chrisrosenb
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I got a job early this week
Veneering With Festool
- Thread starter chrisrosenb
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Chris, Thanks for posting that. Beautiful work and photos. There is another forum devoted to veneering that I have visited and the process recommended was fairly complicated. The owner was told about the Festool system. He tried it and I believe was convinced that this was an easier / better way.
Peter
Peter
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Chris,
Here is the link. If anyone is interested in learning more about veneering, Darryl Keil, owner of Vacupress, has 2 dvd's out that are interesting. The first one is about the basics including vacupressing, and the second gets into curves, curved staircases, etc. The forum isn't very active, but if you search for Festool (the search button is up top) and select no date range you'll get some results.
If you visit there, also check out the galleries. There are actually three pages of galleries - the page numbers are small. Ecofurniture will probably love some of the stuff on the second and third pages.
I am sure that there are many here who know more about veneering than I, but if I can help, just ask.
Peter
Link to Vacupress.com and Forum
Here is the link. If anyone is interested in learning more about veneering, Darryl Keil, owner of Vacupress, has 2 dvd's out that are interesting. The first one is about the basics including vacupressing, and the second gets into curves, curved staircases, etc. The forum isn't very active, but if you search for Festool (the search button is up top) and select no date range you'll get some results.
If you visit there, also check out the galleries. There are actually three pages of galleries - the page numbers are small. Ecofurniture will probably love some of the stuff on the second and third pages.
I am sure that there are many here who know more about veneering than I, but if I can help, just ask.
Peter
Link to Vacupress.com and Forum
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2007
- Messages
- 13,129
Chris,
Please let us know your thoughts about the galleries if you visit them from the perspective of someone who works with wood as a professional if you don't mind.
Peter
Please let us know your thoughts about the galleries if you visit them from the perspective of someone who works with wood as a professional if you don't mind.
Peter
Peter
I had a look at the galleries & i am very impressed. I also earn my living from working wood, bench joinery, cabinet making & a bit of furniture making. I am going to make enquiries if these d.v.d's are available in the UK as i am keen on starting veneering & especially curved staircases.
Thanks for the link,
Woodguy.
I had a look at the galleries & i am very impressed. I also earn my living from working wood, bench joinery, cabinet making & a bit of furniture making. I am going to make enquiries if these d.v.d's are available in the UK as i am keen on starting veneering & especially curved staircases.
Thanks for the link,
Woodguy.
Dave Ronyak
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- Jan 23, 2007
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Beautiful work and great use of TS saw and Guide Rails. I have several flush doors I would like to veneer. Where do you buy the large sheets of veneer, and get them in a decent thickness? The only offerings I now see available in USA are for veneers that are 1/42 inch or less in thickness, and I am fearful of sanding through them, and being unable to refinish them later if needed due to the [modern] veneers being so thin. I don't have the tools to make my own thicker veneer strips or panels.
Dave R.
Dave R.
Wood_Junkie
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My god, you have over $1000 worth of sanders in the background of that first picture. ;-)
Very nice work on the door. Thanks also for the veneer information!
Very nice work on the door. Thanks also for the veneer information!
Jesse Cloud
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I have used these guys a few times and always been happy. They stock thicker veneers in most species. Use the web site for info, but call to place an order. They take the time to talk with you about your project and provide appropriate veneers for that project.Dave Ronyak said:
mouppe
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This is an old thread but I don't have anything to justify starting a new one.
I am in the midst of my first veneering project. A storage cube for my modest LP collection. Because of the squareness of LP sleeves (12 3/8" square), and by coincidence if I place all my LPs side by side I have about 11" worth, a cube will be perfect to store them. 5 equally sized panels of a manageable size is ideal for my first veneering project. Maple burl on mdf substrate, with Peruvian Walnut edging.
The festools are not central to the veneering process but they lurk in the background ready to help out whenever needed. First, cutting the MDF panels. Set up a stop on the MFT, pull out the TS55, and 5 panels in a flash. Dust collection from the CT22 helps with the stinky MDF.
