Veneer Archives | WoodWorkers Guild of America

How to Create a Simple Veneer Book Match Without Special Tools

January 14, 2020 By Charlie Kocourek & filed under Blog, Finishing.

Applying veneer to your projects is a great and easy way to dress them up. But the real fun begins when you start book matching. Interesting and beautiful panels can be created by different book matched configurations. So, what is book matching? Book matching is when two identical sheets of veneer are placed alongside each…

Mitered Edge Banding Made Easy

April 4, 2017 By Charlie Kocourek & filed under Furniture Making, Joinery, Skill Building.

Applying hardwood edge banding is a great way to finish the edges on a veneered piece. However, it can be difficult to get nice miter joints because the length of the edge banding pieces must be perfect and every angle must also be perfect. Here is a very easy way to get absolutely perfect miters.…

Choosing the Right Sheet Goods for Your Next Project

April 7, 2014 By George Vondriska & filed under Skill Building, Understanding Wood.

There are lots of woodworking applications that demand sheet goods instead of solid wood, and there are a variety of choices available. This article will help you pick the material that will work best for your project. Why sheet goods? Sheet stock offers a variety of advantages over solid wood. Cost is foremost for many…

Repair Veneer on an Antique

May 2, 2012 By David Munkittrick & filed under Gluing and Clamping, Skill Building.

A recent restoration job required that I replace the badly damaged oak veneer on the top of an antique table. The piece was an old salesman sample of a sewing table. Back in the day,salesmen would bring these scale models on sales calls. This sample was from the White Sewing Company but the quartersawn white…

Workaround: Table Saw Resawing

October 24, 2011 By Bruce Kieffer & filed under Skill Building, Stationary Power Tools, Table Saw.

I rarely resaw, and when I do, it’s usually to maximize the yield of the wood I have rather than to make veneer or book-matched boards. Changing my bandsaw blade just to make a few resaw cuts takes way too much time. The solution is simple — I use my table saw. The table saw…

A Guide to Veneering Wood: Part 3

September 6, 2011 By Seth Keller & filed under Gluing and Clamping, Skill Building.

This is the final installment of a three-part story, each showing a different way of applying veneer to a substrate. The first article showed how to use contact cement to attach veneer to a substrate, part 2 showed using clamps and cauls, and this one explains how to use a vacuum bagging system. I will…

A Guide to Veneering Wood: Part 2

August 9, 2011 By Seth Keller & filed under Gluing and Clamping, Skill Building.

This is the second part of a three-part story, each showing a different way of applying veneer to a substrate (Click here to read part one). This story focuses on using clamps, cauls and wood glue to do the work. The same essentials are true using this technique for veneering. Veneer always needs to be…

A Guide to Veneering Wood: Part 1

June 13, 2011 By Seth Keller & filed under Gluing and Clamping, Skill Building.

This is the first in a three-part story, each showing a different way of applying veneer to a substrate. When veneering wood, it is important to remember a couple of things. First, and foremost, veneer always needs to be counterbalanced, meaning, ALWAYS apply veneer to both sides of the substrate. When glue is applied between…

Replacing a Bent Lamination

July 26, 2010 By Seth Keller & filed under Furniture Making, Skill Building.

CLASSIC THONET CHAIR NEEDS A REPAIR. A client contacted me with an interesting request. He had owned a classic Thonet brand laminated wood chair for a number of years, which he bought at a garage sale for a song. Everything seemed to be in good condition when he bought it, however upon further inspection, the…