Thread: Veneer cracking!

‘Hotel glue’ ??

Typo - corrected now. The glue used is heat lock.

Cheers

Mike

Thanks. I’ve never heard of that glue before but looking at the FAQs page on the website I can see that the manufacturer recommends always using the softener to make the cells pliable and minimise splitting when the heat is applied.

They seem to be saying that the result you got was pretty much to be expected without softener or too much heat.

The piece you have is very wide so when it wants to expand and contract it really has no place to go except split.

The moisture content of the veneer before you started may be an issue too. Because commercial veneers are so thin they are prone to drying out badly. Especially if they are old or poorly stored.

perhaps also modify your technique so that you are only heating and gluing a small strip at a time.
If the glue were contact cement, you would use thin sticks to keep the surfaces apart till you were ready to stick down the next bit.
You could try a similar technique using sticks to keep all but say 2 to 4 cm along one long edge elevated while you glue the fists few cm down, then move gradually across heating and sticking a 2 to 4 cm strip each time.

Ive seen veneer do that from being to moist then shrinking . But then Ive also seen plenty of veneer layed with hide glue and veneer hammer and that goes on as wet as can be, and it doesn't split.

What has the veneer been glued to . Ply or MDF ? I'm just wondering of the strength of it . If the veneer has shrunk and split like that it would probably pull back on the ground , the Ply or MDF , or what ever it is , and it should have cupped . Put a straight edge across it and look for a dip in the middle . If you see that then that supports the theory that it shrank back after it was set in place. For it to be able to do that though ( the splitting ) the glue must have still had some give to allow that . Maybe its that strange glue ??
What could be happening is you lay it down and iron it out and each time you go over it again the iron re melts that glue and dries out the veneer some more which makes it shrink back , then the glue hardens again . ?? The more you go over it the more it shrinks as it takes available moisture from the veneer . If its that then there may not be much cupping ?
With hide glue and ironing + veneer hammer, the veneer stays wet and dries out over night . You lay it one day and come back to it the next .
laying and ironing or hammering with veneer hammer can be frustrating but it works . Once you try pressing , with clamps is a good start, you wont go back to the other way unless you have to , its so much better! Faster and cleaner , gives a perfectly smooth flat clean finish , allows joins like as in parquetry or marquetry and gives you a number of choices as to what glue you can use. For panel your width you just need 300mm F clamps or decent G clamps . And spacings of around 6 to 7 inches between each clamp and cauls , waste cover boards of chipboard to spread pressure. There are a few good books on it available which will get you to Master veneer layer of Brisbane in no time .

Rob

Originally Posted by auscab

Once you try pressing , with clamps is a good start, you wont go back to the other way unless you have to , its so much better! Faster and cleaner , gives a perfectly smooth flat clean finish , allows joins like as in parquetry or marquetry and gives you a number of choices as to what glue you can use. For panel your width you just need 300mm F clamps or decent G clamps . And spacings of around 6 to 7 inches between each clamp and cauls , waste cover boards of chipboard to spread pressure. There are a few good books on it available which will get you to Master veneer layer of Brisbane in no time .

Rob

I agree with that. I don’t understand why people insist on doing things the hard way because they think it’s traditional or that the old ways must be superior for some mystical reason. Hammer veneering is a messy, stinky pita. Contact glue veneering is easier material-wise but with an annoyingly high long term failure rate.

Save the hammer veneering and contact veneering for when you need it, like objects with curves or restoring antiques.

Another idea, unless you really enjoy the process of veneering, is to take it to a commercial veneering outfit. In my experience these guys will supply and press the veneer onto substrates provided by you for less cost then you can buy the veneer for. Their work is faultless and if there’s a split they will consider it their fault and redo it for you. I don’t know what’s available in Brisbane but I have used Specialty Veneer Wood Panels in Smithfield (Sydney) and they are brilliant (no connection). Veneering is a tricky thing and there are limits to DIY.