Veneers and inlays to enhance lids of small boxes--how to do it

[tom coleman]

I am making small boxes as gifts and want to enhance the lids. I want to try veneers and am looking for suggestions on how to do it and sources for 1 piece burl or crotch veneer to cover a box lid 8x 11. A friend suggests.........apply Titebond to box lid and veneer. Let it dry. Cover veneer and box lid with brown paper bag. Use an iron to melt the glue and laminate the veneer and substrate. No clamps needed?????????????

Is cutting a veneer as simple as it looks? Buy a veneer saw and using a steel straight edge cut a new edge. Overlap 2 veneers and cut them both at once to create a bookmatch or larger veneer overlay. Paper backed veneer is easiest to use??? Natural veneer may have to be moistened and pressed to lay flat???

Once I succeed in veneering the box lid, I want to try inlaying a medallion in the center of the lid or inlaying a border around the edge. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

One final question. Are small biscquits a good choice for edge joining 1/2 inch thick boards? Should I buy a 5/32 slot cutter for router table?

[Jim Finn]

338237338236I have literally made thousands of boxes like you describe. I inlay images into the hinged lids of small cedar boxes. If you are interested you can send me a PM and I will help you any way I can. I use what is called "double bevel inlay" or marquetry. It is done using a scroll saw and once you are able to follow a line while cutting it is pretty simple to master.

[Andrew Hughes]

I wish we were neighbors Jim that's some nice work!

[Gene Takae]

I am making small boxes as gifts and want to enhance the lids. I want to try veneers and am looking for suggestions on how to do it and sources for 1 piece burl or crotch veneer to cover a box lid 8x 11. A friend suggests.........apply Titebond to box lid and veneer. Let it dry. Cover veneer and box lid with brown paper bag. Use an iron to melt the glue and laminate the veneer and substrate. No clamps needed?????????????

That's exactly the technique I use. This is redwood burl on a baltic birch substrate-ebony accents and curly koa surround.
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[John Seybold]

I've bought a lot of veneer from veneersupplies.com. Great source for burls, as well as for other veneering supplies and equipment. The 8x11" box top below is a 4-way bookmatch of Carpathian elm burl from them.

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For doing bookmatches and particularly working with burls, I made this little jig:
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It's just a piece of plywood with a cutting mat on top and piece of ruler that can be clamped down with toggle clamps. There's a straight piece of maple along the top edge. This allows you to put a piece of veneer down, put the straightedge where you want to cut (perfectly parallel to the top edge if you need something square or parallel), clamp, and cut. I almost never use a veneer saw - I find an X-Acto knife works better and leaves a cleaner cut. If you put the side you want to keep under the ruler, it's protected from tearout, which can be a problem when cutting fragile burls. This rig is great for making borders, too - I have some spacers of different widths, so I butt one edge of the veneer up against the top rail, use the spacer to position the ruler parallel to the top, clamp and cut. After cutting, it's good to joint the edge with a hard block with sandpaper glued to it, just the way that you would joint a sawn edge of a board before gluing up a panel.

As for gluing, I use a vacuum press. But I guess the glue-and-iron method works well too.

Probably a good idea to read a book on the topic. Veneering isn't that hard, but there are a lot of tips and tricks to getting a good result, especially if you get into marquetry. Good luck and have fun! You can make amazing looking stuff with veneer.

[Michelle Rich]

go to Veneer Supplies and his sister company Joe Woodworker. your questions are all answered there and many more. a very valuable resource.

[Nicholas Lingg]

String inlay

[Tony Leonard]

Wow, where to start! I would start looking at some books on the subject...there are many. Check the library!

I'm not a fan of ironing on veneer with regular PVA. There are numerous issues there. For one, the PVA glue can creep and open up joints. I have tried the recent glues developed for veneer that are available from Joes and Vacupress. They seem to work well and I have not seen any issues with creep. Some folks get by with titebond and swear they have no issues either. May depend on the veneer too. It is a good idea if clamping to use a piece of rubber sheet (pond liner) or canvas to make up for the uneveness of the veneer/panel. Also, use plastic to avoid sticking (not if you iron, of course!).

Cutting is not as simple as it looks. There are several methods. To get that zero gap fit, it takes practice! Also, watch the ends of the crosscuts...they tend to split out. I use various saws, hobby knives, routers, etc. Depends on the wood and the precision I am shooting for. One of the well known veneer gods out there uses a chisel!

As for the inlay, there are many methods there as well. You can excavate, or make a taped together veneer pattern and glue it all at once. For borders, I usually route and apply the inlay with masking tape.

I would not use biscuits. A spline would give more even support and alignment. I often use MDF as a substrate and it does not require any joinery - just glue and a butt joint - very strong!

Good luck with it. Try some different techniques and see what feels right. eBay is a great place to buy veneer. I've never used paper backed, so I can't really comment on that.

Take a look at Joe's site. Great source for learning.

This is a box I made for Christmas. I can't find a pic of it finished. I made it out of MDF. The outside is waterfall bubinga and the inside is satinwood. The shot glasses are held in place by a little shelf.
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This is a small table top. I used a vac press for this one. The whole thing was all one piece all taped together before pressing. I cut the dragon fly inlay with an xacto knife and then traced it onto the field piece. I then cut out a window (carefully) and fit it together. Took a while! Made sure to cut at a slight angle to minimize gappage.
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Have fun!

[Roy Harding]

Here are a couple of inlaid boxes I did recently. These particular ones were done with a CNC router and solid wood, but I have also used veneers on an MDF substrate. When working with veneer, I start with the background veneer, tape the inlay veneer to it, then tape a graphic of what I'm doing over top of all that. I then use a scalpel to cut through both layers of veneer at once. Then it's a matter of veneer tape, and gluing to the substrate. I usually use a vacuum bag (inexpensive, but VERY effective vacuum bags with a hand pump are available at skate board suppliers), but have also used clamps, and at times cement blocks to apply pressure for the glue up.

Once you've found a method you're comfortable with, the possibilities are endless.

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