Paul Kierstead
>I've done some hammer veneering, and done some vac bagging. I'm not gonna tell ya that hammer veneering is the be-all end-all; it certainly isn't, and I own a vacupress set-up that I love. But, your two cases of woe sound like people (the teacher and the pro, not your friend) who haven't done it recently or haven't done it much.

- Corners are always one of the hardest bits IME in hammer veneering. But, using an Iron after the fact makes it quite easy. If the demonstrator didn't know enough to apply an iron, I have to wonder how much he has done it in the last 15 years

- The teacher trying for a first crack to do a burl was very foolish. Even in vacuum pressing, burls can create a lot of problems with bleed through, adhesion, etc. (though clearly don't always cause a lot of problems). Trying it as your learning project for hammer veneering seems pretty much destined to failure. It is definitely a skill which needs to be built up.

All that said, I still use a bag particularly for large surfaces or repetitive work. Hammer veneering is great for quick stuff (no need to make up cauls, etc) and odd things which won't go in a bag well (like veneering the face of a drawer after it has been assembled....)

Now if you want a good disaster, read what happened when I bit off more then I could chew doing a hammer veneering.... (I've since both got better at hammer veneering and got a vacupress system)