Ahhhhh where to even begin! what a project this turned out to be.
The veneer is plain. I was lucky and it was pretty flat so the wife’s iron worked out a few small waves. I did have two pieces I was going to use. after a sprits of water and a touch of the iron they turned into potato chips! those pieces set aside until I can put some glycerin/alcohol mixture on and press it out.
so flattening was easy. I found I had to be extra finicky while shooting the edges so the pieces would match up. I use holed tape and ironed on after getting the glue wet. I also discovered near the end that if I put 3 or 4 pieces of tape across the joint to hold it together, then run the tape the length of the joint. holding the panels at an angle also helps put pressure on the joint when laid flat. I was going to book match the side too with the cherry but decided it would be too wasteful for the inch i needed. the joints on the back are an ugly scene by the way!
glue huh..... well, the more I read the more sorry I am that I used contact cement. just the regular old fashioned brain cell killin contact cement! It's easy and it's a snap. It hammers down nice but the glue line can move. The stuff never really gets hard so in theory your glue line can always be loose. what I especially dont like is. if you have a piece of veneer that wasnt perfectly flat. Sitting in the sun can let the glue loose. (so i've read) The next bad thing is I wanted to shoot these with lacquer. well, spraying lacquer over contact cement is bad thing. there are ways to seal it i guess but i'm not sure. I ended up using my old stand by of Varnish. I use marine spar varnish so its pretty impervious to anything like coffee cups, cereal bowls, etc. I use it exclusively on windows and sills. if it will hold up for a boat sitting in the water, a little rain wont bother it. all in all, not being commercially set up for veneer work. This was a hard project for me and unless using a very exotic veneer. I will stick to hardwoods and pre made veneer ply for oak, cherry, maple.
next project I will be trying hot hide glue.
Bill
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