Veneer Replacement Technique

[Don Stauffer]

What's a thickness sander? Am I likely to be able to get one locally (Tulsa)? Are they expensive?

[Kevin Jenness]

Like a thickness planer but using abrasives. Most commercial shops have a widebelt sander or drum sander and will run your panel for a fee. Call around.

Otherwise, use a long hand plane or a flat hard block with coarse abrasive to level your panel. Or start over. Veneering a panel with rounded edges is asking for trouble.

[Phil Mueller]

I’d agree it’s likely not walnut. There are a lot of light toned burled veneers, and whether it’s oak or not, the oak veneer you pictured would be a good match. veneersupplies is a great source. Joe’s a good guy to work with and the quality of the veneer is excellent.

You may already know this, but burl veneer often needs flattening first, so you might want to check out Joe’s veneer softener/conditioner. And it doesn’t work well with the hot iron press method...tends to leave lots of cracks. Cold press or veneer hammer would be my choice. Good luck, should be a fun project.

[Don Stauffer]

I got a good impression from VeneerSupplies. They're who suggested this forum.

Their veneer actually indicates whether they consider it to be flat or not. I was going to just go on that.

[Kevin Jenness]

"Their veneer actually indicates whether they consider it to be flat or not"

What does that mean?

[Phil Mueller]

Kevin, it means whether the veneer is flat enough to glue down as is or cut and edge tape it, or if it’s curly, wavy, etc and should be flattened before glueing down or cutting and edge taping.

For example, these veneers are relatively flat and can be easily worked or glued down:

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This elm burl, however, is wavy and would be difficult to work with as is.

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You could probably get away with glueing it down as is to a flat surface, but it could buckle and create a crack. And it is certainly more difficult to cut and edge match without first flattening it with a softener/conditioner.

So, if Don is planing to do a four way match and his veneer comes like the elm burl, it would be best to flatten it before edge jointing and taping.

[Kevin Jenness]

I see. I was thinking about the panel's flatness. I agree, most burl veneer will need flattening. I have a piece of unidentified burl veneer in a sample pack with random bumps more than 3/8" high, probably best suited as a topographical relief map. I flattened a couple of dozen madrone burl leaves once and some of them had areas that folded over in the press rather than flattening out.

If I were laying up burl I would use powdered plastic resin glue for rigidity. Burl has a mind of its own.

[Don Stauffer]

Thing is there's a fancy solid edge and I don't want the top standing up above that. I wonder about PSA-backed veneer for the frame.

[Don Stauffer]

Some of their veneers have this note:

"Good news! This veneer has been pressed flat and should stay that way if stored and acclimated appropriately."

[Don Stauffer]

I appreciate all the advice. I'm currently digesting it all while reading up on veneering, and trying to decide exactly what to do. It seems like there's no easy way to deal with this.

[Mike Henderson]

Where are you located? Perhaps an experienced veneer person could help you.

Mike

[Don Stauffer]

Tulsa. That would be really great. I can handle the staining and finishing once the veneer is right.

[Don Stauffer]

One possibility would be for me to buy or build a CNC router. I'd have use for one since I make speakers as a hobby. I have lots of 3D printing experience and I've used the milling machine at FabLab Tulsa, so I know what I'd be getting into.

I had always assumed they would be too expensive, but I'm wondering now whether a good price point exists for a functional one, and what limitations there would be and for what price.

I've had a recommendation for the Shapeoko XXL with HDZ. It goes for about $2,500. I'm assuming it could be set up to hollow out the area for the burl veneer, except the corners I'd have to chisel or something.

[Bert McMahan]

I'm not sure how thick the top is, but if you're worried about the veneer expanding or contracting, you could attach it to a thin 1/4" MDF or plywood panel first. You'd then route out a bunch more material than the thickness of the veneer (and install the whole thing), but it would be easier to work with than a floppy veneer sheet. You could also do the routing with a hand router and jigs, getting it as square as possible, then tweak the veneer/MDF panel to get it to fit just right.

[Brad Shipton]

Before you start building a CNC take a straight edge and check the table for flatness. I doubt it is perfect, and a CNC has no way to measure imperfections within the parameters you are describing. It will mill off a plane perfectly flat based on whatever point you pick as a reference. I doubt that will work very well since most wood veneer is 1/42" thick and you do not have much to play with. You will still have to manually trim the corners since all tools have a radii, but that is not a big deal.

Flattening burls or crotch veneers is not complicated or difficult if you have a vac press, but it takes time. There are commercial solutions for that. Most building fine furniture using burls or crotch wood use a backer and the choice of adhesive is important.