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A subject
that I mentioned last fall had to take back burner status until the warmth would allow
good gluing. I have been waiting for warm days to arrive and they have.
One of the earliest sections on this site was about Darryl Kiel and his
instructional video on doing veneering of curved work. His ability to cover standard
moldings has always been of prime interest.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to wrap these inexpensive shapes with some
real nice veneer and then make them into decorative boxes.
Maureen liked the idea and asked to be a part of this project. How could I
refuse.
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She looks at the box I made last
fall. Our (her) task is to do a similar box and then when she has the basics under her
belt, we will take on some exotics and "test our mettle."
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Her first step is to select the veneer
and the section of the walnut veneer that will make a nice "first" box.
While she is working on just a 48" length, the veneers which we are
using are about 8' long. Our veneer supplier, Certainly Woods, carefully selected some
species that would work well on this project.
By the way, you can veneer any length of molding but it helps to make it
short until you get comfortable with the various steps.
We need only 35" or so, but the 48" will give us some leeway.
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Once she has selected the area of the
veneer she wants to use, she marks is with a white china marker so that she can make her
cuts.
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You could use a utility knife to make
these approximate cuts. Maureen uses a veneer cutter (inset). If you are not familiar with
this handy tool, it simply holds a knife blade securely and allows you to run the blade
next to a steel straight edge—and cut smoothly.
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With the veneer trimmed to size, she
marks where she will make the cut for the "hinge." She will want the hinge to be
in the "V" of the molding. You will see how this works in a minute.
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She marks the veneer
with a "V" so that she can match up the pieces once they get cut.
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And she makes the "hinge"
cut. While the first two cuts only had to be approximate, this cut should be
straight—that is where the veneering knife really comes in handy.
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She uses veneering tape—a very
thin paper tape that has holes punched and is coated with glue. We have a veneer tape
dispenser that moistens the tape but you can use a wet sponge to accomplish this task.
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Maureen places the wetted veneer
tape over the "hinge" cut she made. The tape dries rather rapidly but you can
sponge on a little water to allow more working time.
And, if you really mess up, just remove the tape and start again. This is a
project that is ideal for learning some veneering basics.
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With the "hinge" joint taped and the tape still
slightly damp, Maureen moves the veneer to the edge of the bench and folds it over the
edge. This step, will separate the two pieces just slightly—thus the hinge. The two
edges will be butted in that step.
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This view of the veneer is backlighted
to emphasize the small gap of the hinge.
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Maureen is practicing where the veneer and the
hinge will go. This is wise to do before you start the gluing.
Most often, veneering tape is on the finished side and is removed after the
piece has been glued in place. In this instance, she is instructed to have the tape side
down.
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