hardwood edge on veneered panel doors

[bill walton]

I have a project that has large doors veneered with various species. The designer has called for a shaped edge finger pull on each door bur prefers not to see anything but the veneer face. If I attach a quarter sawn hardwood edge 1 1/4 wide to each door,which are cored with 24mm baltic birch, prior to the veneer. will I have a major issue with movement and subsequent displacement of the veneer face? I would shape the finger pull in the hardwood.

Thanks in advance

[Jamie Buxton]

You'll be okay if you're careful to make the edge flush with the faces of the door. If you don't get it flush, the step may telegraph through the veneer.

As a general rule, I try to avoid having veneer run all the way to an edge that I think people will be pulling on. The veneer can get frayed off, particularly if it is end grain. It helps it you can round over the edge a bit -- may a 3/32" roundover.

[Richard Dragin]

You won't have an issue with wood movement. I would attach the hardwood leaving it wide and flush trim it with a router prior to veneering.

[Peter Quinn]

A lot depends on the specifics of the assembly. How thick is your veneer (1/16 shop sawn vrs commercial versus extra thick commercial). What is the edge banding species. Even quarter sawn material has some movement ( sapele is pretty stable, maple not so much),, and if you cover 1 1/4" of wood with a typical commercial veneer, chances are good it will telegraph over a few years. Maybe not enough to cause a split, but possibly enough to create a distinct vertical sight line that would be very hard to repair. I would consider making the hardwood 1 1/4" deep only in the area of the finger pull and using a 1/8" sawn edge band for the remainder of the perimeter to minimize telegraphing, or perhaps using one of the v shaped cutters for attaching the edge banding to the plywood as to minimize the face of the edging relative to the veneer face and to improve the connection. I would also wait at least one week after applying edging to equalize any moisture difference between plywood. Which leads to my last question, which glue? Ifmyou apply your veneer with a glue which contains moisture the solid edging may expand differently than the plywood, as it cures you will see the results at the joint line of the plywood/edging connection. Perhaps a urea glue not water based or mixed would give you the best results? It might be worth a small scale test using your actual species, though some of the problems that can occur will take years to present. And the environment in which the piece will live can certainly affect the performance of veneered work. Food for thought anyway.

Ps flush trimming 1 1/4" of solid to a piece of plywood can be challenging at least, I'd want to use a sander (drum or wide belt) if at all possible. My second choice would be a tall fence on the shaper, third choice a belt sander, router maybe with a very solid fence.

[Chris Padilla]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?92396-Tansu

This is built with 1/16" shop-cut walnut veneers. I first edged the MDF in hardwood (~1/2" thick walnut) and then veneered to the edge of that. I think with a quality glue and breaking the edge hand-sanding ought to yield a durable edge. That Tansu I built above is doing just fine...those baskets get dragged out several times a day and I think we are in year 3 since I finished it.

[bill walton]

thanks all. The doors will be 24mm baltic birch core with commercial waterfall bubinga on the outside with commercial maple on the reverse. The edging will be bubinga on the finger pull side and bubinga tape on the other three. I am using "cold press veneer adhesive" from JWW, vacuum bagged. I believe yesterday, I convinced the designer to allow me to use push to open touch latches if I can find some up to his standards. In that case, I will reduce the edge to just thick enough to allow a very shallow cove cut. Another visual benefit will be that the doors can be very close together, maybe an eighth inch reveal rather that what would be required with a big reveal to allow finger space. So now I'm looking for some high-end touch latches.

[Steve Jenkins]

I have done tht exact thing several times for a finger pull on drawers. the edgebanding was about 1-1/2" wide. I too plied the veneer and have no telegraphing problems. the oldest one is about 4 years.

[Jamie Buxton]

.... I convinced the designer to allow me to use push to open touch latches if I can find some up to his standards. ...

You don't say how big your doors are, but on kitchen-cabinet-sized doorrs, I've used Salice's Push system, and it works well. It uses cup hinges with the self-closing spring reversed so the hinge is self-opening. They have several latches to go with the hinges. I like the magnetic ones.

[bill walton]

You don't say how big your doors are, but on kitchen-cabinet-sized doorrs, I've used Salice's Push system, and it works well. It uses cup hinges with the self-closing spring reversed so the hinge is self-opening. They have several latches to go with the hinges. I like the magnetic ones.

thanks for the tip. my doors are 24x80 and there are 22 of them. will try to post some photos as we move along