long veneer; how to do it?

[Susumu Mori]

Hi all,

I'm about to build a cabinet below my TV, which will have a quite long top (6 feet).
I'm thinking about veneer curly maple on 1/2 or 3/4 MDF or plywood, but I'm not thrilled by the idea of resawing veneer from a 6-foot long board.
I do have a 10-foot curly maple board. So, it's possible to cut out a 6-foot board but dressing one face of a long board is one thing and push it through a bandsaw is another story.

So, I guess what I want to ask is, is it possible to edge-to-edge glue 1/16 veneer? Or is it a dumb idea?
For example, I can cut a 3' long board and resaw a bunch of 1/8-1/16 veneers. The yield should be much better than vennering from a 6' board. Then I can just patch them up? I would end up in a table top with a repeated pattern.

Or maybe I just should use solid maple (then it will be just a regular maple) boards....

Your suggestion would be highly appreciated.

[Chris Padilla]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?92396-Tansu&p=986535#post986535

I resawed some pretty healthy sized wood. What kind of equipment do you have?

You can certainly veneer side by side several panels...done all the time. You can glue them or just veneer tape them tight (joint the edges first) and then press onto the substrate.

[Peter Quinn]

You are talking about butting veneer end to end in the field of a table top? Personally I would not want to see that. I guess it could work as a pattern if you have a plan, maybe with some contrasting inlay border to set off the pieces, but I would not resort to that as way to avoid resawing wood. I don't see the resaw being much more complicated on length, but I'm set up for it. you could use a unipoint fence so you don't have to flatten the stock over 6' if its too bowed and too thin to do so. If you are set up to flatten the boards, have infeed and outfeed support, and a sander (drum, wide belt) to make them clean after sawing its pretty straight forward, if you don't have the equipment its a real challenge.

Honestly i might just consider some good commercial veneer which you can easily get in lengths over 6' with any amount of figure you desire. Berkshire Veneers sells come species in "thick" veneer, which is not always 1/16" but is much thicker than the usual .022".

[Max Neu]

I agree with Peter, I would get some veneer for this project, and save the lumber for another project where it's better suited.

[Susumu Mori]

Yes, I meant end-to-end. Peter, I love your idea of dividers with contrasting woods.

[John TenEyck]

I've sawn quite a bit of 6' plus shop sawn veneer on a 14" Delta with riser block which I think is a lot more modest set up than your BS. As Peter said, it really doesn't matter how long the board is if it's flat and you have infeed and outfeed support. I regularly saw 10" wide stuff to about 0.090" and that gives me enough room for error to be able to drum sand it to 0.065". I use a tall fence to support the board and pressure fingers to hold the board against it. Then it's just a matter of feeding the board at a constant rate through the blade. Here's a couple of photos of a typical set up sawing some 6 or 7" wide x 6' long white oak veneer:

321995 321998

And here's what it looked like straight off the saw:

321996321997

It's just not that hard. But if you want to use commercial veneer Certainly Wood in East Aurora NY often has 1/16" veneer.

John

[Alan Schwabacher]

I do it much as John TenEyck does, but with an even more humble bandsaw. One thing I find very helpful is a stack of featherboards clamped to the table so as to make sure the entire board remains tightly against the tall fence while my attention is on moving it through. Rockler's double featherboard shows the idea, but you can make larger spacers.

[Andrew Hughes]

I think you would be the luckiest woodworker in the world if you could Resaw curly maple that thin without it cupping.Im sure someone has done but not me.Too thin.

[John TenEyck]

Yes, I actually use a stack of featherboards now, too; I just didn't have a picture of it. Keeping the board pressed against the fence over it's entire height is key to success.

John

[Jeffrey Martel]

Certainlywood has curly maple in 1/16" and 1/18". Both over 10' long. Or you can buy standard thickness veneer as there is more options there.

http://certainlywood.com/woodmenu2.php?category=Special%20Thickness%20Venee rs