Veneer---storing veneer—

Veneer---storing veneer—
Need some suggestions on how to store veneer for the long term. Presently, I have a few 4 foot by 12 foot by 1” thick plywood - framed and supported shelves, where I un-roll the veneer pieces and stack them by the bunch-the widest and longest on the bottom, the second largest on top, etc., etc. On the very top, I place another piece of 1” plywood on top. The room is temperature controlled high of 72 degrees F and a low of 66 degrees F. The Relative Humidity is between 30 % and 40% giving an EMC (Equilibrium Moisture Content of between 6 and 7%).
I have some rare/spectacular veneer which I would love to store for the long term-some for 20 to 30 years; others for 60 to 70 years; and others much longer. Any suggestions on what to do? Keep the same storage plan? Do something different - what? Pros and Cons for long term storage? Even some suggestions on where to find the information; or which people to ask---would be very helpful.
Why am I doing this? I would love to have some rarer veneers available for woodworkers to see and possibly use -- far in the future. While I will likely die sometime with the next decade or two, I have a law firm which will take care of my wishes.
Thanks all,
Phil

email Steve Wargo.

Well, the first thing you have to do is take photos of these rare and spectacular veneers to share them with us - my wife refers to this a 'wood porn' because of the time I spend oogling over figured woods...

When my veneer collection started to grow I asked a fellow who uses rare veneer for his marquetry work a similar question - he had bundles in his shop that been around for decades...

The advice he offered me was to keep the veneer flat with weight on top by stacking the bundles and place a platen (such as a sheet of plywood) on top. Don't allow veneer to dry out or get damp, by either storing it in a furnace room or outdoor shed. Finally, avoid handling the veneer when shuffling through the bundles, and if you plan to keep this for decades it will get handled a lot unless you take some precautions. Originally, he took a sample sheet or section from each bundle and placed these in protective sheets in a three ring binder. He now takes a digital photograph of the veneer and places the color photo in the binder. Each bundle of veneer, especially rare veneer, is sandwiched between two sheets of ordinary cardboard, which is held together with tape and labeled with a number. He writes the bundle number on sample sheet or photo. When he needs a certain veneer for a project he flips through the binder to find what he is looking for, then goes to the racks for the veneer. Even when he is flipping through bundles to find a certain one, he is handling the cardboard and not the veneer bundles.

Looking forward to those pictures...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roger Barga

...Each bundle of veneer, especially rare veneer, is sandwiched between two sheets of ordinary cardboard, which is held together with tape and labeled with a number...

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First of all, I don't know anything about how to store veneers for decades. But Roger's information got me to thinking about document storage, and acid free paper.

My first thought was whether it would be even better to put acid free paper between the veneer faces and the cardboard. When I did a Google search on 'acid free paper', it came up with companies like Gaylord Brothers who specialize in archival storage (http://www.gaylord.com/archival_supplies.htm)

You might want to contact some of these companies for ideas.