Thread: 'Thick' Veneer Question

dazzler, if you are going to glue them directly to the mdf, i wouldnt bother with the splines. that eliminates choice 2. being that they are 8mm thick i cant see a spline joint adding any real strength. the strength will come from glueing the stock to the mdf. i would go with option 3. but please tell me, because it has me baffled -

Originally Posted by dazzler

I have some nice myrtle for the top that has been thicknessed down to 8mm (not by choice ) that is 95mm wide.

if it wasnt by choice i assume it must have been accidental. how do you "accidentally" thickness nice timber down to 8mm???

benchdog

I'd also be inclined to go with No. 3....BUT - if you are going to laminate them onto MDF, you will need to laminate something onto the other side of the MDF or it will cup. Perhaps your best bet is to bandsaw the 8mm into thinner veneers ~ 3mm, and veneer both sides.

Also, I have the same question as Dazzler.

How did i do it????

Well I thought the timber was 32mm rough sawn but it was only 24mm.

I had been working with 32mm most of the day on other parts and picked this up and the brain said;

Cool, just joint one side, thickness it and then split down the middle and clean up the new cuts with a light run through the thicknesser.

So thats 32mm back to about 28mm and then split on the tablesaw leaves 2 boards about 12.5mm, run it through the thicknesser back to 12mm...... no worries

Now replace 32mm with 24 mm and robert is no longer my fathers brother....must have been adopted

Will an 8mm top that is splined and held in rebates on all four sides be strong / stable enough:confused: :confused: for a side table that at worst will have a lamp on it.

I was also thinking about placing a 3mm sheet of glass on top as well, would that make a difference.:confused: cheers

dazzler

Originally Posted by dazzler

Will an 8mm top that is splined and held in rebates on all four sides be strong / stable enough:confused: :confused: for a side table that at worst will have a lamp on it.

I was also thinking about placing a 3mm sheet of glass on top as well, would that make a difference.:confused: cheers

dazzler

An 8mm top that size should be fine rebated into a frame, but you don't need splines, they won't add any more strength anyway.
The way to do it is to plane the joints carefully so that there are no gaps. Plane the edges that will be joined in pairs, so that they meet accurately even if the edge is not exactly square. Then lay the pieces out in the positions they will be glued, and tape them together with strips of masking tape stretched tight across the joints. Flip it over and run a bead of glue into each joint, then repeat with the masking tape on the 2nd side. Press down hard along all edges to make sure the pieces are properly aligned, then sit the piece on battens that will allow air around all sides, to dry. When it's dry, clean up the joints with a card scraper.
One thing to watch with a piece this thin: if you leave it sitting on a flat surface with only one side exposed to the atmosphere, it will cup, no matter how well you think you have sealed it.

Originally Posted by dazzler

...I was also thinking about placing a 3mm sheet of glass on top as well,...

i would be inclined to use thicker glass for a table top, but i suppose it depends on how often you want to clean up the broken glass.

(minimum 5 mm preferably 8mm, no way i would go for anything thinner even on a small table)

benchdog

Originally Posted by benchdog

i would be inclined to use thicker glass for a table top, but i suppose it depends on how often you want to clean up the broken glass.

(minimum 5 mm preferably 8mm, no way i would go for anything thinner even on a small table)

benchdog

8mm it is

Thanks Alex

Would battens underneath help as well, going across from side to side:confused:

Battens strike me as a good idea, but thinking about what Alex said about thin sheets cupping, if you're going to place glass on top, why stop at battens?

What about using a 6mm(ish) MDF base instead? With glass on top and both the MDF/veneers rebated into a frame, you wouldn't need to glue the veneers down. Which would probably be a good thing, 'cos the veneers are still thick enough that movement could be a problem.