"Right side" of veneer

Re: "Right side" of veneer

Phil Winn

>Barry,

The veneer which I buy and use, has a "smoother", �shinier� and "flatter" side, and a "rougher" side; since veneer is so thin to start, I always �attach� the �rougher� side to the work piece to limit my sanding. Good luck with your project!

Phil

Open vs closed side

Ellis Walentine

>Most commercial veneer is sliced off large cants, across the grain, by a stationary knife. As each piece is sliced, it is peeled back, similar to the way a plane shaving comes off a plane iron. The outside (convex) side of the new piece of veneer is called the open face. Depending on the species and how well the cant was soaked and prepared for slicing, there will almost always be some fine checking on this open face. The closed face will not have any cracks. If you glue the veneer to your substrate with the open face exposed, no matter how you finish the veneer, those fine cracks will eventually telegraph through and result in a roughness on the surface of your piece of furniture.

This poses a particular problem for bookmatched veneers, because, in a bookmatch, by definition, one face is open and one is closed, to produce the mirror image. When bookmatching veneers, I try to choose species in which the open face is as sound as possible. Creamy, closed-pore woods like maple produce very sound veneers, while dense, brittle exotics -- especially those with tight curls and figure -- usually have more checks.

Hope this helps.

Ellis Walentine, Host

Re: "Right side" of veneer

Barry Daniel

>Thanks for the help. I knew there was an easy way to tell, I just couldn't remember.

Barry

Thanks Ellis

Felix B

>I certainly learned something new!

Cheers,

F

Re: "Right side" of veneer

Brian in Sandusky, OH

>Bend the veneer in both directions. The veneer will usually bend easier in one direction than the other. The side that bends easier should be the side with the checks.

But as Ellis mentions, if you are doing anything decorative (bookmatching), you usually need to show a checked side.

However, I've done plenty of bookmatching, marquetry, etc where I've disregarded the "right" side, and I've never had a problem. If you cannot visually tell a difference when you apply a finish, then there's really no difference.

Hey Barry...

Jim in Houston

>Where did you purchase your veneer, I'm looking for a good supplier with some figured stock and fair prices.

Thanks,

Jim

Re: Hey Barry...

Barry Daniel

>I used Constatines (constatines.com). they had a good selection. I also found that Joe Woodworker.com had a huge selection of fiqured veneer. Good luck.

Barry