Thread: Sassafras Box

I have had good success with one sided veneering on Klinky Pine, Rose Alder and New Guinea Rosewood. In my experience Sassafras is a stable timber but what i normally do is let the glue set for 24 hours with a lot of weight on the piece then i sticker the piece underneath and on top and weight it again for a few days to acclimatise.

This is one i finished yesterday with .6 Black Heart Sassafras veneer laid on New Guinea Rosewood with no cupping, bowing or twisting

6C31C16F-2EA2-4762-8A3B-3301B37E4846_1_201_a.jpg

Thanks for the input. I've decided to 'follow the trend' and have the veneer on one side only. After about five days, there has been no movement in the board.

There is one other question though. Here is an image of what will make up the top of this box. Again, it is book matched but as you will see, the process of bandsawing has caused some tearout in the wanted figure.
The question is: should I just leave it as is and apply the finish directly over it or should I attempt to fill it and if the latter, what should I use without detracting too much from the natural look of what is, after all, a 'defect' in the natural timber?

IMG_4652.jpg

Cheers
Brian

My 2c would be to fill the larger tear out with dark tinted epoxy or use a scraper to clear up just the local area around the tear out as it doesn't seem too deep - but photos can be deceiving. If you're not cutting away the smaller defects where the boards meet, I'd fill them with a dark tinted epoxy. After you apply finish any tear out or cracks will stick out like a sore thumb (ask me how I know ).

I too have noted tear out I didn't even realise was there after applying finish. Generally turns out worse than one imagined.
Once I've joined the boards, I'll use a scraper to clean it up and hopefully not lose the character of the figure but it certainly ought to minimise the defects.

I would be inclined to leave it. I have learned that trying to fix things like this only highlights it and draws the eye.
With regard to book matching i can get a perfect join straight off the table saw with no hand finishing required. I have not attempted to do it off a band saw and would not try it.

+1 for what Double D said!To get a decent bookmatch on the table saw I’d sandwich the two veneers between some 3 or 4mm MDF then keep some pressure on the top piece of MDF as I ran it through the saw. The MDF stops breakout on the veneer.Regards,Brian

Meant to say. There are differing views about single-sided veneering. Some folk suggest it causes an imbalance in how the two sides of the panel absorb moisture so the panel warps. Other say no.

Oakwood Veneers in the US say:
”It is absolutely necessary to veneer both sides of any substrate to “balance” the panel. If one side of a panel is left exposed, it will absorb ambient moisture at a different rate than the side that is veneered. This unbalanced situation will cause the panel to bow or crown and the problems associated with working with panels that aren’t flat should be obvious.”

However, respected finishing guru Bob Flexner says in an article on Woodshop News”

“Cupping occurs on single-sided veneered panels because of the use of a water-based adhesive. The water swells the veneer as it is being laid. When the veneer then dries out, it shrinks, drawing the panel into a mildly cupped warp. There is no cupping when solvent-based contact cement is used to attach veneer to just one side.”

In an article in Fine Woodworking, Rick Allyn, a professional humidor builder, states that he only veneers (various timbers) on the outside and uses PVA for the veneering. The substrate is 9/16” Spanish Cedar.

In my years of boxmaking I have used veneers of some sort on most so I’ve tried to learn how it behaves. My admittedly amatuer experiece has been:

* the thinner the panel the more it is likely to cup with single-sided veneering using PVA,

* epoxy glues have not caused cupping, nor has it curled the veneer at the pre-pressing stage. Caveat: my use of epoxy on veneers is limited.

* thicker panels (12mm wall sides in my case) have never cupped when veneered on one side, even using PVA.

Just food for thought.

Regards,

Brian

Thanks for the comments.
My 'veneers' are about 2mm thick and bonded to the same timber of 8mm with Titebond yellow. I have prepped the panels and left them now for two weeks or so and there is no evidence of distortion (yet).
I need to get a bit of a hurry-up with this project now so I'll get on with the splined mitre joints and hope for the best.
I'll be finishing with shellac and wax.