Hi,
I have no experience with veneers and I am trying to understand how to apply even clamping pressure when gluing paperback veneer. I am planing to use an even film of regular wood glue to the substrate. Then apply the veneer and roll it evenly with a rubber roller. Then apply even clamping pressure to the whole surface of the veneer…
I’m sure most of you have done this already…this in advance for the help.
Eric
Replies
if you're using clamps - would make a sandwich of the veneered piece, a layer of wax paper on each side, 2 pieces of 3/4 mdf on each side, then cauls across and clamped. clamping pressure is xerted at a 45 degree angle so the spacing of the cauls can be pretty critical.
good luck
jerry
Jerry,
Thanks for your reply. Are there any rules with regards to spacing the clamping bars on top of the MDF panels? The panel I'm applying veneer to is about 10.5" X 26". Do I space them 1" apart, or can I go 2-3" in between them?
Thanks a lot.Eric
Great idea with the "go bars" that Rick mentioned. I've done it off my cieling before with long boards. Easy to make this kind of clamping setup.
The standard rule of veneering is to clamp from the middle - out, so as not to trap and 'pool' the glue by clamping the ends and edges first, although if you use the right amount of glue (by rolling a uniform thin layer) it doesn't matter that much.
For a 10 x 27 board, you could get away with 2x2's as cauls and space them 3-4" apart across the width. It never hurts to double your MDF (or similar sheet material) on each face.
When veneering, using only edge clamps, I pre-crown my cauls by planing tapers into each end so that my clamp pressurizes the middle, then as final pressure is applied, it flattens out to clamp the edges. A few deep-throat clamps are great to have too. I have two 12" and four 9" deep Wetzlers - very useful over the years, but a little pricey.
"The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)
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The size you mention is not a large surface to veneer.
You can roll an even coat of yellow glue on each surface and allow it to dry until it does`nt stick to the finger.
Place the veneer sheet on the substrate.Now smile at your wife and see if she will lend you the iron that she uses in the laundry.
Using medium heat,start in the center and press the veneer to the substrate. The glue will be reactivated and no clamps are required.
Check the heat on a sample piece first.You don`t want to scorch the finished surface.
I have waited until the next morning to iron the sheet down,does not seem to make any difference.
Incidently,I use a 3" paint roller for most of my glueing.
I must confess that I seldom use the super thin veneer with paper back.Most of mine is resawed from thicker stock.
Work safely ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬PAT¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
Thanks for the tips everyone. I will likely be trying this out on the weekend. I hope everything turns out okay.
CheersEric
Another way that doesn't use clamps to put it on a firm flat table with a piece of MDF on top and use springy wooden dowels. The technique is called go-bars.
I was surprised to find them commercially available. Kind of like buying push sticks in my opinion.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Clamps,_support_tools/Go-bar_Clamping_System.html
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?NameProdHeader=Go-bar+Clamps
Although not ideal, with paper back veneer contact cement is an option, too. I've used contact cement with paper back veneer and haven't seen any problems over the past 15 years.
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