Hornbeam
Established Member
This project was a bit spur of the moment as I had purchased a large quantity of oak at £10 a cube from a closing down sale and also had some burr chestnut veneer as freebee from a large veneer order
The chestnut burr was quite crinkly and a few holes and splits were evident
First thing to do was soften and flatten the veneer
I use a warm water spray and then pressed the sheets beween paper and some chipboard plattens. Change the paper every few hours and the difference is quite remarkable. The originally brittle veneer becomes much softer and pliable
Next the small cracks were taped and any small holes filled with a glue sawdust mixture. It really pays to take care here as any small hole can lead to glue bleed through
The chest design was based on a panelled look with all burr chest nut panels 150mm square
I had enough veneer for the required 32 panels
Once everything had been filled the panels were arranged to give the best figure matches which is roughly quartered with the framework between. These were placed onto 12mm birch ply sheets and pressed in my home made vacuum press. The reaar side is balanced with an oak veneer, which is laid as 1 sheet as the panelling effect is only visible on the outside
Once pressed the panels were trimmed and sanded to 240grit
I did this using a track saw set to 3mm depth, which gave a very clean edge to the veneer and makes it quite easy to rout out the material between the panels to a depth of 2.5mm
This leaves a very small groove at the edge of each trench. This was deliberate as it reduces any glue squeeze out when the cross rails are fitted
Cross rails in oak were cut and jointed to fit in the grooves and then glued into place. On the image you can see the small tongues which will fit into the main frame. They are the same depth in as the rebate on the back of the panel so when it is all pulled up tight everything pulls together front and rear of the panel
The main frame is made from 20mm thick oak with mortice and tennons. I rebated the back of the panels so they would fit into a 10mm groove which was routed into the rails and stiles
Each panel was then glued up in the same manner
Once everything was dry the cross members which had been cut to sit 1/2mm proud were planed flush with thee external panel frame
The base panel was made in the same way but using 2 large panels with 2mm bandsawn ceder of lebanon veneers onto 6nn birch plywood on both faces
Next stage assembly
The chestnut burr was quite crinkly and a few holes and splits were evident
First thing to do was soften and flatten the veneer
I use a warm water spray and then pressed the sheets beween paper and some chipboard plattens. Change the paper every few hours and the difference is quite remarkable. The originally brittle veneer becomes much softer and pliable
Next the small cracks were taped and any small holes filled with a glue sawdust mixture. It really pays to take care here as any small hole can lead to glue bleed through
The chest design was based on a panelled look with all burr chest nut panels 150mm square
I had enough veneer for the required 32 panels
Once everything had been filled the panels were arranged to give the best figure matches which is roughly quartered with the framework between. These were placed onto 12mm birch ply sheets and pressed in my home made vacuum press. The reaar side is balanced with an oak veneer, which is laid as 1 sheet as the panelling effect is only visible on the outside
Once pressed the panels were trimmed and sanded to 240grit
I did this using a track saw set to 3mm depth, which gave a very clean edge to the veneer and makes it quite easy to rout out the material between the panels to a depth of 2.5mm
This leaves a very small groove at the edge of each trench. This was deliberate as it reduces any glue squeeze out when the cross rails are fitted
Cross rails in oak were cut and jointed to fit in the grooves and then glued into place. On the image you can see the small tongues which will fit into the main frame. They are the same depth in as the rebate on the back of the panel so when it is all pulled up tight everything pulls together front and rear of the panel
The main frame is made from 20mm thick oak with mortice and tennons. I rebated the back of the panels so they would fit into a 10mm groove which was routed into the rails and stiles
Each panel was then glued up in the same manner
Once everything was dry the cross members which had been cut to sit 1/2mm proud were planed flush with thee external panel frame
The base panel was made in the same way but using 2 large panels with 2mm bandsawn ceder of lebanon veneers onto 6nn birch plywood on both faces
Next stage assembly
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