Veneering, one project, how far should I go?


bleedinblue

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Hello boys, I'm baaaaaack!

Yes, I'm still alive.  No, I haven't sold off my shop.  Yes, I still make furniture occasionally. 

I'm currently nearing the finish line of the Guild dining chairs.  Building one of those chairs would probably be fun.  Building five of them makes me want to quit.

But I digress....

As some of you probably knew but have long since forgotten, I made this crib for my daughter seven years ago.  It's really what launched me into more serious woodworking.  It's the Wood magazine deal-lio that converts from the crib to the toddler bed to a full size bed.

Here I am at the super young age of 41 and it looks like we're gonna need another crib next year.  

I'm gonna use the same design and go maple this time.  But that much maple will be boring, and I'm not gonna make the whole dang thing out of figured stock, so I'm thinking those plywood panels are the perfect mark for some pizzazz.  Is that a word?

All of that talking for a simple question...

The panels are around 55" long.  Two are 6" tall, one is 3" tall, and the centerpiece is 10" tall.

I'll be veneering curly maple for said pizzazz.

I've never veneered much of anything before and I'm not sure I will again anytime soon.  Is it worth it to pick up a vacuum system?  Should I do the heat activated-iron on method instead?  Or just sandwich it up and pile up a crap ton of weight?

d9e9b96b0c114af940dc4c7cfc9af099--bedroom-kids-baby-bedroom.jpg

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Its hard to beat a vacuum bag for even clamping on veneer. Rockler sells a hand-pump system that is relatively inexpensive. IIRC, you can even purchase the valve by itself, to use with custom bags, which might make sense for your application. Sheet plastic and contact cement makes a perfectly acceptable bag for such cases.

If you use weight, be sure to sandwich between flat surfaces, like mdf, but beware that this technique won't conform to any irregularities that me be presnt, which could lead to poor adhesion in spots. Also, you would need almost 4 tons of evenly-distributed weight on a 10x55" panel, to equal the pressure of a good vacuum.

My only experience with the iron-on method was edge banding, and not satisfying at all. Can't recommend it.

 

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On 10/29/2022 at 10:49 PM, Coop said:

Stay awhile and keep us in the loop on the new bed. 

Hey Coop!  Thanks.  Since this will be the second time through this build and I expect it to be really easy this time, maybe I'll do a full journal.  It'll give me a good reminder to check in here more often, if nothing else.

On 10/30/2022 at 7:32 AM, wtnhighlander said:

Its hard to beat a vacuum bag..........

 

I think you've sold me.  It's only money, and whereas I don't do much veneering now, I do a bit of bent lam every once in a while.  

On 10/30/2022 at 9:37 AM, BillyJack said:

If you want to invest product and time by all means go for it........

 

 

Good Lord those are huge.  Looks awesome!

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Good to see you back! I have a vacuum system and if you were looking for a reason to but one then I would :) Having said that I think you could easily do this without it, as stated above a flat surface is key. I would also use shop sawn veneer 1/8" to 3/32" especially since this if for a child it will hold up to abuse much better. Don't forget to veneer both sides you can use scrap on the back but you do want to veneer both sides. 

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On 10/30/2022 at 1:29 PM, pkinneb said:

Good to see you back! I have a vacuum system and if you were looking for a reason to but one then I would :) 

This is the sort of thing that I could debate with myself over for weeks.  I'm opting to skip that step, hit the easy button and just buy the system.

 

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Veneer supplies has a sale on vacuum bags.   You will need something larger than my 4'x4" bag.  When you get over 4x4 you will need a pump that moves enough air so that is doesn't take foever to draw doen the vacuum.  Plastic and silcone caulk can be used to make a quick one time use large bag for cheap. 

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On 10/29/2022 at 9:32 PM, bleedinblue said:

Here I am at the super young age of 41 and it looks like we're gonna need another crib next year.  

Congrats!  ...? Good to see you back it'd be awesome to see the journal of the project.

On 10/29/2022 at 9:32 PM, bleedinblue said:

I've never veneered much of anything before and I'm not sure I will again anytime soon.  Is it worth it to pick up a vacuum system?  Should I do the heat activated-iron on method instead?  Or just sandwich it up and pile up a crap ton of weight?

I've done the sandwich and crap ton of weight. It doesn't really work super well unless you can park your car on top..... Just get a vacuum setup. I need to get one my self but my woodworking has be paused as our first daughter joined us in July.

