I have done a few veneer panels / Drawer fronts, and that all went pretty well.
Now I want to do a 12″ x 18″ veneer inlay in a solid mahogany tabletop (~60″x30″).
I’m wondering if there is some trick to routing a 1/45″ inset in the tabletop for a standard walnut burl veneer, going to try book-matched, I want a flat tabletop when finished.
I’m thinking a small palm router, set to veneer thickness, then route a stripe to about 1/3 the thickness of the router base. Then a slice of veneer in the routed area, holding up the one side of the router base while the other sits on un-routed wood, and work my way left to right until the whole are is routed. Is this the most efficient? Thanks in advance!
Replies
Like you I've formed ambitions to make some veneered items - beginning with small boxes (for easier practice and skill-building) but hopefully moving on to larger furniture pieces in time.
All my reading/viewing suggests that a large flat surface is generally veneered over it's whole area, with different pieces applied to build up any pattern. I can't recall ever coming across anyone routing out a large flat area within another to insert a large piece of veneer. Stringing and banding are inserted in routed out areas but these are easy both to get in and to level.
I can imagine a lot of difficulty trying to route a large area to a state of flatness good enough to take veneer yet also a uniform depth of just 0.6mm (for commercial veneer) or even a thicker piece one makes oneself. The edge joins would also need a transition of stringing or banding, I imagine, as getting a large piece of veneer to exactly fit the edges of a routed indent would not be a trivial matter.
But if you're going to have a go..... :-)
Getting a uniform depth will be the thing to aim for. Increasing the bottom area of the router with a large flat plate of, say, plexiglass or even thin MDF would help. A routing pattern of several strips (the width of the cutter) one way, leaving enough still-raised strips into between the routed-out strips, to support the router base.
Follow that with strips going at right angles to the first set of strips.
Clean off the remaining still-raised squares with a small plane or cranked chisel, using the routed-out areas as the benchmark for depth planed or chiselled down to, perhaps putting pencil lines on the routed-out areas to avoid planing or chiselling them too.
Dust will be the enemy of flatness, as it'll try to get under the router base plate which will raise the router. Wen you're trying to route a 0.6mm deep recess, you want nothing at all between the surface being routed and the router baseplate.
I imagine that there'll be an optimum thickness of veneer that will work with that. 0.6mm commercial veneer would be difficult as it leaves very little leeway to plane or sand out any bumps that become evident after you've stuck the veneer in place. Veneers thicker than 3mm are going to be more rigid and thus more difficult to stick well - although a vacuum press might do it.....
Guesswork.
I'll be very interested if someone comes up with a better technique, though.
Lataxe
PS Burl veneers are notoriously difficult to get dead flat. There's a good FWW article, though, about how to soak them in water with a bit of glycerin in, to then press them flat. As I recall, you have to stick them quick after they come out of a flattening press as they like to curl up again as they dry out.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2015/05/27/introduction-to-wood-veneering
Find a commercial shop with a large CNC, many will run their gear at an hourly rate or job-price it for you. If your table is flat you'll be saving a ton of time and tedium.
I'm unsure of whether a large veneer panel inset into solid wood will survive the movement of the table without splitting.
You would need to set up an extremely accurate sled for a router, 1/45" leaves about zero room for error.
I think I would surround the inlay with mahogany veneer.
I agree with Robert, much easier to veneer the whole panel with either veneer borders or solid wood edging.
IF you veneer one side, don't forget the other side to compensate, otherwise you may end up with a cupped table top. I would use epoxy rather than PVA as it gives a more rigid bond. Wood movement is going to be your biggest problem
Thanks for all the replies - the individual reply buttons all seem to just go here, so I'll try and reply in series.
Lataxe-"I can't recall ever coming across anyone routing out a large flat area within another to insert a large piece of veneer." I've seen bookshelves where the back of each shelf had an insert veneer about 3/4 of the back space, that's what gave me this idea, but they may very well have veneered the whole thing.
I like the idea of a stringing around the insert, maybe do the insert, then re-route around the edge of both pieces and inlay a 1/8" band, that would eliminate the challenge of getting zero gap on the main inlay, and add an accept also. Thanks!
The larger router plate is also interesting, but I'd think it would have to be like 1/4" to be rigid enough, and I didn't plan for another $40 just for a one-time jig (although if it works, I'd maybe do it again, so not one time).
And thanks for the note about the burl veneer; I'll definitely take that advice.
_MJ_: CNC would give great results, and if I was going to enter this in a judging or it was a for-sale piece, maybe, but it's just a desk for my office, so while I want to do the best I can, I'd be intimidated by the time to find a CNC shop, getting it there & back, and the cost.
I've thought about the expansion issue some, using a wood-expansion-calculator online, it says African mahogany 12" wide that's equalized (been in the garage for almost 30 years - finally using it!) would have a max expansion of .11". Yea, that's a fair amount; I guess I'll just hope to seal it 360 with polyurethane and hope it handles whatever expansion it gets.
RobertEJr & user-3395150: Yes, very precise, I know. I"m also hoping the glue doesn't vary by more than the thickness of the inlay! Have to make sure there's a very even layer.As for surrounding the inlay with mahogany, then I'd just make it out of PLY, and get rid of the expansion issue, I wanted to use up this solid Mahogany I've had forever, and the boards are pretty much exactly the right size for this desk. I just wanted to jazz it up some, try something new and challenging to learn from.
ChrisW: Yes, I've read that also, but it's 3/4" solid wood, and it's only a 12x18 void in a 60x30 tabletop, I'm hoping that's enough mass that it won't bow. I guess I could slap an equal sized veneer on the opposite side from this insert, I do have some plain birch I bought just as a backing veneer, no one would really see it. Thanks for the thought!
I'd make my own router base out of a piece of clear-something at the hardware store. You can cut it with drill bit or even router bits, make it fit your router and it'll only cost you US$10 plus some time. I've made the router base for my Dremel for doing inlays, even an adjustable one for circle cutting. It's a lot easier if all you're doing is setting it up for one project, and doesn't cost $40 for sure.
Are you going to put any backing on your veneer? [edit: just saw your comment about birch backing] I don't have a lot of experience with veneers, thin veneers anyway. I use shop-made veneers about 1/16" to 3/32 or thicker, depending on the project. No backing veneer necessary.
If it's for your own use, have at it! Sounds like a fun project and any way it turns out, you will learn something for your own mental library.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled