Newbie_Neil
Established Member
OK, A little late in the day but with luck I think I can still make the deadline [-o<
After much thought and idle speculation it is with trepidation that I have decided to embark on the adventure that is veneering. Observing the maxim that time spent in reconnaissance (yes, I did have to look up the spelling (Hi Steve!)) is seldom time wasted advice was duly sought from the assembled members, and lo the oracles did supply the requisite pearls of wisdom. Use a vac bag some cried, while others did estoll the virtues of clamps and formers. Yet others the use of a sandbag. All agreed that a first attempt at veneering should be on a flat surface with a plain veneer. Nothing fancy. To this end I tried a test of a plain veneer on MDF, simply clamped between to other pieces of MDF for even pressure. Success! Who would have thought that gluing a thin piece of wood to a thicker piece would be so easy. The rumours of sitting under a cold waterfall for a month to purify the soul and empty the mind before attempting veneering were clearly over-stated.
Emboldened by this trial run all thoughts of plain veneers on flat surfaces were out the window. Storage with a curved surface was called for, nay a curved veneered surface, maybe with birds eye maple or an exquisite burr of some exotic species. The possibilities were endless. After a quick cold shower in lieu of a handy waterfall, and a slight tempering of the exquisiteness of the veneer due to cost the build process could begin.
Storage. Hmm, what to store. Well worry about that later, build the storage container and something can always be found to fit it. As to the curved surface, well ideas ranged from bow fronted chests of drawers to barrel topped chests with secret compartments, and eventually settled on a jewelry box with a curved lid. This flash of revelation was brought about by a recognition that my enthusiasm far outweighed my abilities, and the nagging doubt that time constraints may mean something simple was more likely to be finished on time. So dimensions roughly sketched out and layout kind of sorted it was time to form the carcass.
6mm MDF was the order of the day, and the router table the best way of forming the joints necessary without the use of a table saw. The curve was sketched, adjusted and moulded until the height of the top was about right, then roughed out on the bandsaw.
Success! And it even fitted together squarely (ish).
Now for the lid. Difficult to bend 6mm MDF. A scour of the internet revealed 1.5mm birch ply, expensive from a model supplier but easy to bend. A quick order later, some judicial finishing of the edges of the carcass with chisel and block plane (look away all hand tool purists, handtools on MDF is a terrible affliction but needs must) and the lid is fitted and clamped.
The downside of 1.5mm birch ply is that its, well, only 1.5mm thick. This means the lid deforms quite nicely if you press on it. No problem, simply add another layer. Thus the lid is now two sheets of 1.5mm birch ply. No deformation with pressure and a nice looking box ready for veneering. SWMBOs comment was but if you glue the lid shut how do you open it? Watch this space says I.
As it stands the box is now in the clamps, veneer applied to the two ends with blocks to spread the pressure evenly. Oh yes, I may be daft in attempting to veneer a curved surface as my first veneering project, but given a choice, the flat ends lessen the steepness of the learning curve to a climbable slope I hope.
And so it sits, waiting, to be revealed in all its glory by the end of March. Work may well prevent its completion by the deadline, but whoever said its the taking part rather than the winning that is important clearly didn't hanker after the prize available enough. Ah there is always hope until the deadline has passed.
After much thought and idle speculation it is with trepidation that I have decided to embark on the adventure that is veneering. Observing the maxim that time spent in reconnaissance (yes, I did have to look up the spelling (Hi Steve!)) is seldom time wasted advice was duly sought from the assembled members, and lo the oracles did supply the requisite pearls of wisdom. Use a vac bag some cried, while others did estoll the virtues of clamps and formers. Yet others the use of a sandbag. All agreed that a first attempt at veneering should be on a flat surface with a plain veneer. Nothing fancy. To this end I tried a test of a plain veneer on MDF, simply clamped between to other pieces of MDF for even pressure. Success! Who would have thought that gluing a thin piece of wood to a thicker piece would be so easy. The rumours of sitting under a cold waterfall for a month to purify the soul and empty the mind before attempting veneering were clearly over-stated.
Emboldened by this trial run all thoughts of plain veneers on flat surfaces were out the window. Storage with a curved surface was called for, nay a curved veneered surface, maybe with birds eye maple or an exquisite burr of some exotic species. The possibilities were endless. After a quick cold shower in lieu of a handy waterfall, and a slight tempering of the exquisiteness of the veneer due to cost the build process could begin.
Storage. Hmm, what to store. Well worry about that later, build the storage container and something can always be found to fit it. As to the curved surface, well ideas ranged from bow fronted chests of drawers to barrel topped chests with secret compartments, and eventually settled on a jewelry box with a curved lid. This flash of revelation was brought about by a recognition that my enthusiasm far outweighed my abilities, and the nagging doubt that time constraints may mean something simple was more likely to be finished on time. So dimensions roughly sketched out and layout kind of sorted it was time to form the carcass.
6mm MDF was the order of the day, and the router table the best way of forming the joints necessary without the use of a table saw. The curve was sketched, adjusted and moulded until the height of the top was about right, then roughed out on the bandsaw.
Success! And it even fitted together squarely (ish).
Now for the lid. Difficult to bend 6mm MDF. A scour of the internet revealed 1.5mm birch ply, expensive from a model supplier but easy to bend. A quick order later, some judicial finishing of the edges of the carcass with chisel and block plane (look away all hand tool purists, handtools on MDF is a terrible affliction but needs must) and the lid is fitted and clamped.
The downside of 1.5mm birch ply is that its, well, only 1.5mm thick. This means the lid deforms quite nicely if you press on it. No problem, simply add another layer. Thus the lid is now two sheets of 1.5mm birch ply. No deformation with pressure and a nice looking box ready for veneering. SWMBOs comment was but if you glue the lid shut how do you open it? Watch this space says I.
As it stands the box is now in the clamps, veneer applied to the two ends with blocks to spread the pressure evenly. Oh yes, I may be daft in attempting to veneer a curved surface as my first veneering project, but given a choice, the flat ends lessen the steepness of the learning curve to a climbable slope I hope.
And so it sits, waiting, to be revealed in all its glory by the end of March. Work may well prevent its completion by the deadline, but whoever said its the taking part rather than the winning that is important clearly didn't hanker after the prize available enough. Ah there is always hope until the deadline has passed.
