Introduction to Veneering - 4 Days

Course description

Veneer is simply a thin piece of wood that is either sliced or sawn from a larger piece. Historically, the finest museum quality furniture has almost always used veneer. But it is an oft misunderstood material that is unfairly associated with inferior work. Learning to use veneer will take your woodworking to another level. You can do things with wood veneer that you simply cannot do with thicker pieces of solid wood - because to do so would court disaster from seasonal wood movement. It also allows valuable or interesting woods to be used economically, can add symmetry and harmony to your work and opens up a whole new world of patterns and wood grain as decoration. We show you the various ways that veneer is commercially made, how to edge veneer so it can be joined together - both by hand and machine - and introduce the art of parquetry. During the class you will make a chess board to take home. If time permits we will also look at how to reproduce some of the other incredible veneer designs used in high-end furniture - like sunburst and radial veneering. Once your veneer has been cut it is normally joined into larger sheets - often using certain matching tricks that we will teach you (like book, slip and end matching) before being glued down to a substrate. We will cover the various advantages and disadvantages of different substrates (plywood, MDF, solid wood, etc) and show you how to use a vacuum veneer press for your work. We prefer this pressing method for its simplicity, reliability and relatively low cost of entry to the art of veneering. This course is aimed at all skill levels. No previous experience required but some woodworking experience would be an advantage.