veneer discs

I am wondering what thickness of veneer people tend to use when making a segmented bowl with veneer accents between the rings. I can purchase or fabricate many different thicknesses.

I guess I am wondering how thin is too thin. For example a common black veneer sheet size i see on eBay is 1/42”. Black accents are the most common in segmented turning. And black composite wood veneer is what they are typically made of. That is not something I would make myself. But at 1/42” thick will that even be noticeable as an accent between segmented rings?

Any insights appreciated.

Thanks,

-dan

Cannot answer you question but take a look here. He has 1.0mm thick black in stock.

My process is to vary the thickness based on the size of the vessel or bowl. 1/8" looks way bigger on a 4" vessel compared to a 12". Same goes for the segment thickness and length.

Robert thanks for the link. That would perfect but I need pieces that are 8” or 9” wide.

Richard thanks for the reply and that makes sense. I guess I’m still wondering how thin you can go before the veneer basically becomes unnoticeable or rather is too thin to produce the desired accent effect. Assume a 8-10” wide bowl at its widest that is about 4-5” tall.

Thanks,

-dan

I use veneers when laminating guitar necks of all different thicknesses. If the color is sufficiently contrasty even the thinnest solid wood commercial veneers will show up. I've used ones that are 0.020" and they show up fine as, say, a black or red line between maple and cherry.

I will typically build up stripes of several species. It all depends what they are adjacent to.

No, you don't need pieces that wide - if you were to use one piece of veneer for a ring, the endgrain would show for part of the circumference, with all of the drawbacks that entails. Plus, you would waste a lot of veneer.. Instead, make rings from veneer as you would from other segments.

Here is what I do: first, I slice several (usually 6) strips from the sheet of veneer about 1/2" wide. I sandwich these between two strips of 1/4 plywood or mdf and wrap blue tape around the sandwich. Then I cut the sandwich at the appropriate length add angles for the diameter and segment count (typically 8 or 12 - two cuts on the saw is all that is needed) of the ring I want to make. I tape the segments together on one face with purple tape, brush some glue between each pair of segments, then add more purple tape on the opposite face to pull the joints tight. Voila: a veneer ring with edge grain all the way around.

Here are a couple of pieces with the thick veneer from B&B. The first, with cream veneer, is about 5.5" w by 4" h. The second, with black veneer, is about 12" w by 5" h.

Attachment 468138

Attachment 468139

Roger and James — thanks a lot foe the very helpful replies

James that’s beautiful work! A question about your technique for veneer segmented rings. I understand the sandwich approach for cutting. Just to clarify after cutting you take them out the sandwich and you tape them together with the delicate painters tape one one side put glue in between the joints and then tape the other side and let dry?

I’m asking because I read somewhere that it is easier to glue the veneer segments directly on to the adjacent ring, one at a time (with the segments flush to one another of course). Then I read about just cutting a veneer disc with a sharp scissors and calling it a day. I didn’t think the end grain/side grain would be an issue with something so thin….

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Originally Posted by Dan Gaylin

Roger and James — thanks a lot foe the very helpful replies

James that’s beautiful work! A question about your technique for veneer segmented rings. I understand the sandwich approach for cutting. Just to clarify after cutting you take them out the sandwich and you tape them together with the delicate painters tape one one side put glue in between the joints and then tape the other side and let dry?

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That's correct. I slit 3/4" tape down the middle with a wheel marking gauge so I can pull off 3/8" strips. After the glue between the segments dries, I take the tape off one side, glue the veneer ring to the adjacent ring and remove the remaining tape when that is set. Clamping blue tape makes it difficult to remove without pulling out fibers, hence the purple tape.

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I’m asking because I read somewhere that it is easier to glue the veneer segments directly on to the adjacent ring, one at a time (with the segments flush to one another of course). Then I read about just cutting a veneer disc with a sharp scissors and calling it a day. I didn’t think the end grain/side grain would be an issue with something so thin….

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Depends on how thick the veneer is - with standard 1/40" or thinner veneer you are correct that end grain woould not be an issue. But the advantage of building segmented rings is that you don't have to depend on finding extra-wide veneer.

Super, thanks James! I'll give it a shot.

I have only done it three times but I used 1/16 inch to separate Oak pieces. I thought it stood out well enough without being too thick. They were 10 or 11 inch bowls if my memory is right.

I typically use veneer 1/64"/0.02"/0.5mm thick as accent in my turnings and that is sufficient for a separating/defining line. Remember that if the veneer is on a slanted surface (not exactly vertical) which it usually is, the exposed veneer will be much larger than the 1/64" depending upon how much slant it appears on. Think of a triangle - the height may be quite small, but what is exposed on your piece is the hypotenuse, not the height.

Paul, Doug, thanks for the additional replies, which seem to confirm the general view -- really anything from very thick to very thin is going to work. Thanks everyone!

-dan

If you are looking for colored veneers that are thicker than 1mm you can get hard maple veneers used to make skate boards that are 1/16" thick. I've got a few sheets here for bigger boards that are 12" x 48" and some for smaller boards that are 10" x 36". When I get time I'm going to use a pink veneer to make a bowl for girls.

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Originally Posted by Alex Zeller

If you are looking for colored veneers that are thicker than 1mm you can get hard maple veneers used to make skate boards that are 1/16" thick. I've got a few sheets here for bigger boards that are 12" x 48" and some for smaller boards that are 10" x 36". When I get time I'm going to use a pink veneer to make a bowl for girls.

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Would you please name the source for the veneer you are describing?

Thanks