Fast forward to the veneering itself. The backing veneer is cherry veneer and I glued these to the MDF first. I used a decades old air-compressor which a friend converted to a vacuum. No on-off switch, just plug in and go! The MFT came in useful as a clamping table, and I used a straight piece of wood to seal the polythene bag. Festool clamps hold it all sealed and tight to the MFT.
[attachthumb=#]
I left each piece in the vacuum press for about 30 minutes. This is long enough to allow the white glue to set and for the vacuum to act evenly over the whole surface. After I took them out and clamped them manually. I was able to veneer all the cherry in one afternoon, leave them overnight and finish the maple veneer the following day.
Naturally, I have to reveal the mistakes and what i learned.
I should have prepared 6 panels. One will always go wrong somewhere in the process and it did. I glued one veneer to the MDF with the masking tape on the wrong side, i.e. in between the veneer and the MDF! The problem is the glue does not adhere to the tape so the veneer is coming unstuck at the corners. OK, I can patch it.
Dropped one piece of MDF. Dinged the corner. Hard to fix.
Didn't use enough glue the first time and the veneer didn't stick. Overcompensated the next time and the glue bled through the veneer and stuck to the caul! Fixable with a chisel and a sander.
Well it's a learning curve and overall learning to use veneer opens up so many possibilities for fine furniture and exotic woods.
I don't think I will use MDF again as I am worried about its health effects if I use it frequently. I can get some really high quality ply and relax more, not have to wear a NIOSH mask etc.
Once the panels are ready I will use the domino to join them.
The RO90 would, I imagine, be perfect for sanding veneers. I am down for one in March.
Richard.
I am in the midst of my first veneering project. A storage cube for my modest LP collection. Because of the squareness of LP sleeves (12 3/8" square), and by coincidence if I place all my LPs side by side I have about 11" worth, a cube will be perfect to store them. 5 equally sized panels of a manageable size is ideal for my first veneering project. Maple burl on mdf substrate, with Peruvian Walnut edging.
The festools are not central to the veneering process but they lurk in the background ready to help out whenever needed. First, cutting the MDF panels. Set up a stop on the MFT, pull out the TS55, and 5 panels in a flash. Dust collection from the CT22 helps with the stinky MDF.
Fast forward to the veneering itself. The backing veneer is cherry veneer and I glued these to the MDF first. I used a decades old air-compressor which a friend converted to a vacuum. No on-off switch, just plug in and go! The MFT came in useful as a clamping table, and I used a straight piece of wood to seal the polythene bag. Festool clamps hold it all sealed and tight to the MFT.
[attachthumb=#]
I left each piece in the vacuum press for about 30 minutes. This is long enough to allow the white glue to set and for the vacuum to act evenly over the whole surface. After I took them out and clamped them manually. I was able to veneer all the cherry in one afternoon, leave them overnight and finish the maple veneer the following day.
Naturally, I have to reveal the mistakes and what i learned.
I should have prepared 6 panels. One will always go wrong somewhere in the process and it did. I glued one veneer to the MDF with the masking tape on the wrong side, i.e. in between the veneer and the MDF! The problem is the glue does not adhere to the tape so the veneer is coming unstuck at the corners. OK, I can patch it.
Dropped one piece of MDF. Dinged the corner. Hard to fix.
Didn't use enough glue the first time and the veneer didn't stick. Overcompensated the next time and the glue bled through the veneer and stuck to the caul! Fixable with a chisel and a sander.
Well it's a learning curve and overall learning to use veneer opens up so many possibilities for fine furniture and exotic woods.
I don't think I will use MDF again as I am worried about its health effects if I use it frequently. I can get some really high quality ply and relax more, not have to wear a NIOSH mask etc.
Once the panels are ready I will use the domino to join them.
The RO90 would, I imagine, be perfect for sanding veneers. I am down for one in March.
Richard.
Jesse Cloud
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Hey Richard!
Thanks for sharing the project. I know the LP cubes will be beautiful when you are done!
For what they are worth, here are a few thoughts about the process...
When I do a panel, I usually cut the MDF and veneer slightly large, so any issues with the veneer cut will be trimmed off. Then for the final cut, I sandwich the workpiece with 1/4 inch MDF (sacrificial) and cut on the TS55/MFT. Works great.
