LumberJocks

Dovetail Box #11: Hand-Cut Veneer

Blog entry by Eric posted 477 days ago 1042 reads 0 times favorited 15 comments Add to Favorites Watch
« Part 10: Next Obstacle: The Lid Part 11 of Dovetail Box series Part 12: Feelin' Groovy »

So I don’t have access to store-bought veneer (no stores) and I don’t have a bandsaw, so it looks like I’m on my own for veneer. And since I needed it for this box lid, why not start now? I was feeling pretty confident going into this endeavor with my new ryoba. And it didn’t let me down.

I didn’t measure or mark anything. A fellow LumberJock told me it should be 1/16” or thinner. So I just put the saw a smidge away from the edge of the board and tried to keep my line even horizontally and vertically. I also don’t have a real vise, so I just laid the board up against the “bench” and sawed away!

Hand-Cut Veneer 1

After resawing the veneer off of my board, it looked pretty good – mostly even thickness, and it was right around 1/16” thick at its thickest point.

Hand-Cut Veneer 2

I sanded it down a little (tricky to hold on to such a thin little piece!) and then slapped it good-side-up onto my plywood panel.

Hand-Cut Veneer 3

And there we go! The veneer might be a tiny bit short, but I’m starting to lower my standards a bit and just want to get this thing done. I missed my Valentine’s Day deadline and just missed my wife’s birthday – I don’t want to let Mother’s Day go by before finishing! The other thing I should have done was to sandwich the plywood/veneer glueup in between a couple pieces of wood, for a more even clamp. When it was all dry, I saw that the veneer had lifted up very slightly on one edge. Shouldn’t affect the end product, though, as the top of the veneer is what I’m making flush with the top of the lid. So here’s what it looks like (none of the components are glued yet):

Hand-Cut Veneer 4

Thanks to everyone who gave me such great advice on how to do the lid!

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com


15 comments so far

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

16261 posts in 573 days


posted 477 days ago

Eric,

You are making progress. This box is starting to take shape. If you get this finished before Mother’s day I am sure all will be forgiven.

By the way this is a nice example of problem solving. You were faced with the veneer challenge and could have used it as an excuse for not doing the box. Instead you looked on it as an opportunity to explore an alternative technique and generated your own veneer. Very innovative.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View ChicoWoodnut's profile

ChicoWoodnut

884 posts in 566 days


posted 477 days ago

Are you gonna fill those gaps with some nice contrasting wood strips?

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9429 posts in 739 days


posted 477 days ago

That’s some darn fine veneer cutting you did there!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

View Eric's profile

Eric

785 posts in 534 days


posted 477 days ago

Scott: I told my wife that I’m learning so much, the second one of these (I haven’t told her it’s a box) will be much better. “Do you want the second one, then?” I asked. And she said, “Oh no way, I want the first one, with all the blood, sweat and tears.” Good woman.

Other Scott: Which gaps are you referring to? The few gaps I have are too small for me to fill (my veneering isn’t THAT fine!). They’ll probably be noticeable, but not obnoxious.

GaryK: Thanks, as always! You’re LJ’s finest cheerleader. In a macho guy kind of way, that is. No pom-poms.

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

View TheCaver's profile

TheCaver

265 posts in 590 days


posted 477 days ago

All that by hand, thats impressive! i don’t know if I could stick with it that long before going the power route :)

And now you have a lid which will not blow out your miters :) Now use that Ryoba to cut some veneer keys into the miters of the frame for a decorative touch and to lend a bit more strength to the miters….. :P

Cheers,

JC

-- Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan

View Betsy's profile

Betsy

2291 posts in 647 days


posted 477 days ago

Eric – mighty fine veneer. I think you have to be pretty patient to hand cut a board that thin. Well done.

Best get it finished up soon though. Mother’s day will be here before you blink!

Good luck.

-- My digits count!

View Eric's profile

Eric

785 posts in 534 days


posted 477 days ago

TheCaver: Not another thing to do!!!!

(Well, maybe)

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

View Dorje's profile

Dorje

1770 posts in 747 days


posted 476 days ago

Way to go on the veneer and getting the top together! JCs idea re: the keys is a a good one to add strength to the mitered joints, which don’t have too much holding power in them. You went through the process of cutting the veneer; I bet you could cut slivers as thin as a saw kerf to make the key stock!

Have fun – whatever you do!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5952 posts in 817 days


posted 476 days ago

Eric – you da man – cutting veneer with a handsaw! Good job.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

View rikkor's profile

rikkor

11345 posts in 625 days


posted 476 days ago

Wow, hand sawn veneer. That’s impressive.

View FRITZ's profile

FRITZ

78 posts in 350 days


posted 105 days ago

project looking go,, if you ever need some nice exotic veneer feel free to check me out i sell all type of veneer ’’ebay rjfritz123’‘
again project looks good
thanks ron

View FRITZ's profile

FRITZ

78 posts in 350 days


posted 105 days ago

project looking go,, if you ever need some nice exotic veneer feel free to check me out i sell all type of veneer ’’ebay rjfritz123’‘
again project looks good
thanks ron

View Eric's profile

Eric

785 posts in 534 days


posted 104 days ago

Thanks, Ron, but I make my own exotic veneers, can’t ya see? :^)

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

View Mark Shymanski's profile

Mark Shymanski

1255 posts in 463 days


posted 104 days ago

Impressive cutting…I was just dreaming about doing this and here you have gone and done it. Your result is an inspiration to me. My thinking was ‘I don’t have ….’ so to see you do it with the same kind of limitations encourages me to give it a try…thanks!

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

View Eric's profile

Eric

785 posts in 534 days


posted 103 days ago

Welcome, Mark. Can’t say I did anything spectacular, though, except to give it a try! So go for it!

-- Eric at http://adventuresinwoodworking.com

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