A new method to trim veneer

[Dave Tinley]

I have been having problems getting a straight edge on my QSWO veneer in order to butt match sheets. I have not had a chance to build the router jig but I did find an alternate method that might help some others.
I took 4 sheets of veneer and taped then together then I taped them to the face of a maple board, lining the veneer up with the bottom of the board. Then I ran the whole thing across the jointer with the infeed table set at 1/32". Then I untaped the veneer from the board and flipped the stack of veneer over so as to trim the other edges. I sanwiched the veneer between the board and the fence to get a flat as possible edge. It worked surprisingly well.
The veneer I was triming was 6.5" x 30". I know my jointer blades are not all that sharp, so I imagine that with sharp blades and maybe some finger boards to keep everything tight to the fence, you could get a real sweet edge. As it was my edges came out well enough to glue 3 pieces on each substrate to make up two panels.

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks for the tip, Dave!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Dave that sounds like a great tip! I wonder if it would work even better to sandwich the veneer between two carier boards. Then there is no chance of it moving.

Great job!

[Dave Tinley]

Jeff-
I have been wondering the same thing. There would have to be a way to clamp the veneer between the two boards and still have enough area on one of the boards to run it along the jointer fence.

Dave

[Steve Wargo]

I usually rough the edges straight with a veneer saw and straight edge. Then I sandwich the pieces between two boards with a little veneer sticking out and hit them with a long sanding block wrapped in 220 grit. Works pretty fast, and no need to tape everything together. I hate masking tape.

[Lee DeRaud]

Jeff-
I have been wondering the same thing. There would have to be a way to clamp the veneer between the two boards and still have enough area on one of the boards to run it along the jointer fence.Two boards about 3" longer overall than the veneer, with countersunk carraige bolts on the fence side, wingnuts on the other side, one on each end.

(No, I didn't invent this. But I can't for the life of me remember what magazine I saw it in.)

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Two boards about 3" longer overall than the veneer, with countersunk carraige bolts on the fence side, wingnuts on the other side, one on each end.

(No, I didn't invent this. But I can't for the life of me remember what magazine I saw it in.)

Lee,

I was thinking the exact same thing! You would want to make sure you didn't use the jig so many times that you got your knives into the carraige bolts, but other than that I would think it would work wonderfully.

I haven't done any veneering yet, but it is something I am interested in.

[Lee DeRaud]

Lee,

I was thinking the exact same thing! You would want to make sure you didn't use the jig so many times that you got your knives into the carraige bolts, but other than that I would think it would work wonderfully.I think the article I saw actually used a router with a flush-trim bit...all things considered, that sounds easier than using the jointer.

[Dave Avery]

I've used my Festool ATF 55 plunge saw with the guide rails and a backer board with great success to trim veneer edges for joining. For shorter pieces, the Festool MFT works even better. Dave.