Gluing veneer question

[wayne mak]

After waiting 3 weeks for some veneer to arive the seller refunded my money so I bought some veneer from another seller. I had origanaly bought a 4' x

8' sheet with paper back and some consecutive sheets. I have in the past used the paper back with good results. I ended up buy all consecutive sheets most are 12" wide so I will need to seem them. That shouldn't be to bad correct? they are the length I need just not the width. These will be glued to Melamine, in the past I sanded the side to be veneered and used contact cement. The the consecutive veneers there is no paper backing so whats the best glue to use? Anything I should know? these are for kitchen cabinets, I have completed all but a few boxes with no vereering yet (Waited 3 weeks each day wondering WHEN) so it looks like I will be doing a whole bunch of veneering at once:( I was hoping to get this done before the holidays but thats out now.

[MB]

The hardest thing about seaming is making sure that the two edges are perfectly "jointed". You should seam them together with veneer tape before gluing down.

I joint the edges by sandwiching them between two boards and letting about 1/16" stick out, then I use a router with a straight bit to joint the edge. Obviosly the clamping boards have to be dead straight.

Contact cement never gets really hard. It will always creep so the seam may not stay together as the veneer and substrate move throughout the seasons. The second problem with contact cement is that when some finishes are applied, it soaks through the thin veneer and softens the glue, causing the veneer to delaminate. Water based finishes are probably OK. Paper backed veneers are recommended if you want to use contact cement.

Wood craft sells a veneer glue called "Cold Press". It seems to be similar to Yellow glue but it has some additives to keep it from bleeding through to the surface. The ultimate veneer glue is a two part urea glue (such as Unibond 800). This dries very hard and has a long open time (which you sometimes need when fumbling with sheets of veneer. Always apply the glue to the substrate.

has some good info on working with veneers.

Mitch

[wayne mak]

[mike hide]

I just compleated a similar job ,it worked out ok.

I would be leery about veneering on melamine as this surface is designed to be impenetrable so the glue will have trouble getting a key .I would just use regular MDF. For my job I used regular tightbond glue on MDF.

Use wax paper between the top caul and the veneer otherwise you will glue it up if there is any glue bleed through. Any bleed through can be removed after the glue has dried with a scaper and careful sanding.....

As mentioned "Joe Woodworker" is a good source of supplies and info, I have delt with him in the past and highly recommend him.

[wayne mak]

[Wes Stewart]

[Leon]

That link above was misspelled. Use the one Wes shows.

[MB]

's the list of all their veneer articles:

forums are useful too:

include manufacturers, so some of the advice is industrial strength.