Maybe you’ve heard about different furnishings makers sawing their very own veneers and urgent them onto panels. It might sound difficult, however shop-sawn veneers are simply sliced on a bandsaw, and since they’re reduce a lot thicker than business veneers, they are often labored with hand instruments like stable wooden; but as soon as they’re glued to a secure substrate, they don’t pose any wood-movement points. For the reason that panel’s not increasing and contracting like stable wooden, the design door opens large, multiplying a woodworker’s choices. In the event you haven’t tried these methods, I believe you’ll be shocked to find simply how approachable they’re. Making a small panel just like the one I used for the highest of my plant stand is a superb place to strive them out.
For the panel in my plant stand, I selected narra, a spicy-smelling Southeast Asian species that enhances the colour and texture of the stand’s black walnut base and body. After choosing a piece of the narra plank that had good grain and a refined bee’s-wing determine, I jointed one face and one edge and resawed 4 veneers, every rather less than 1/8 in. thick. This gave me sufficient leaves for a book-matched layer on each the highest and backside surfaces of the panel. It’s necessary that veneer be utilized to each side of the plywood or MDF core so the panel is balanced and stays flat.
I do the resawing on the bandsaw and use a shopmade fence that’s about 10 in. tall. The fence might be clamped to the bandsaw desk or to the bandsaw’s manufacturing facility fence.
Set the resawing fence in order that it’s a shy 1/8 in. from the left-side bandsaw tooth. As soon as the fence is secured, there’s a easy strategy to confirm that it’s parallel to the blade.
 |
 |
Utilizing a flat scrap of wooden held in opposition to the fence and bandsaw desk, make a 1/2-in.-long reduce. Then transfer the scrap as much as close to the highest of the fence and make a shorter reduce, checking that the sawblade has reduce completely within the kerf created by the primary reduce. If the second reduce created somewhat step on both facet of the unique kerf, relocate the clamps or add shims to tweak the fence till it’s parallel to the bandsaw blade.
To chop the veneers, use a gradual feed fee. A pause tends to go away somewhat bump on the floor of the clean you’re slicing, and that may influence the standard of the subsequent veneer you chop. In the event you do pause, test to see if a bump might be felt on the clean’s floor; if it may, use a block aircraft throughout the grain to evenly shave it away. You are able to do that proper on the bandsaw. After a few cross-grain block-plane strokes, resaw the subsequent veneer.
In case your bandsaw cuts comparatively easily, the floor left by its blade can be completely fantastic as a glue floor once you’re adhering the veneers to a core, so it’s not essential to rejoint the clean after every veneer go. However after 4 or 5 veneers have been sawn, you’ll most likely wish to rejoint the clean’s face and edge to restraighten them. You may as well go away the bandsawn floor on the present face of the veneers once you press the panel; will probably be simpler to easy afterward.
While you’ve sawn your veneers, use a hand aircraft to edge-joint those that can be glued edge-to-edge. I do that on the workbench, elevating the veneer an inch or so on a flat scrap and laying the aircraft on its facet. I place the veneer so its lengthy edge extends 1⁄4 in. or so from the scrap, then I take a couple of swipes with the aircraft.
 |
 |
Blue painter’s tape works effectively for clamping the sting joint. Stretch a couple of items of tape tight throughout one facet of the dry-fitted pair of veneers.
 |
 |
Then fold the pair open, exposing the perimeters of each items. Apply a skinny bead of glue alongside the perimeters, then unfold the veneers to stick the perimeters. Stretch extra blue tape throughout the highest face of the joint, and go away the glued-up leaves on the bench or one other flat floor to dry.
After about half-hour, the tape might be eliminated and the veneers glued to a core. The core might be both Baltic-birch plywood, which is top quality and freed from voids, or MDF, which is often very flat, though much less nice to work with. While you’re utilizing Baltic birch, you possibly can glue skinny layers collectively to construct as much as a required thickness fairly than beginning with the precise thickness. That ends in a flatter plywood core. For instance, if you’re aiming for a 1/2-in.-thick core, fairly than shopping for 1/2-in. plywood, strive making it by gluing up 4 items of 1/8-in. plywood. This requires a few easy steps, however the flatter outcomes are price it. I like to recommend gluing up the core first and gluing on the veneers afterward.
 |
 |
Unfold glue on the substrate—on this case 1⁄4-in. MDF—and tape the veneers in place prime and backside. The tape will preserve the veneers from shifting below clamp stress.
I exploit items of three⁄4-in. MDF as cauls; they shield the panel, preserve it flat, and distribute clamp stress. Sheets of kraft paper stop the panel from sticking to the cauls.
I typically use a vacuum bag when gluing up veneered panels, however on a small panel like this one, utilizing clamps is simply as efficient and environment friendly. You’ll want to use ample cauls and loads of clamps. For cauls, I stacked two 3/4-in.-thick MDF panels on the highest and backside of the glue-up.
After glue-up, flatten and easy the present veneer faces with a hand aircraft, and comply with up with sandpaper on a block. The panel is also despatched by way of a wide-belt sander.
 |
 |
On the jointer (or with a hand aircraft) joint one long-grain fringe of the panel, then rip it to width on the desk noticed. That accomplished, reduce it to size utilizing a crosscut sled.
Craig Vandall Stevens is director and lead trainer on the Philadelphia Furnishings Workshop.
| From Wonderful Woodworking #323
To view the complete article, please click on the View PDF button beneath. |
 |
Wonderful Woodworking Beneficial Merchandise
Bahco 6-Inch Card Scraper
The scale and thickness are what matter right here. A constant performer, this Bahco scraper is discovered in lots of outlets we go to.
Whiteside 9500 Stable Brass Router Inlay Router Bit Set
Set consists of stable carbide down-cut spiral bit (for chip-free reducing), quick-change bushing, template information and full directions. Suits Porter-Cable, Black & Decker and any router with a Porter-Cable bushing adapter.
Join eletters as we speak and get the most recent methods and how-to from Wonderful Woodworking, plus particular gives.
Obtain FREE PDF
once you enter your electronic mail tackle beneath.