On 10/31/2022 at 1:03 PM, bleedinblue said:

That's a big thing I like about this design though.  The crib it's self only gets a couple years use, but after converting to the full size bed the main components will be used for many more.

I made the crib for our daughter. My wife asked me recently when I expected her to sleep in it, my response was "Well when your ready". So it sound like she might start using the crib sometime next summer.... :lol: I made our crib out of boxeldeer and ash sawn from trees i cut down on our property. I based this one off of cremona's design.

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DSC_6511-01.thumb.jpeg.d6237f0fc6719246cd31c3674b21bc9f.jpeg

 

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I do a lot of veneering and I agree with the advice that you’ve been given so far. I would definitely go the vacuum bag route if possible. ALSO, be careful about the type of glue that your using. Many glues will “bleed through” the veneer during the compression process and leave a nasty glue spot on the veneer. I would not go the hammer veneer route..!

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On 11/1/2022 at 9:49 PM, Ronn W said:

Veneer supplies has a sale on vacuum bags.   You will need something larger than my 4'x4" bag.  When you get over 4x4 you will need a pump that moves enough air so that is doesn't take foever to draw doen the vacuum.  Plastic and silcone caulk can be used to make a quick one time use large bag for cheap. 

I bought a pump from Veneer Supplies, it was just delivered today.  It's the Excel 1, the smallest he had.  It says it is good for up to a 4x4 piece, which I ASSUMED meant up to 16 square feet.

I haven't decided on what bag yet.  His are quite expensive, even on sale.  Rockler has some cheaper options but not the optimal size, and of course I could build my own bag.  I have some time to figure that out though.

On 11/2/2022 at 9:08 AM, Chestnut said:

Congrats!  ...? Good to see you back it'd be awesome to see the journal of the project...........

 

 

It's awesome you built the crib from a tree from your property, that definitely makes it even more special.

 

Pretty funny too...I rushed to get our first daughter's crib ready before she was born.  I don't think she successfully slept in it for six months, and didn't sleep all night in it until she was 18 months.

On 11/2/2022 at 10:24 AM, BillyJack said:

Just be careful with the finish..

I'll do Osmo Poly-x...I've become quite fond of it.

 

On 11/2/2022 at 2:10 PM, Hammer5573 said:

I do a lot of veneering and I agree with the advice that you’ve been given so far. I would definitely go the vacuum bag route if possible. ALSO, be careful about the type of glue that your using. Many glues will “bleed through” the veneer during the compression process and leave a nasty glue spot on the veneer. I would not go the hammer veneer route..!

I picked up glue from Veneer Supplies....the light colored Better Bond X Press or whatever it is.  That should be good to go I think.

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On 10/31/2022 at 1:10 PM, BillyJack said:

We raise the grand daughter. When she left the baby bed we bought her a twin bed bedroom suite. This will last till they graduate.  This might be a better investment to splurge on, but that's me..

Why buy when you can build. The satisfaction offsets everything! JMO. 

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I can't build everything. I've build my daughters bed, sons bed, my bed. Kids have moved on and bought their own bedroom suites..When we took the grand daughter to raise, I was already putting in 8-10 hours in at the furniture company, not to mention the 45 mile drive each way. During this tine I rarely built anything. This went on for 7 years. With my condition it's been a tough road to get back in the shop.

 

I have  a lot of projects I've  wanted to build over the years. I can only get to as many as my body allows.

 

Brain says go, body says no..

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On 11/2/2022 at 4:23 PM, bleedinblue said:

I bought a pump from Veneer Supplies, it was just delivered today.  It's the Excel 1, the smallest he had.  It says it is good for up to a 4x4 piece, which I ASSUMED meant up to 16 square feet.

I haven't decided on what bag yet.  His are quite expensive, even on sale.  Rockler has some cheaper options but not the optimal size, and of course I could build my own bag.  I have some time to figure that out though.

It's awesome you built the crib from a tree from your property, that definitely makes it even more special.

 

I picked up glue from Veneer Supplies....the light colored Better Bond X Press or whatever it is.  That should be good to go I think.

A lot of the bleed through has to do with the type of veneer that you’re using. I’ve used glue brands that claim that they won’t bleed, but they still do. Some veneers are very porous and difficult to manage

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