Pseudo-veneering

I would like to build a tressle table for my dining room from cherry. My recent projects have led me to the conclusion that color-matching cherry is really tough to do well. What looks like a good match "dry" can be very different with the wet look of a just a clear finish. If I have to do a glue-up taking wood from the same board yeilds the best result.

I would hate to go to the trouble and expense of a large table and look at the top and feel like I wish I could have another stab at board selection.

I was considering using my bandsaw to resaw the best board I could find into something like 13/16" slices. By doing joint, resaw joint resaw... I would always have one smooth face to glue to a substrate, which I could later pass through the planer to clean up the surface.

I tried this on a small scale this weekend and it worked OK, but using yellow glue required about 12 f-clamps on a 2.5 x 15" board. That glue/clamping strategy is not viable for a 7' x 8" board. I doubt that a traditional veneering approach would work for a relatively thick veneer.

Has anyone ever tried contact cement for wood-wood bond using a essentially the same process as gluing formica to MDF?

Thanks,

Steve

Reply to
Stephen M
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Yes, people have tried it--it won't last.

I think you need to think mechanically attaching a thick top of this sort to the substrate to allow some lateral movement as opposed to trying to glue it over the entire face.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

I'll assume you meant "3/16", not "13/16". Yup, that works fine, just let them acclimate a week or two after the resaw step.

Not that tough, just forget about conventional clamps. You need:

  1. a couple pieces of 3/4" MDF same size as your glue-up.
  2. about 30 pieces of 2x4 a couple inches longer than your board width.
  3. same number of bolts/nuts/washers, long enough to go through your glue-up, two thicknesses of MDF, and two thicknesses of 2x4...6" oughta do it. That gives you a "clamp" every 6" that goes across the full width of the glue-up, with the MDF acting as a caul to apply pressure in between.

I assume you're using solid wood, preferably also cherry as your substrate, since you'll be edge-gluing the composite boards later.

I've done it for smallish pieces (12"x16"), works fine. I have no idea what the long-term durability of that sandwich would be for something that large. The key to normal countertops is that they have lots of support underneath to keep them from flexing and stressing the joint.

Lee

Reply to
Lee DeRaud

"Stephen M" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news1.newsguy.com:

Try googling on shop-sawn veneer. And/or getting a look at Krenov's books, which include writings on the subject.

David Marks does this regularly on his cable-only TV show. Anyone who has taken the coursework at College of the Redwoods learns and uses this method regularly. Certainly it is taught elsewhere as well.

But these veneers are cut closer to 3/32", edge jointed and glued, and then glued to the substrate, (both sides) generally with a vacuum bag.

Usually for exactly the reasons you describe.

Patriarch, theorist, observer and book learner wrt veneer

Reply to
Patriarch

Or "crown" the 2x4s so they are both clamp and caul and forget the MDF.

Reply to
lgb

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Ahhhh....that's a reasonable alternative interpretation that hadn't occurred to me.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Yup. That is what I meant.

Got it. So you would recommend sticking with Yellow wood glue?

I am not going to try un unproven technique on a project of this magnitude.

-Steve

Reply to
Stephen M

It is proven--not to work.

There have been several letters to Fine Woodworking over the years that I can recall where people have written in w/ "What did I do wrong?" questions with exactly the kind of construction you were proposing. Contact cement is designed for a nonporous overlayment over a substrate and will not hold long term for the intended purpose. You're right to not invest such a large amount of effort into such a venture.

W/ the update of thinner material, it should work well, although that would be one place where I might consider either a hide glue or resorcinol for harder glue line and longer open time.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

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