wrapping a cabinet in veneer?

[flanajb]

Hi,

I am planning on making a sideboard and want the carcass to be veneered. What I am not sure about is how you veneer the unit after it has been constructed. The reason I don't want to veneer the panels before hand is that I want the corner joints to be invisible and the only way I can achieve that would be to veneer and then mitre the panels. Trouble is, my sliding saw will most likely not cut a clean mitre joint on the 600mm wide panel and when I then construct the cabinet you will see the mitre joint. I appreciate that by veneering post cabinet build you will see the 0.6mm veneer edge, which whilst not ideal is better than a mitre joint with a gap in it.

I suspect the best way is to either use iron on film or contact cement?

Out of curiosity, how would this usually be constructed if you hand the correct tools to hand?


Thanks

 

[Peter Sefton]

That's a tricky job, I am not sure if iron on film or contact cement will do the job long term, but I must say haven't used them much.
I would cut the mitres on the saw or try to come up with an other corner detail if possible.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Sorry flan, but I think you are asking for trouble, I really do.
S

 

[rileytoolworks]

Hi Flan.
I recently had to do a cabinet wrap-round, with the wrap-round portion being 100mm thick. The saw I had available wouldn't cut anywhere near 100mm at 45 degrees so here's what I did....

Hand cut the mitres with a panel saw staying well proud of the line.
Then I made a jig (essentially a hollow box) which slid over the panel. This hollow jig had a 45 degree end (cut before assembling).
A router with a large acrylic baseplate rode on the 45 degree surface, with the bit plunged to the correct depth.
Basically a donkeys ear shooting board, but with a router!

It gave VERY impressive results.

And all for the sake of a few pieces of mdf.

I would advise against the use of contact for a long term piece.

All the best.
Adam.

 

[flanajb]

Hi Flan.
I recently had to do a cabinet wrap-round, with the wrap-round portion being 100mm thick. The saw I had available wouldn't cut anywhere near 100mm at 45 degrees so here's what I did....

Hand cut the mitres with a panel saw staying well proud of the line.
Then I made a jig (essentially a hollow box) which slid over the panel. This hollow jig had a 45 degree end (cut before assembling).
A router with a large acrylic baseplate rode on the 45 degree surface, with the bit plunged to the correct depth.
Basically a donkeys ear shooting board, but with a router!

It gave VERY impressive results.

And all for the sake of a few pieces of mdf.

I would advise against the use of contact for a long term piece.

All the best.
Adam.

Very innovative Adam. I like that and can see how you can get a top notch mitre joint that way, plus I can veneer the panels in my vac bag

Many thanks for that.

ps - did you fasten a scrap board to the underside of the panel so as to avoid breakout of the veneer?

 

[rileytoolworks]

Here you go mate. A quick sketch. A picture paints a thousand words and all that...

Just make sure the baseplate is large enough to support the router and allow the cutter access to the whole cut.
I made my jig 18mm bigger all round and wedged the carcase piece in with sacrificial mdf pieces, which helped to prevent breakout of the veneer, and gave the cutter a bit of a run-off area before clipping the jig.
Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

All the best,

Adam.

 

[rileytoolworks]

Here's a drawing of the unit this jig was built for...
.
As I say, it worked a treat.

Adam.