Veneering one side today and the next side tomorrow is risky. The glued up side takes in a lot of moisture while the other side is dry, it will want to cup. Glad it worked ok for you!
Sanding veneer is also risky (gosh I sound like an old lady today [embarassed]). Its really easy to sand right through that thin stuff, especially on the edge. Might want to practice with that RO90 on some scrap. Just for fun, keep it in one place long enough to see what it takes to sand through. It can be patched, but its a PITA.
If you go to ply for a substrate, cut it so that the veneers can be glued up perpendicular to the grain of the last ply veneer. Good luck finding high quality ply. Here in the states even the high end stuff from reputable dealers isn't very reliable. I bought some Baltic last week that tested out to 12 per cent moisture in the shop - would look like a potato chip/crisp once it dried. Took it back and went to another dealer.
Can't wait to see pictures of the finished project!!
Thanks for sharing the project. I know the LP cubes will be beautiful when you are done!
For what they are worth, here are a few thoughts about the process...
When I do a panel, I usually cut the MDF and veneer slightly large, so any issues with the veneer cut will be trimmed off. Then for the final cut, I sandwich the workpiece with 1/4 inch MDF (sacrificial) and cut on the TS55/MFT. Works great.
Veneering one side today and the next side tomorrow is risky. The glued up side takes in a lot of moisture while the other side is dry, it will want to cup. Glad it worked ok for you!
Sanding veneer is also risky (gosh I sound like an old lady today [embarassed]). Its really easy to sand right through that thin stuff, especially on the edge. Might want to practice with that RO90 on some scrap. Just for fun, keep it in one place long enough to see what it takes to sand through. It can be patched, but its a PITA.
If you go to ply for a substrate, cut it so that the veneers can be glued up perpendicular to the grain of the last ply veneer. Good luck finding high quality ply. Here in the states even the high end stuff from reputable dealers isn't very reliable. I bought some Baltic last week that tested out to 12 per cent moisture in the shop - would look like a potato chip/crisp once it dried. Took it back and went to another dealer.
Can't wait to see pictures of the finished project!!
mouppe
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- Feb 7, 2010
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Jesse, thanks for the tips.
I did not know that I was supposed to veneer both sides at the same time. I thought I had time to do one side at a time. As it happens the panels are small so any cupping is minimal.
Luckily, I have not had problems with tear-out at the corners so far, although I did chip two corners by accident. I was extremely careful trimming the veneer and used a flush trim bit on my router table. For the corners I used a very slow climb cut.
The attached photo is of the worst of the panels. It is the one that got glued to the caul above when being vacuum pressed and when I pulled them apart it took some material with it. Consequently I had to sand it quite a lot. I started with 180 in random orbit mode, then 220 and finally 320. The remaining panels should require much less sanding. The photo shows that the cherry could do with a little more sanding but this is the inside surface so I am not too bothered. The maple is a four-way bookmatch, and now I see that I could have aligned it a little better. Oh well, never mind.
I have not decided on a finish yet. Shellac is my favourite but it may darken the maple too much. I will have to try it on a test piece.
[attachthumb=#]
[attachthumb=#]
I did not know that I was supposed to veneer both sides at the same time. I thought I had time to do one side at a time. As it happens the panels are small so any cupping is minimal.
Luckily, I have not had problems with tear-out at the corners so far, although I did chip two corners by accident. I was extremely careful trimming the veneer and used a flush trim bit on my router table. For the corners I used a very slow climb cut.
The attached photo is of the worst of the panels. It is the one that got glued to the caul above when being vacuum pressed and when I pulled them apart it took some material with it. Consequently I had to sand it quite a lot. I started with 180 in random orbit mode, then 220 and finally 320. The remaining panels should require much less sanding. The photo shows that the cherry could do with a little more sanding but this is the inside surface so I am not too bothered. The maple is a four-way bookmatch, and now I see that I could have aligned it a little better. Oh well, never mind.
I have not decided on a finish yet. Shellac is my favourite but it may darken the maple too much. I will have to try it on a test piece.
[attachthumb=#]
[attachthumb=#]
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