Veneering with ash burr

[Geoff_S]

I have stepped right out of my depth here!
I have built a kitchen out of American Black Walnut with Ash veneered MDF carcasses and I am quite pleased with it. But now to the doors.
I thought it would be a really cool idea to do Walnut frames with an Ash Burr panel, so I bought an Airpress and sourced some lovely ash burr veneers.
The thing is that the veneers are all wrinkly and I have been advised to soak them in water and press them between sheets of newspaper to flatten them
out before sticking them to the baseboard.
I have absolutely no reason to disbelieve that that would work, indeed the fella that told me this is an expert. But won't the newspaper ink stain the veneer?
Anyway, I just wondered if there was any other advice available to consider? Youtubes or websites with pictures, good books, courses, just to expand my understanding.
I have got to get this right as I have 50+ panels to veneer.

 

[custard]

I have absolutely no reason to disbelieve that that would work, indeed the fella that told me this is an expert. But won't the newspaper ink stain the veneer?
Anyway, I just wondered if there was any other advice available to consider? Youtubes or websites with pictures, good books, courses, just to expand my understanding.
I have got to get this right as I have 50+ panels to veneer.

Yes, newsprint can stain veneer. It doesn't usually matter though because it's only superficial and in sanding down the finished job any transferred print is removed. However, I generally use a couple of sheets of blank newsprint against the veneer and regular newspaper behind that. I reuse the blank newsprint several times after drying out. You can buy blank newsprint easily enough (I get it from Ebay) as it's the same stuff fish and chip shops use!

Incidentally, if the veneers are heavily wrinkled it can help to use a better veneer flattening recipe than just plain water. Google veneer flattening and you'll find lots of recipes, it's no big deal they all work pretty well, just be careful to pick one that's compatible with your planned finishing regime.

Good luck!

 

[Geoff_S]

I have absolutely no reason to disbelieve that that would work, indeed the fella that told me this is an expert. But won't the newspaper ink stain the veneer?
Anyway, I just wondered if there was any other advice available to consider? Youtubes or websites with pictures, good books, courses, just to expand my understanding.
I have got to get this right as I have 50+ panels to veneer.

Yes, newsprint can stain veneer. It doesn't usually matter though because it's only superficial and in sanding down the finished job any transferred print is removed. However, I generally use a couple of sheets of blank newsprint against the veneer and regular newspaper behind that. I reuse the blank newsprint several times after drying out. You can buy blank newsprint easily enough (I get it from Ebay) as it's the same stuff fish and chip shops use!

Incidentally, if the veneers are heavily wrinkled it can help to use a better veneer flattening recipe than just plain water. Google veneer flattening and you'll find lots of recipes, it's no big deal they all work pretty well, just be careful to pick one that's compatible with your planned finishing regime.

Good luck!

Thanks Custard, that's really useful. I never thought of buying blank newspaper! That has now been done from ebay.

And I have Googled this subject but had never found a veneer flattening recipe reference, until now. Thanks again.

Tell me though, once flattened does it have to be bone dry before gluing or can it be damp? I am going to use a 2-part resin glue

Cheers

Geoff

 

[custard]

once flattened does it have to be bone dry before gluing or can it be damp? I am going to use a 2-part resin glue

Geoff, it should be pretty dry because if it shrinks after veneering it'll warp the ground, or you'll get micro fissures opening up on the veneer surface.

Incidentally, if you're using resin glue then spread it thinly or the squeeze out is epic and the glue tends to pool in the centre of the panel!

Test first on a bit of scrap. You may end up switching to PVA, even if it's just for the simple reason that you only have to run the vac press for thirty minutes with PVA where as with resin you might only get one workpiece pressed per day.

Don't forget, you should veneer both sides of the panel to keep it all balanced, flat and stable.

Are your fifty panels all the same size? If so make a caul that's about 3mm larger all around then veneer and press both sides at the same time. If you've never veneered before then you could ease yourself into it by starting veneering one side at a time, press with the veneer face down onto a flat platten and you don't have to worry about cauls or the veneer splitting around the edges.

Good luck!