veneering a radius

[dan petroski]

i have a 1















I have a 1/2 inch radius to veneer (old sewing machine drawers) consider a 4x12 inch box with1/2 radius corners. any help will be appreciated. i know very little about veneering but these drawers are shot so any damage i do to them will be an improvement













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[Britt Kelch]

I have to ask you a few questions. Do you have a vacuum press? Are you veneering with a v. Hammer? Reply and I will try to help.

[dan petroski]

yes i have a vacuum press,veneer hammer. mechanical press,j roller etc. it doesn't seem that a press would lend itself well to doing 4 apposing sides although i haven't put a drawer in to check yet. i would like to wrap the whole drawer at one time as it was originally done.

[Jeff Nolan]

It's something I have been wanting to get some experience with, hammer veneering. This sounds like a perfect application for the technique.

[Britt Kelch]

if you have a press use veneer softner and use a veneering cloth to get equal pressure The press will find it if the air can circulate around it. I cant rember the brand name of it. Its sold at all veneering stores. Its just a screen with a larger holes then screen wire made out of Dont quote me on this but I think it is nylon. I Havent run into any thing that I have been doing were a platen properly prepared would not workl But really needto soften the veneer ans it will suck it togeather.

[Peter Quinn]

Call me crazy, but would it be possible to make a clamping block with a matching cove bit, line this with some thin cork, cut a quick 45/45/90 block to give a clamping surface to the inside of the drawer, and just do this old school? I'm seeing this going pretty simple and quick with some old school clamping. Maybe 5 minutes to make the appropriate clamping blocks?

What direction does the grain run? Is the veneer thin enough to bend and hold that radius, or will you need to use a hot pipe to make it turn the corner. I'm thinking a simple torch in a pipe bending set up like for acoustic guitar bodies.

[Richard Dragin]

i know very little about veneering

yes i have a vacuum press,veneer hammer. mechanical press,j roller etc. it doesn't seem that a press would lend itself well to doing 4 apposing sides although i haven't put a drawer in to check yet. i would like to wrap the whole drawer at one time as it was originally done.

I think you already know more than most of the members here.

[David Perata]

I veneer radius corners in my press and I have used thick rubber bought from auto specialty places as a top caul to wrap the veneer around the radius as it is pulled downward over the sides. I recently made an aluminum caul with curved sides and it worked pretty well.

The key is to pre-wet the venner at the radius so it will naturally wrap itself over the radius. Then there will not be the same stresses on the veneer as if it had to bend from a straight pieces. Just run a rag dampened with water along the edge right where the radius begins.

Of course, I'm talking about wood that is backed by a caul on the bottom and top and are pieces of a larger project. You have a drawer and you can't veneer a drawer in a vacuum press without it collapsing (imploding) from the pressure. Plus you could only do three sides at a time.

You could make an insert that fits into the drawer that is solid and prevents the implosion.

At any rate, you will need some sort of top and bottom caul arrangement that conforms to the radius to sandwich your veneer and press it onto the substrate, either flexible like rubber sheeting or as one person suggested pieces of radiused wood.

Another option might be to disassemble the drawer front, sides and back and veneer them individually. In that way, you could get away with only radiusing one end of each piece. The opposite straight cut end of the mating piece would simply butt against the radius of the mating piece.

[dan petroski]

thanks so much for all your help. it sounds like i need to make a female form to press the radius. probably something like a picture frame clamping system of some kind only with a radius in the corner?
how about contact cement, soften the corners and wrap it around using wide veneer and trimming afterword? i guess contact cement is a no no but maybe in this case?

[george wilson]

Never use contact cement for veneering. It will come loose in bubbles of veneer which will not stick back down. We had a hack veneer a piano he had made,and sold to Colonial Williamsburg. The veneer came loose in football shaped bulges that would not go back down. Just made sticky noises when pressed,and popped back up

I only use hide glue. If it penetrates the veneer,it can be sanded or scraped off with no problems.

[David Perata]

I use Unibond 800 cold press resin and hardener. It takes two or three hours to dry in a vacuum press but it sure sticks great! Impervious to finish coats as well. About a thirty minute window after mixing for application. Vacuum Pressing Systems sells it and the hardener powders come in different colors depending on the wood you are using. Sands very smoothly if bleed through occurs.

[dan petroski]

should i put the veneer in the steam cabinet befor i try to make those tight bends or will a glyserin type softener be ok. i don't know what all is good for softening

[Peter Quinn]

Another though might be to make your own iron on veneer using tite bond III? Mario Rodriguez has a pretty good description of all the steps involved in an old FWW article. My thinking is you could soften the veneer, bend it around the drawer body and clamp it until it sets up a bit with something like surgical cord or an inner tube, maybe even blue tape? Or maybe use the corner blocks with a cove cut in them to do the tight radii?

Then you could apply the glue, let it dry up, and do the iron thing, working around the drawer from back to back so the seam is hidden at the rear.

[dan petroski]

where can i find the information on Mario's tight bond information.
and thanks again. this project has been educational.