed Oil plywood

[Alex Pearl]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying this question in this forum. I posted in the finishing section, so I am hoping for a broader audience here.

My thanks in advance for any advice. I'm new to woodworking and have learned a lot about it in making my first set of bookshelves. I am finally at the finishing stage and I thought I had everything going well. The bookshelves are made of birch plywood. I purchased the Tried and True Linseed Oil finish to use on them. In the process of sanding the tops smooth (with a very fine grit) and then applying a thin coat of the Tried and True, it is clear that I have sanded the plywood top down to far. Now, instead of the top being a very light birch color, there are orange-ish and green-ish splotches or spots all over. I assume this is where the plywood top is too thin and so the plywood core is showing through. Anyway, its ugly.

I cannot remove and remake the top. I see two options.

(A) Attempt to dye or stain the wood to cover up the plywood core from showing through.

(B) Purchase veneer and use it to cover the sanded through plywood. I do not have a vacuum press. So, I can use either (1) Pressure sensitive adhesive backed veneer or (2) use Heat Lock glue (which I have done before with great success).

The first question is, which is a better option A or B?

The second question is, what type of dye/stain should I look for and will it take with the linseed oil already on there.

The third question is, if I go with the veneer, do I need to heavily sand the top (because of the linseed oil) before I try to veneer over it with Heat Lock glue or the PSA veneer?

Any help or advice would be great. I'm ready to be done with this project, so the quickest way to finish is ideal...

Thanks,
Alex

[david brum]

I'm a big fan of Heat Lock. It seems like it would give you the best chance of success. I would definitely sand the top, being careful not to further damage the existing veneer or round over the edges. If you have a card scraper, it will be faster and easier. I'd probably use 80 grit.

I had a veneering disaster on some dresser side panels last year. Heat Lock allowed me to veneer over the top of the old veneer with minimal stress. I was really impressed.

[glenn bradley]

Not knowing the actual construction of the piece we're shooting in the dark a bit. As to sealing the current finish to apply another layer, de-waxed shellac is like the aspirin of the woodshop; a miracle drug. Sticks to almost anything and everything sticks to it. That being said, if your design allows it, and we are only talking about the top, I would consider applying a layer of 1/4" ply of the same type you made the rest of the bookcase out of, adjust or modify your trim and have at it.

[Jeff Duncan]

Many pieces of fine furniture utilize veneered tops so your not attempting anything radical at all. I would try to remove as much of the oil finish as possible....though what solvents to use I'll leave to those more knowledgeable with oil finishes. Once you remove as much as possible I would then sand with a coarse grit to grind down the top layer which was the most exposed to the oil finish. From there apply your veneer. There are tried and true techniques for veneering outside of using a vac but again I'll defer to the veneer heads for that as I don't have any experience with the Heat Lock and would not personally ever use a PSA on a piece of furniture. I'd much rather learn to hammer veneer over the PSA.....but that's just me;)

good luck,
JeffD