A veneer question

[Brent Smith]

I have a few cabinets to do with rosewood veneer.This stuff is not cheap as you all know.I have access to a bunch of 2'x8' rolls of paper backed walnut veneer which I'd like to use on the insides of the cabinets to balance the veneer on the outside( and to save a few dollars.I'm using baltic plywood as a subsrate.

My question is.........has anyone used paperbacked veneer to balance against non-backed veneer. I don't know if the paper will act to put more stress on the board than the rosewood will.

Any thoughts on the matter will be appreciated.

Brent

[Chris Barton]

Hi Brent,


I do a fair amount of veneering and from what I have seen you will be fine with the paper backed veneer. I have read many books and one of the authors even says that the whole "balancing" issue is a non-issue. I have made one project where I used a veneer on one side of a table top with an MDF substrate and no balancing side and I have had the piece for 2 years now without any issues. I think it mostly depends on the thickness of the veneer and the size of the field. I think you would be safe.

Chris

[Doug Shepard]

I haven't done a ton of veneering, but the last projects I did with veneer was paper-backed veneer on 3/8" Baltic Birch ply (pieces about 14" x 24"). Like Chris, I didn't balance the other side either, but I did have a hardwood edging applied which may have stiffened things up. 3-4 years later and everything is still flat (knock on wood).

[Earl Kelly]

Brent, the paperbacked should be OK. But be careful using anything other than urea resin glue with rosewood. Rosewood tends to check when glued with PVA or Titebond type glue.

[Dave Tinley]

Brent
I am assuming you are using 3/4 plywood or mdf for a substrate?? If that be the case then I would not worry about a "balance" issue. If you walk into most any of the high dollar furniture stores, take a look at the underside of a dining table, in most cases you will find that the bottom has not been veneered.
The question of balance comes into play when using a 3/8 or thinner substrate. I have gotten 1/4 plywood to cup when veneering one side, but never with 3/4 substrate.
So, to answer your question, you would be fine using the paperback veneer for the inside, but IMHO it is not neccessary.
Hope this helps,
Dave