Veneering question.

[Steliz]

A friend has asked me to smarten up an L shaped bench seat that fits around a brick wood burner. It is made of pine and has been coated with something non penetrating. It is in a bit of a state as the fixings had to be drilled out and the various parts are not flat.

Initially, I was just thinking of squaring it all up and gluing it together, repairing the holes and give it back but she has some Oak furniture and I thought I might have a go at veneering it as well. After some further thought I decided that making the whole thing from new with plywood would probably be easier.

I have the means to resaw some wood down to a couple of mm but my Oak stock consists of various sized off cuts so it will be a bit patchy. My plan is to run the Oak over the planer, resaw a slice on the bandsaw and then repeat until I have enough. I will then glue it on smooth side down and sand to a finish. The tricky part will be the rounded corner and I think I will glue in a block of Oak rather than try to bend a veneer around it.
I've never done any veneering so I would appreciate any useful tips anyone has.

 

[worn thumbs]

That project poses several challenges.First you have to be sure the coating has been removed to the extent that successfully gluing veneer will be feasible.The location by a strong source of heat isn't exactly ideal either.Resawing to produce veneer can be a great way to produce something a lot more forgiving than the standard 0.6mm furniture veneer.It is also quite challenging to get wide sections suitable for the job.Having produced them you really need to apply a balance to the decorative veneer,not just because its good practice,but the proximity of strong heat will greatly increase the likelihood of something moving.