Sorry to ask for some DIY advice, but has anyone any experience of using either stick on or iron on veneer on a fairly large panel? Roughly 750 x
450 mm?I've found a few places online that supply a paper backed ready glued real teak veneer (a bit like sticky backed plastic) which sounds like it would be easier to work with than traditional glueing methods (for me).
Its OK if you realise it will peel first at edges and corners, and will tend to bubble if subjected to heat. The iron on stuff is thicker and does still turn up at edges after some time or if subjected to damp or temperature changes outside the norm. On my fireplace some is beginning to crack as well as it hardens but this is 20 years later. its already had plastic edging put over the pealing edges.
Brian
I can't see how it could be easier than wet glue. No chance of bubbles when the glue is wet/thin & slides well. Different story with a tacky adhesive.
NT
Wet glue would require clamping
Thing is for a large area you'd need some method of clamping rather outside the scope of DIY? Unless I'm missing something?
What's wrong with contact adhesive, and using some thin dowels to allow positioning it before pressing it down?
Wet glue really only works for smallish areas you can clamp with a suitable load spreader, anything 'big' and you really need a vacuum bag and pump.
Iron on veneer certainly works and many speaker manufacturers used to use it.
You can (could?) buy the heat sensitive glue in sheets to use your own veneers.
Wrong. We used to veneer 10 8x4 slabs with PVA in a huge sandwich using a 2 ton press.
All that matters is maintaining contact while things dry.
And a few more bits of wood on top and some weight does that nicely in amateurs contexts
PVA will gap fill. Just not so much.
Of course. Do you not have enough stuff you could pile on top? Put down polythene then chipboard and on that you can put just about anything. Doesn't get you high clamp pressure, but it only needs to stay in touch to work.
NT
Er, no.
A veneer press has 4" Acme thread screws, a 2" steel bar four foot long, and two give that bar all the welly they can...
Thomas Prufer
I've been thinking about that - but my experience of using wood glue is the higher the clamping pressure, the better, within reason. And how much weight would you need on a largeish board to equal that provided by a vacuum? (Just thinking about how much grunt a small area vacuum servo produces on car brakes)
Other thing I've come across is iron on glue - paper backed. You iron that on, let it dry, remove the paper, then iron on the veneer. Says suitable for up to 1mm veneer.
Ah - right. I'll just pick the one out of several I keep in the tool cupboard.
Err, why the two ton press if all that's needed is to maintain contact.
You could use a hide glue, and iron it on.
Thomas Prufer
2240lb x 2 / 8 x 4 ft / 144 = a massive 1psi
With a decent vacuum setup you get around 14psi which really does ensure full contact with the substrate with next to no human mechanical effort.
With a vacuum bag you can stick veneer to curved surfaces and when finished just chuck away the peel ply, and breather fabric, roll the vacuum bag up under the bench alongside a vacuum pump, a bit of pipe and a vacuum breach fitting. It helps when you already have these bits for doing composite work.
A 10 tonne hydraulic press already sits in the workshop for bearing replacements. I'd hate to think where I'd even fit a 8ft x 4ft 2 ton press and what I'd ever use it for...torturing politicians might be useful I suppose but an oxy-acetylene torch and a branding iron would probably be better if one had access to a decent positive pressure fed respirator... which I do.
My grandfathers cider press would have done that nicely :-)
But a few proper concrete blocks ontop of a slab of chipboard would probably do the job.
You don't need to use a veneer press.
NT
imperfections in the surfaces. But you don't need tonnes for diy. PU glue is much better at gaps than PVA.
NT
My own thoughts exactly. Might need a little practice and a veneer hammer but thats how it was done for years. One advantage would be re-positioning or repair ability as it would just require heat to soften the glue. Check youtube for hammer veneering
Impact adhesive would give a very permanent fix. Interpose sheets of paper before laying down the veneer and gradually draw them back as you apply the veneer.
Some practical thoughts on this - from actually doing it a couple of years ago....
This was to veneer a couple of speaker cabinets - largest face around
250x1040mm - so a different shape as your requirements, but around the same area. I used iron-on American white oak from woodveneeruk.co.uk - ironed on to well sanded bare MDF, using the suppliers instructions.Overall I found it worked well, and was not too difficult. The suppliers recommend leaving the item for a couple of days to see if any bubbles appear, and then re-ironing - and they were right - some did, and were then ironed successfully flat.
Oak is a fairly open grain, and although the veneer was sanded well after application, in a glancing light you can see the grain structure very slightly - so it's not totally flat. This doesn't show in normal conditions though, and I'm pleased with the result. For a fully flat mirror finish grain filler would probably do the job, if preferred.
I used multiple coats of Rustins Plastic Coating to finish - which I like, but tastes on finish vary..... To date there have been no bubbles or peeling edges.
Dave, if you want some pictures let me know.
Charles F
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