I am planning to veneer a large panel (4' x 5') with avodire and am somewhat intimidated by the task. I plan to veneer one side of 1/2 inch baltic birch plywood with a frame on the back. I would like to use contact cement but feel that the requirements for burnishing to ensure a tight fit may make this an unrealistic method. I would prefer not to invest in a vacuum pump and associated material and have heard about a technique where you can use yellow glue and a hot iron. Does anyone have any observations, suggestions, or critiques?
'burnishing' is *not* unrealistic. get one of the heavy-duty "J" rollers used to put down laminate counter-tops. (shortly, I'll be doing this with some 32" x 11' countertops -- just to put the size of your job in perspective :)
Otherwise, a series of "slightly bowed" bar-type pieces (where the middle of the bar is bent *closer* to the panel than are the outside edges), with a 'load distribution' piece between the bars and the actual stock you're glueing up. then clamp each 'bar' down at each end. With a reasonable 'density' of the bars going across the piece (every few inches), you can do a every adequate job of 'pressure gluing' the materials together. There are a couple of 'tricks' to this approach -- First, getting the 'curvature' of the bar stock right; so that as you clamp the edges down, you get a reasonably even pressure across the entire bar. Second, making sure your 'load distribution' stock is thick/ridgid enough to do a good job of 'spreading' the load across the spaces between the bars, *and* that you don't have enough 'localized pressure' to crush wood-fiber in the 'good stock you're clamping.
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