veneer help

**ian** · 13th January 2012, 03:57 AM

for a desk, a solid timber edging (front and ends) will be far more durable than iron on veneer, but maybe not as durable as laminate

most board suppliers (with the exception of bunnings?) will cut board to the size you want. Having the pieces the right size and cut square will make the build much easier.

laminate is relatively easy to apply by hand using contact cement (apply the cement with a roller to the board and laminate and plan on tossing the roller away after each gluing session). from memory you will need around 1-2litres of contact for each piece of the top -- most of which will be used wetting the roller cover

the laminate is applied over size and you will use your router to trim it to size.
there are specialist bits for trimming laminate -- for a job the size you are looking at buying quality bits will be worth it

rather than trying to cut laminate to size yourself, have the supplier cut it into the pieces you will require
30mm wide strips for edging
pieces 10-20mm bigger all round for the desk top, modesty panel and supports
plan on laminating all exposed edges and faces, except for the underside of the top and back of the modesty panel

try to round the exposed corners of the desk

oh, and post pictures as you go

**malb** · 13th January 2012, 09:06 PM

Hi Gordo, a few points to consider.

If the top is a timber veneer you would be better with a matching solid timber edge all round each panel. These are typically 6mm thick and are applied wider than the panel thickness, then trimmed to panel thickness. Don't use an iron on veneer edging as they are too thin and will chip or pull away fairly early in life unless there are a couple of solid coats of two pack finish to really seal then from external abuse.

If the top is a coated panel, there should be a matching laminate that can be cut into or supplied as strips and glued to the edges. Again this is applied oversize and trimmed to match the panel size afterwards. The same applies to the frame components.

As I suggested the generic name for the right angle fasteners you are looking for are cam locks, but every manufacturer has then own model names so it is hard to google them. Hafele have Rafix and Minifix which should be suitable and readily available. Rockler (US) also have a minifx similar to the Hafele.
For the corner butt joint in the bench top I would suggest 2 'bench joiners' underneath to hold the panels together. This is what is used in joints in laminated benchtops. Once the joiners are tight enough to grip, you can tap the panels along the seam to flush up the panels, then tighen the joiners to hold the relative positions.

Not sure about the floor, but for the size you are dealing with, you might need to incorporate some way to level the base of the uprights to accomodate floor variations.

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