Wood Veneer London and Glueing

[robin_shepherd]

Hello all,

I am wondering if anyone can advise where I could buy some wood veneer in London? I am based in South East London so anywhere around here would be ideal. In particular I'm looking for Walnut.

I'm also wondering if anyone has any tips regarding glueing the veneer? It's going onto MDF. Previously I have used spray contact adhesive which I think is very good. However I am only doing a small job and so don't want to shell out for the canister. With that in mind has anyone got any recommendations for other types of contact adhesive. Solvent free is particularly desirable... This was recommended to me a few years ago but I never ended up using it: http://www.hafele.co.uk/shop/p/quick-gr ... 21595/9841.

Thanks in advance,

Robin.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Capital Crispin Veneer is a local supplier. Contact glue isn't ideal for veneer because it dries somewhat rubbery, has a fairly thick glue line and doesn't fix the veneer rigidly which can lead to buckling of the veneer. PVA or aliphatic resin are both good as is urea formaldehyde type glues (Cascamite) for veneering, but you will need clamping pressure to pull the veneer down tight and wrinkle free while the glue cures.

For a small panel, apply the adhesive to the ground, sit the veneer over this, lay a sheet of plastic over the veneer, put a sheet or two of 18 mm man-made board over that and apply pressure, which may be as simple as a bunch of G clamps or similar. It can get more complicated after that, especially for larger panels e.g., curved cauls over the man-made board, hydraulic presses, vacuum presses or bags, etc. Slainte.

 

[woodenstx]

rightly or wrongly I used Evo Stick 528 to bond down a 1.6Mx0.9M sheet of engineered veneer. It seems to have gone down well, but the new warmth in the conservatory will tell as I expect bubbles or something to go wrong lol

 

[Sgian Dubh]

When you say "engineered veneer" do you mean two ply veneer with the grain of each sheet perpendicular to the other? Or do you mean something else? If it's the former this stuff sticks down quite successfully with impact glue in much the same way that high pressure laminate, such as the stuff made by Formica, can be bonded to grounds of different types.

One cause of loosening or bubbles showing up in single sheets of veneer attached with impact glue can be the finish applied afterwards. For instance, pre-cat lacquer has a cellulose solvent that softens impact glue. In the case of two-ply veneer this is typically less of a problem because the two layers are usually bonded with adhesives that aren't softened by cellulose thinner, e.g., urea formaldehyde, and there's more wood between the polish and the impact glue below anyway. Slainte.

 

[Normancb]

Capital Crispin are in your area and very good.
Wood Veneer UK are in Cornwall but do a very good mail order service and also sell self-adhesive veneer.

For fixing, I've had good results with standard veneers using glue film. You can get it from Glues Direct and it's very easy to use.

 

[woodenstx]

When you say "engineered veneer" do you mean two ply veneer with the grain of each sheet perpendicular to the other? Or do you mean something else?

no idea tbh, its very thin and the label had Alpform D on it (properly blind fumbling to get info for it)

 

[robin_shepherd]

Many thanks for the helpful replies- I have found some veneer from SL Hardwoods at a price I'm happy with. Also thanks for the link to Glues Direct.

 

[Mr T]

If you are only doing small areas PVA between boards clamped with G clamps should be fine. I would also recommend Capital Crispin for veneers.

Chris

 

[RobinBHM]

You can of course buy real wood veneer made into laminate which can be glued with contact adhesive. Probably about £100 a sheet though. I used it once for furniture for a ship refit as this laminate is available in an fr laminate.

 

[yetloh]

I veneeredd a pair of teak veneered speakers with commercial ash veneer using contact adhesive about 15 years ago. They are still as good as the day I did them, with no sign of lifting veneer. Having said that, I wouldn't use it now because of the thick glue line already mentioned by another poster. I now use UF glue which has a long open ime and allows re-positioning, which contact doesn't. However, you do need a good even glue film or you may get bubbles; I find that speading the glue with a roller - hard rubber and cheap foam rollers both work well.

Jim