Thicker Veneers, 1mm+ Is There Such a Thing?

[Ubernoob]

Hi guys and girls, as the name suggests I am a bit of a woodworking noob and I would like to hunt down some veneer thicker than 0.6mm.

Would anyone know where to look or would it have a different name once it gets thicker?


Oh I'm in Newcastle, we have a Mr Ply&Wood up here and they do have some nice looking marine ply that could work but I would like to stay away from formaldehyde glued products if possible, instead I will be trying fibreglass epoxy as it is perfectly clear.

Thanks.

[AlexS]

I use thicker veneers, but have to cut my own on the bandsaw, then smooth them on a drum sander. Dun't know of any commercial supplier.

[Mobyturns]

Veneer manufacturers / suppliers are becoming scarce in Australia as it is not viable for small scale production after a lot of their resource was locked away in the Wet Tropics Management Area and other conservation areas. Thicker than 0.6 veneer can be found but its like a task for Sherlock Holmes. Depending upon the size you are after you could possibly be looking for thin strips of wood - there was a supplier in Gympie QLD.

[powderpost]

Hi guys and girls, as the name suggests I am a bit of a woodworking noob and I would like to hunt down some veneer thicker than 0.6mm.

Would anyone know where to look or would it have a different name once it gets thicker?


Oh I'm in Newcastle, we have a Mr Ply&Wood up here and they do have some nice looking marine ply that could work but I would like to stay away from formaldehyde glued products if possible, instead I will be trying fibreglass epoxy as it is perfectly clear.

Thanks.

"Normal" veneer is 0.6 to 0.8mm is often sliced and used for decorative applications. Thicker veneer, up to 2mm, is usually peeled for manufacture of plywood. The "peeled" veneer is cut on a giant lathe and is usually fairly bland, dependent on the species used. Maybe Mr Ply&Wood can point you in the right direction. Much depends on what you intend to use the veneer for.

Jim

[Big Shed]

Do a search on John Samuel here on WWF, pretty sure he cuts thicker veneers.

[Ubernoob]

Thanks Guys, I came across Top Veneer yesterday and all theirs are 0.6mm but I figured I'd give a 1kg pack a go.

I want to do a laminate stack maybe up to 60mm high so roughly 100 layers thick, the pieces in the pack are different sizes. So I'll have to sort species and size but would hope I can do maybe 15 layers the run it through the saw and laminate again to get the desired height.

The plan is to use a low viscosity UV stable Epoxy Resin because I like the stuff and it is almost odourless.

[Mobyturns]

Stacking veneers to make a turning blank or the like becomes an expensive exercise very quickly at anything from $8 to $40 or $50 per square meter for veneers, then there is the extraordinary amount of time consumed and the volume of glue that you use. Both PowderPost & I speak from experience.

[ian]

you should try

Tasmanian Distinctive Timbers Product Range

Veneer Pack Mixed - Top Tassie Woodcrafts -- There is .20 of square meter in the pack, The thickness is 1mm to 1.5mm

and google
Luthier's supplies

Skate board kits -- there are kits which allow kids to glue laminate their own skateboard decks.

[Ubernoob]

Wow the Veneer Mixed Pack above is quite well priced for nice looking veneer, thanks, I'll order one or two of them when the first lot runs out.

I know it will be a bit of work but I'm unemployed so I have nothing but time at the moment.

I'm hoping to use a max size of 100x60x50mm so from the one kilo pack I'll hopefully get 4-5 toys.


Thanks gents.

[Mobyturns]

By my reckoning if the 0.2 m2 veneer pack is made up of all 1.5 mm thick veneers and there is no waste at all you will have just enough in the 0.2 m2 pack to make one 100 x 60 x 50 mm blank - 32 to 33 layers high.

At $25 per 0.2 m2 it works out to be over $125 per m2 plus the $18.50 postage so it would want to be very special veneer. If it is that special it is way to good to be wasted in a laminated stack. 0.2 m2 of veneer also weighs significantly less than 800g. Australia's most dense wood come in well under 1400 kg per m3 so at most the veneer will weigh under 400 grams plus packing. I would suggest shopping around for more economical veneers for this application.

[Ubernoob]

I was curious to see if that 800g was anywhere close to correct, the 1KG pack(0.6mm) I am getting looked to be a lot more than twice the amount of veneer in the TTW pack. I know the one I am getting varies in size but the pics make it look like it doesn't vary a massive amount.

Another idea I'm going to try is have 5 pieces of veneer spaced evenly at ~10mm apart and all the voids will be filled with a pour in epoxy resin. I have no idea how it will work but the resin I have is almost perfectly clear so if I can get it without any bubbles and then finish the resin nicely it should look okay.
I hope that makes some sense, my brain is kaput.

[elanjacobs]

Maybe try Timberwood Panels in Melbourne. They're one of the few places in the country that custom manufacture veneered boards, they might be able to point you in the right direction.

[ian]

Above I posted

Skate board kits -- there are kits which allow kids to glue laminate their own skateboard decks.

It's been nagging me and this morning, my time, I found a link Australian Skateboard Kits

The uncut veneer packs they sell appear to be what you are looking for.

Please let us know how you go

[safari]

Just received the April edition No.253 of Fine Woodworking. Starting on page 62 is an article on building a skate board using veneers that would definitely be worth a look.

[Ubernoob]

The skateboard kits look quite good, might try one next.

Got my pack from TopVeneer, came well packaged and ended up with 11 different types of timber so there's a nice mix, the walnut burl looks great.