How to protect veneer once applied

[dirk martin]

I have a lot of veneer, but don't have much experience using it.

I have a desk top I wish to apply some veneer too.
What type of "coating" do I apply over it, to protect it from the daily use of setting a laptop on it, and moving around a keyboard, or cup of coffee?

[Jamie Buxton]

You finish veneer with any coating you use on solid lumber -- varnish, lacquer, paint, etc.

[Mike Henderson]

Jamie's right.

One other comment. Applying veneer to an existing desk top can be challenging. The problem is how to apply pressure over the whole surface during the glue up.

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

If Mike is correct -- you're planning on veneering an existing desk top -- then there may be a finishing issue. To fasten the veneer you may be tempted to use contact cement, because it seems to solve the clamping problem which Mike mentions. Contact cement and veneer can be a disaster. Solvents from the finish soak through the veneer and attack the contact cement. You get delamination right as you finish the piece, or sometimes a few months down the road. My (bad) experience was back before waterborne finishes. They might not be as disasterous, but I have no interest in experimenting to find out. I use a vacuum veneer press and either PVA or epoxy. In that approach, what I said in my first post is correct: any finish works on veneer.

[william watts]

Years ago, in the 1970's ,I repaired a desk top using contact cement to adhere a 1/8" door skin as veneer, and finished it using a poly finish available at the time, not water base. I used this desk for years, but the finish never did fully dry and always remained soft , had to be careful not to leave books, binders, heavy things on it they would leave an impression or stick. I always thought the poly-urethane I use must have been old or defective in some way, but now I am wondering if the contact cement solvents softened the finish.