Hi –
I’m trying my hand at marquetry, and have run into a problem. The commercially purchased veneers I have are very thin and have relatively coarse grain. They have a tendency to split when I’m cutting them. I’m thinking about attaching some kind of backing to them to help them hold together when cutting.
I can think of two options:
1) Glue another piece of veneer to the back side of my stock, with the grain running crosswise to the “face” veneer. Basically creating a two-layer piece of plywood.
2) Glue a layer of craft paper or rosin paper to the back, much like commercially produced paper-backed veneers.
Does anyone have experience with or recommendations regarding either of these two methods?
Is there some other option I haven’t considered?
Would using a veneer softener solve the problem? These are dyed veneers, and I’m concerned that a veneer softener might affect the color.
I have a big bottle of Titebond Cold Press Veneer glue. Would this be the appropriate glue to attach a backing layer, or is there a better option.
Thanks!
Replies
If I have trouble cutting veneer it's either because my x-acto blade is too dull or I'm trying to take too deep a cut in one pass. This is especially noticeable when going with the grain as the knife edge will have a tendency to follow grain lines.
There are some manmade, reconstituted veneers that are just trash compared to those that have come from solid wood. Even with those, I've found that a sharp blade and several light passes will typically result in a nice cut.
Not sure if this could be what's ailing you, but best of luck!
Thanks, I'll make sure my knife blade is sharp and take several light cuts, and not try to force it through on a single pass. Hopefully that will reduce the tendency of the knife to follow the grain.
You don’t say how you are cutting the veneer. Scroll saw, fret saw or by hand with a sharp “exacto” type knife. If the veneer is splitting with a scroll saw you don’t have the right blade or you don’t have the material reinforced properly. If you’re using an exacto type of cutting tool then the problem might be that the veneer is brittle. Your cutting tool needs to be very sharp and have a curved edge, front to back, think Scimitar. Straight edge cutting tools don’t deal with coarse grain wood very well. They want to grab the grain and pull it instead of slicing through. A curved cutting tool will ride over the grain and gently slice as it moves through the grain instead of grabbing the grain and pulling it. There’s less surface tension with a curved blade. It’s harder to sharpen but stays sharp longer. Good luck.
I'm using several methods, including X-acto knife, scroll saw, fret saw, and veneer saw with a straightedge for longer, straight lines. With the scroll and fret saws, I'm using the finest blades I can find (000, I think), and I've started applying veneer tape before cutting if I think there's going to be a problem, like pieced with sharp points, or long, narrow pieces. I'll try some different saw blades and a curved knife blade and see how that goes. Thanks for the tips!
First,
I would not do any of the things you are currently thinking of doing. What species of veneer are you using. The way to support the veneer you are cutting through is to either cover one side with blue masking tape or you can use veneer tape. Either one holds the veneer together as you are making the cut. Now when it comes to using a X-Acto blade, which I use constantly, the blades get dull very quickly. So make sure you have a lot of them and change the blade very frequently.
Thanks, I've been applying veneer tape before cutting, and that has helped. I've also been applying purple (less sticky) tape to the narrower pieces as I cut them. I have a small sharpening stone that I can use on my Xacto blades, so I'll make sure they are good and sharp.
Agree with tape on the back side for support. I have a little diamond rod that I touch up the xacto blade with as soon as it starts to "feel" like it is dulling. I can touch up several times but then change the blade without hesitation. They are a wear part and spoil is part of the process.
Taping the back side of the veneer before cutting sounds like the most common solution. Thanks for the advice on sharpening and replacing the knife blades. I probably haven't been doing that often enough.
You might want to read this.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2022/03/31/qa-cracking-crotch-veneers
Thank you for the reference. There's a lot of good information in that article. I may try mixing up some of the stabilizing solution it describes and see how that works.