Finishing Mappa Burl Veneer

[Adam Levitt]

Hi all,

I'm working on a solid core door for my soundproof workshop. The outside of the door will be Mappa Burl Veneer on 4mm Birch ply. This side of the door will be exposed to the elements.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to finish the veneer? I also need to fill in some holes so I bought some maple colored wood filler. The closest color match I could find.

Any advice regarding the filling and the finishing would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Jim Tobias]

Adam,
I can't help you on finish for the "exposed" side of the door. But my advice on the filling part would be to use a dark brown filler as if the holes were additional knots. In the mappa burl veneer I've used, the dark brown color of the knots is much more consistent in color than the light color of the mappa veneer itself. Once you apply a finish, the lighter colors seem to be changing throughout. My fear would be that trying to match the light color would make the "fills" stand out. There are a few dark brown fills in the veneer table top below. All dark brown. If you have any of the dark brown knots that fall out on some scrap pieces of veneer, use that. Crush it up, mix with dark brown Titebond 3 and fill away.

Jim
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[Adam Levitt]

That's great advice Jim, thanks so much.