Newbie to Veneer: Hammer - vs- Cold Press/Contact

[Mel Fulks]

Nice work,David. And most impressive English ! You could work over here as a book editor!

[Jack Curtis]

Very nice looking table, David. Seems that if it survives winter, you're home free.

[george wilson]

Had one of my guitars destroyed when the owner left it resting against the radiator !! Broke it to pieces,and unglued things,too. What is wrong with people's heads?

[Greg Portland]

I saw this on Lee Valey's website:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...,51167&p=51167

Attachment 255551

For the occasional small project, or at least to try my hand at the process, do you think this would work? I can't imagine that Lee Valley would sell something that was junk.

I have used a similar manual pump system and the veneer (on a curved box top) has held up about 10 years now. This is a popular system for laminating skate board decks.

[Stew Hagerty]

I have used a similar manual pump system and the veneer (on a curved box top) has held up about 10 years now. This is a popular system for laminating skate board decks.

Yeah Greg, I saw in their discription about the skateboards. If it can apply veneer so it holds up under all the flexing and banging around that skateboarders dish out then it should work fine for me. If nothing else, at least it will give me a chance to experiment and learn. I picked up 4 really nice veneer sets from my local woodworking store. Two are walnut burls and the other two are olive ash burls and 3 of the 4 of them will fit just fine in the 26 x 28 bag that comes with the Lee Valley kit.

I really do want to give hammer veneering a try, but I think for 60 bucks I'm going to order the Lee Valley kit for now. To me, it looks like the simplest way to get my feet wet in veneering.

[Robert J Johnson]

I found the photo of your harpsichord, George, and it's beautiful. I'm facing the very problem with contact cement that you mention. 38 years ago, I built a Hubbard French Double Manual harpsichord and, feeling that paint was a horrible thing to do to it, I decided to veneer it in cherry. Following advice that was common at the time, and being ignorant and inexperienced, I used contact cement. It held up very well for 25 years, but finally started to pucker and come loose. I'm now in the process of removing all the veneer and starting over. Rather than paint, I'd like to veneer it again, and it appears hammer veneering with hide glue might be my best option. I expect I'll need to do quite a bit of practicing before I start on it. What advice can you give me about the best veneer thickness to use with this technique, and how to go about hammering down the very large panels like the lid, spine and bentside before the glue sets up. I expect I might be able to use an iron on the flat parts, but I'm at a loss about how to manage the bentside. Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated.