After many years of trepidation I am about to venture into the world of veneering. The big question for me is should I go with the “old school” and use pearl glue, heated glue pots and other age trusted techniques or should I drag myself into the 21st century and use Titebond and a roller as seems to be used a lot by you guys on the other side of the pond.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of either?
Regards
Guy
Edited 7/20/2006 6:14 pm ET by guy171504
Replies
Guy,
Try both and you decide. You'll need to practice on scraps or unimportant areas anyway for a while before you have acquired any real skill with either. So there is no need to limit yourself to just one for practice.
I much prefer hot hide glue. It seems very messy at first, but once you get the hang of the veneer hammer and stop worrying about getting glue all over the surface of the veneer, you'll be fine.
It really helps to get a book that illustrates the process, then dive in. It's really not a hard skill to master.
Having said I like hide glue, I must admit that applying PVA glue, letting it harden, then ironing it down with an ordinary clothes iron is a convenient way to work. And although the glue can theoretically "creep," the few projects I've done, have shown absolutely no movement after several years though hot/cold cycles with plenty of humidity changes.
Rich
I have had very gool luck with Tage Frids hammer veneering technique. Hot hide glue is very forgiving. Also, no presses, clamps etc. very low tech.
guy,
Why limit yourself to one or the other? No need to worry that the glue inquisitors will come after you for not adhering (sorry) to just one set of practices. Glue doesn't eat much, or take up a lot of room.
Regards,
Ray Pine
As Ray suggested, there's no reason you can't use both PVA with a vacuum bag, and hide with a veneer hammer. When hammer veneering, I prefer hot hide glue made from pearls.
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Guy,
I'm a dedicated hide glue person. Hammer veneering is without question my favorite part of woodworking. I've found hammer veneering to be predictable, versatile and efficient. I like the fact that with hide glue, you can see the results of your efforts and fix any problems immediately. Also, any problems that would show up later can easily be corrected. I had a bubble develop in the waist door of a tall case clock, a very rare occurrence ( see attached photo of the clock) ; spraying a little water on the area, and clamping on a heated block had the problem corrected in no time. Had I used a PVA glue the story might not have had such a happy ending. The attached link has a short description of the the method I use for hammer veneering.
Rob Millard
http://home.woh.rr.com/federalfurniture
Great advice, reassuring link and you have given me the confidence to start tackling what has been a bit of scary subject.
Thanks again
Guy
Hi Rob,
Yours is the first clock I've ever seen that, from all appearances, defies the laws of gravity!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Jazzdogg,
You are very perceptive. The clock was 112" tall and I could not photograph it standing up anywhere in the house or shop ( in fact I never saw it standing up). I ended up laying it on a roll of background paper and photographing it from a ladder with a 17mm lens. I had to do a little digital darkroom work to fill in the background, at the edges. In the end the photo was poor, but the clock was my favorite piece I've made.
Rob Millard
"You are very perceptive."
Hi Rob,
Naw, I reckon it was the quality of your fine clock that captured my attention sufficiently to have noticed such a thing in the first place; quite extraordinary work!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Rob,
Great tall case clock! Also viewed your website. It is excellent. Some sites just show off "finished pieces". Yours actually provides insights into your journey through various coloring agents for mahogany, etc. Excellent. I hope that you expand your website in the future and provide more insights into the pros and cons of different ways of doing things, and on your search for better ways of doing things. Thank you.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
I'm glad you liked the article. I'm changing the subject of the home page in the near future to an article on a portable desk with a tambour. I have attached a link to another article I did on a curly maple chest on frame.
Rob Millard
http://americanfederalperiod.com/COF%20P1.htm
Since you may be in the land of the Tony B. may I suggest you consider gluefilm, obtainable from Art Veneers at Mildenhall, U.K. You iron it on to the base, peel off the protective sheet and iron on the veneer. I have found it very good, especially in veneering a vertical surface which cannot be laid flat.
Sounds like a good idea, thanks for the tip
Guy
This might bring out the attack dogs, but have you considered a two-part urea formaldehyde glue instead of PVA? UF dries very rigid so there will be no creap or possible glue failure in hot sunlight. I used PVA once when UF was staining a particular piece of walnut and found it much harder to use - veneer first making contact with the PVA absorbed some of the water and started to buckle. Recently I started experimenting with Pro-Glue http://www.pro-glue.com and haven't found any staining problem, even with cherry and maple. Just my 2 cents.
Don
Thanks for the suggestion, any advice that can help me learn from other peoples mistakes is always welcome!
Guy
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