Thread: veneering solid wood

2817.1
Hi,
I'm building a cradle from cherry wood for some close friends which are about to have a baby. The cradle is built from four solid wood sides and a plywood bottom. The sides will be attached to each other using angled dovetails. As part of the design I want to add my own marquetry work on one of the cradle's sides. Seeing I am using dovetails and shaping the sides in a irregular shape on the top I was planning on building the cradle from solid wood. The maquetry manual I own suggests always attaching veneers to plywood or MDF. What would be the right way to glue the veneer to a solid wood panel? Will the movement of the wood panel pose a problem? Should I veneer the other side of the panel for balance as is done with plywood?
Another question I have has to do with design. I want the maquetry to be an integral part of the piece meaning I would have to cut it out of the full size veneer which will be glued to the side of the cradle. However that size a veneer is much to big to work with my fret saw. Is it possible to cut out a smaller part from the full veneer do the marquetry work on it and then reattach it to the piece it was cut out of, without the cut being visible? Is there any other way of getting around this problem (other then doing the marquetry using a knife which I really do no want to do as I am much more skilled with the fret saw)?
Thanks allot,
much appreciate it,
Hallel.