# One step veneer over a chamfer... nope!



## gpop (Feb 10, 2012)

This is my first serious veneering.
Cedar veneer over plywood. This is for a bed with drawers below.
Being new to veneering anything this big, I have been really sweating how to approach it exactly. I've done smaller veneering with balsa on a 12×8x6" keepsake box… this is is different animal altogether because of the sheer lengths, and the 1/4" chamfer stymies me completely.

How can I get good adhesion on something that's more than 6 feet long? I've dreamed up contraptions to try to press at a 45 degree angle, but more to the point… where do I begin???

This much I know so far. I tried to do it in one step on the [see pic] test piece, but cavities formed just below the chamfer, and the chamfer itself ended up looking like a round-over, and felt like it was hollow due to the cavity that eventually formed there too?

Anyone care to impart some wisdom?


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Have you tried a vaccuum press and bag?


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

There are some large production cabinetry companies that use a very expensive membrane press to make raised panels for cabinetry doors from Particle Board and Veneer. I've seen it in Red Oak and Maple.
There are limits to the crispness of edges, but uniform high pressure seems to do the job okay.


----------



## gpop (Feb 10, 2012)

mmm, while I would love to have a vacuum press for many applications; I'm afraid that finding the required equipment in my present location is not within time/budget limitations. I'm an expat living in Argentina, resources are limited and/or too expensive to consider. The solution to this will have to be something home-grown. More in technique as opposed to technology.

If, instead of a chamfer I go with a round-over, this would not be as much of an issue; but the veneer will not "fold", it just curves into and out of the chamfer. This is why I was wondering that perhaps if I did it in strips, one at a time, but which should come first? Chamfer-edge-face? Then I worry about splitting and snagging when I trim the excess from the chamfer as it is only 1/4".


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

If you have ANY solid material in the cedar, you can band the edges wide enough for the champher, then, veneer the face. Follow this by routing the champher into the underlying solid peice. It will look very clean.


----------



## Pdub (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm with DS251. Veneer the face and band the edges,then you can route any edge you want.


----------



## LeeJ (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi

You can use TiteBond Glue. Paint the plywood, and the back side of the veneer with the glue. Let it dry completely. Then iron it on, using a household iron on medium heat. Heat an area, and using something hard, like a veneer hammer, press the veneer down. Work small areas at a time.

This is a rather brief version of how to do it, but test it out on small scraps first. It's pretty easyto do, and quite permanent. Here's a link to me doing it on a entertainment cabinet.

http://prowoodworkingtips.com/Building_a_Small_Entertainment_Center_pg._2.html

Lee


----------



## levan (Mar 30, 2010)

plus one on lee's sugestion


----------



## gpop (Feb 10, 2012)

Just now, I set the face. I am using contact adhesive (which is not my first choice, but what's generally used here for veneers), loaded the backside up with the old CRT, a full cabinet of CDs/books, and my wifes' treadmill (finally getting some use out of that thing!). I hope that will be enough weight, there seemed to be some bubbles despite going over them with an extra wide scraper. This is bare veneer, no adhesive side.

I will follow up with the advice, thank you all for your input!


----------



## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I don't think you can realistically bend veneer around a sharp angle like a chamfer. If you had used a round over you could do it but not a chamfer. I think DS251 has the best solution.


----------



## gpop (Feb 10, 2012)

True, certainly not a 90 degree, that's why I tried a test piece first to see if it would bend around a 45… I mean, if it can be done, then why complicate things. I thought there might be a chance. Sadly not.


----------



## gpop (Feb 10, 2012)

Spent the last 2 hours getting the bubbles out of the 9 square foot face with an iron in one hand, and the blunt side of a spoon in another (no veneer hammers in Argentina… among other things).
It's times like these that I miss the advances in tools and materials we have in North America, but hey, you learn from doing right?
@ Lee - Does this method strictly work with Titebond or can it work with generic vinyl based glue? This is a cost consideration because while there are *some* Titebond products available on the free-market, the price is outrageous as it is an import (US$20 for a 16oz sound right?). I've been heating up the contact adhesive and it's working right, butI gotta say, I'm woozy from the fumes 
This is going to set overnight and tomorrow I will take care of the chamfer.


----------



## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

You could hammer veneer it with hide glue. 
It has been working very well for a couple of thousand years.
The best idea would still be a solid edge but if you piece it up the sequence would be edge, chamfer, face smallest to largest. it would hammer veneer easily that way with virtually no special equipment and of course if you do mess up it is completely reversible unlike contact cement.


----------



## Loren (May 30, 2008)

Hide glue in N. America is usually casein glue. It's pretty
similar and derived from milk I think.

For the iron-on Titebond method:

You want a PVA glue, preferably one rated for hot pressing. 
Don't fixate on brand names because they vary from country
to country. The cheaper consumer glues like Elmer's in
N. America have cheap fillers in them. Elmer's is fine for 
joinery and I use it, but for hot pressing it crystallizes due 
to fillers which would be a red flag in your application. Even
regular Titebond I is not rated for hot pressing and will
crystallize in hot press veneering but there is a version
of Titebond II rated for hot pressing.

Track down the data sheets for the various industrial PVA
glues available in your country and look for the ones rated
for hot pressing. Then try to find out if there is a version
sold to consumers in small containers.

In N. America the version of Franklin's industrial hot press
PVA glue is "Titebond II Extend", a white glue. The yellow
color of some PVA glues is dye and has nothing to do with
working characteristics from my research, just branding.

P.S. I agree with Paul M, the easy way to do it without 
a vacu-forming hot press machine is with solid wood edging
shaped to the profile you want after gluing. You can 
veneer the face of the panel before or after edging but
usually before is good.


----------



## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Loren, the hide glue I use is from Milligan and Higgins and is the real article
It's made from scratch in Johnstown NY.


----------



## MNedman (Dec 1, 2007)

Nicely done Paul…a fitting addition to Friendship.


----------

