veneering question

[bill walton]

For an interior table I'm building for a guys boat, I've sawn a particularly pretty piece of curly cherry into veneers and plan on adding those to a substrate of plywood surrounded by a cherry frame. My thoughts are to add the cherry edging, 2" wide, to the plywood, then glue the veneer completely covering the hardwood and ply substrate. I could then radius the corners and shape the edges of the entire piece. I have a piece of veneer core cherry plywood that would be big enough to use. Will I need to glue a balancing veneer to the bottom? Can you think of a reason not to use the cherry plywood?

thanks

[Chris Mann]

How thick is the veneer you made? If it's anything under 1/16" then you'll want to glue up two layers over that solid edging, or the seam will telegraph through over time. and yes, you'll want to use a balancing piece of veneer on the bottom.

Oh, and I wouldn't use the cherry plywood, just cause there's no point in wasting it if it's going to be covered up. Baltic birch, appleply or mdf all make good substrates.

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd use a balancing veneer, for two reasons. First, you're in a marine environment, where humidity swings may be bigger than in a home. Second, you're using sawn veneer, which is generally thicker than commercial sliced veneer. This means that when it wants to shrink or expand, it will exert more force than a thin veneer, and it will more likely warp the table top. You don't have to extend the bottom veneer over the edgebanding, so you could first apply the bottom veneer, then the banding, and then the top veneer. Me, I'd apply both veneers, and then do the banding. That way, the top veneer's edge would be protected by the banding. With a broad edge band like you're considering, I like to inlay a little contrasting strip - maybe 1/8" wide -- right at the interface of the veneer and the edge band.


And there's no harm in using cherry ply for your substrate. It is expensive for a substrate, but if it is just lying around the shop, you may as well use it.

[tod evans]

bill, steve and i answered with our opinions in your first querry....02 tod

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=40518

[bill walton]

Sorry I guess I got distracted and hit the submit button twice. I particularly like Jamie's idea of the inlay between the banding and the veneer. When I complete, I'll post a couple of photos.
bw