Veneered Chessboard

After a bit of excited, I got a veneer kit for Christmas made up of a vinyl bag, an electric pump and a hose to connect the two. I immediately went down to Black Forest Woods in Calgary to buy a couple of packs of veneer, glue, and a veneer saw. It largely went down hill from there.

I recently had watched the Marquetry DVD by Silas Kopf. One of the first things he showed was how to make a checker pattern. As they always do, it looked pretty easy. I immediately decided that this was going to be my first piece.

I didn’t realize it at the time but the Veneer Saw doesn’t come sharpened so my initial cuts were really rough. I was told that you could cut single veneer sheets with an Exacto blade. This is not really true. It cut worse than the dull veneer saw. Silas cut veneer with a crosscut sled. So I made a sled and then cut the veneer. This worked reasonably well but the burl didn’t really like being cut this way. Oh well. It’s just a practice piece. I cut and taped the pieces to get the required checkerboard pattern. I also cut and taped some Etimoe veneer for the back.

Finding some decent plywood in shop I cut, glued and taped the veneer with it finally ending up in the veneer press. This part worked exactly as advertised. I left it in the press for 3 hours and then let it sit overnight. I then did two thing I wish I didn’t do. First I sanded the paper off instead of wetting it and scraping. In my next project I will wait to sand everything after everything is joined together.

Next I decided to use some scrap alder I had around. The scrap was exactly the thickness of the board when I started but ended up being 1/64” too small when it was done. I thought as long as I make the top even it won’t be a big deal. This also turned out not to be true. I used biscuits to join everything and there is just enough wiggle room to make this not work.

Things I like: I like the combination of wood and will endeavor to make this again using these woods and veneers.

Things to do better: I am in the process of making a jig to use in combination with the router to cut straight edges. We’ll see if this helps. I have already made another miter jig so this shouldn’t be a problem. I have already vowed to only remove the veneer tape with water and a scraper. I will also try to take more time. I used too much glue. I have a tendency to do this and it’s something I think I can do better in all of my projects.

It isn’t bad for a practice piece and I learned an incredible amount of information about veneering doing this project. I guarantee the next one will exhibit better craftsmanship.

Tim

-- www.responsetolight.com - A Woodworking & Renovation Blog & www.craftedbytim.com - I make. You buy.