Hello, my name is Clay Crocker and I am a novice/hobbyiest woodworker in Gainesville GA. I am starting a project of refinishing an antique chest of drawers. I wouldn’t consider the piece as “fine furniture” but it is nice enough that we do not want to get rid of it.
The top was in such bad shape that I am just going to replace it. I do not have any expierence veneering, but I have read as much as I could find at this site about the subject. I was planning on hammer veneering since I do not own a press, but I just read an article where the author used water-proof yellow glue and an iron to accomplish the veneering. This sounds great and alot less messy than hot hide glue.
My question would be does it matter if I use paper backed or solid wood veneer. I have some scrap pieces of baltic birch ply I can use for the substrate on the top.
If I relpace the drawers I was going to use solid poplar for the fronts and veneer them as well. Would this work as long as I kept the grain running the same direction?
Any information you could give would be better than what I have right now which is nothing.
Thanks
Clay
Replies
Hi Clay:
This sounds like a fun project and a nice way to revive an old chest of drawers. Here's my thoughts. If anyone reading this disagrees, by all means chime in.
Hammer veneering with hot hide glue is not a fun process and I don't recommend it for a first-time project, unless you are willing to do a lot of test boards ahead of time and invest in a veneer hammer, which isn't cheap and has limited uses.
Mario Rodriguez's iron-on technique is a controversial one, according to the editor that worked on that article. Apparently it works well on small panels but is hit or miss in other cases. To hot and the glue gets messy, too cold and you don't get a good adhesion.
My first suggestion would be to follow the advice in this article. You don't need a vacuum press or a fancy clamping press, only some standard bench clamps and a few sheets of MDF. This only works on flat panels. If you need to veneer curved surfaces I'd say invest in a vacuum press. A powered press is costly but will be a great shop accessory for years. Alternatively, I've had great success with inexpensive hand-pump vacuum bag kit.
I've never used paper-backed veneer but I just asked around the office and was told that it was designed to keep the veneers flatter and allow them to be thinner. Unless you've already purchased it, I'd scrap the paper-back stuff.
Regarding the solid drawer fronts. That is a fine solution. However, make sure to veneer both the back and front of the drawer faces to allow the solid substrate to absorb moisture evenly. Also, using mahogany or quarter-sawn wood instead of poplar will lessen the amount of expansion and contraction, although it's not critical.
Let me know your thoughts on those answers. What I've proven is that there is more than one way to skin a cat (or veneer a panel).
Matt Berger
Fine Woodworking
Thanks, I will give it a go.
Clay
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