I recently veneered some sliding doors for a small cabinet I built. I used hot hide glue and a veneer hammer to apply thin veneer to 1/2" MDF.
Since I enjoyed the experience,I thought I'd learn a bit more so I purchased David Savage's dvd on hammer veneering. In it, he takes a veneer that isn't flat and 'flattens' it with liberal amounts of water and heat from an iron. He then proceeds to lay up a beautiful panel with numerous slip matched joints.
Feeling energized and having a surfeit of quilted movingui veneer, I attempted to do something similar last night but in a 4 way bookmatch. I cut some veneer oversized and then proceeded to flatten it with water and heat. It was amazing to see the veneer respond to the water by first rippling intensely and then - after a few rounds of wetting - and heating completely relax. This veneer is pretty delicate, and most pieces had at least one split in them already.
So I laid out my pattern. When I checked on it this morning, I saw that there were significant gaps between each joint - easily 1/32", which doesn't sound like a lot but with a bookmatch it makes it look pretty rough. I attribute this to the veneer shrinking after being exposed to so much heat and moisture. Perhaps I should have been more assiduous about taping across the joints?
Has anyone else tried laying veneer in this fashion? It seems much faster than using veneer softeners, but I do wonder about the amount of water involved.
-Adam
Since I enjoyed the experience,I thought I'd learn a bit more so I purchased David Savage's dvd on hammer veneering. In it, he takes a veneer that isn't flat and 'flattens' it with liberal amounts of water and heat from an iron. He then proceeds to lay up a beautiful panel with numerous slip matched joints.
Feeling energized and having a surfeit of quilted movingui veneer, I attempted to do something similar last night but in a 4 way bookmatch. I cut some veneer oversized and then proceeded to flatten it with water and heat. It was amazing to see the veneer respond to the water by first rippling intensely and then - after a few rounds of wetting - and heating completely relax. This veneer is pretty delicate, and most pieces had at least one split in them already.
So I laid out my pattern. When I checked on it this morning, I saw that there were significant gaps between each joint - easily 1/32", which doesn't sound like a lot but with a bookmatch it makes it look pretty rough. I attribute this to the veneer shrinking after being exposed to so much heat and moisture. Perhaps I should have been more assiduous about taping across the joints?
Has anyone else tried laying veneer in this fashion? It seems much faster than using veneer softeners, but I do wonder about the amount of water involved.
-Adam
