How best to Remove 1/4” thick, veneer from old church pews
Farmgirl
| Posted in Jigs, Fixtures, Tips & Tricks on
I have old church pew backs with beautiful 1/4 sawn, 1/4” veneer I’d like to reuse. Any suggestions as to how best to remove it?
Replies
Bandsaw, then drum sander.
Thanks but these are large 10-12’ long by about 2’ sections with a slight curve over the length.
If the veneer is glued with hide glue, you may be able to easily remove it with heat from a heat gun. Try it in a small area first. This may not work if the pews are new enough that other glue types were commonly available.
Moisture will also work, but I would be concerned about the 1/4" thickness having to get saturated before the moisture can reach the glue line.
What is the substrate material that the veneer is glued to?
My first big woodworking project, decades ago, started with church pews. The seats were solid wood -- chestnut -- and the backs were "plywood." There were outside layers of quartersawn white oak, with a thickness of 5/16 or so. They were laminated to a thin crappy layer of wood, maybe 1/8 or so.
It's been so long I can't recall if the grain on the middle layer ran in the same direction as the face layers, or if it was crossgrain.
I would call what you have laminated solid wood, not veneer.
There was a top rail, maybe 1-1/2 x 1-1/2, with a groove, that hid the top of these laminated backs. After taking that off, some of the backs started delaminating on their own, with barely any help from me. The rest came apart with some light persuasion from a pry bar.
These were old enough they were definitely hide glue. If yours aren't coming apart, I would try a heat gun to get them started.
I'd be interested to know if yours were constructed the same as mine.