Rob,
I have reviewed all of your posts on Veneering Techniques on this forum and have one additional question for you. I have successfully veneered the first two sides of a hope chest I am restoring, but now comes the difficult part. The front and back sides (they are long and require joined pieces of veneer). I have attached a drawing of the front of the hope chest.
I am going to try using the hammer veneering technique (of course trying first on scraps). My question is this…should I try and lay down the entire “joined” face veneer all at once or should I do it piece by piece. How long of an “open” time do I have with the hide glue?
I am pretty sure that I should do this all at once, but I am affraid that the glue will “set” too fast. Do I then reheat the glue with an Iron?
Thanks!
Dark Magneto
Replies
Anyone else have any advice on this multi-piece veneer project?
SHoud I try and tape join these pieces and then put them down?
As you thought, you can do the whole thing at one time, but there is no need, nor would it probably work, to join them with veneer tape. The heat and moisture, would almost certainly pull the tape. As for open time with the glue, that depends on the room temperature, but it won't be more than a minute and usually a lot less. But the short open time is not really a problem, because as you noted, you can reheat the glue. Yesterday I found a bubble in a piece I veneered two weeks ago, I put a wet cloth on it and a iron on high and in a second it was glued down. So the "open" time is really unlimited. You will learn more in five minutes on your scraps, than you could learn from all those posts I've written. Please post a photo of the completed project.
Rob Millard
Hey Rob! Thanks for getting back to me.OK....going one piece at a time....Will I run into any issues with having the veneer "creep" on me? For example...if I do the far left piece of Mahogany and then go to put the thin strip of Lacewood in, will the Mahogany have moved and now make my joint line crooked?Thanks again!
Dark Magneto
I've only had one problem with creep when hammer veneering. It was on a top for a William and Mary lowboy, made with burl maple. That stuff went every which way but straight. With mahogany being so stable and with lacewood being cut quarter sawn and also stable, I can't see any problems.
Rob Millard
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