Veneering 1/8" material

[jprconsulting]

I have the good fortune to obtain some very nice 1/8" sawn veneer. 

My question is when I veneer it to the core, should I use a similar thickness on the opposite?  I can obtain some 1/8" material of lesser quality and cost and could use it. 

Appreciate any help.

 

[handi]

Provided that the substrate is stable, it's not nessesary to match. Antique veneers were applied directly to a cheaper wood and both faces finished.

As long as the two faces (say on an apron) can absorb and release moisture at the same rate, you should have no problem.

Hope this helps,

Ralph

 

[Mark Arnold]

I haven't worked with veneer that thick on a large panel but I do have several observations on veneered panels in general. First, a solid wood substrate, even one that is quarter-sawn with both sides veneered, will move over time. Although MDF is more stable, like any large panel it does need to be veneered on both faces. Generally, the thinner the substrate, the more influence the veneer will have over it. In an ideal world, the balancing veneer would be the same thickness, oriented in the same direction, be of the same specie as the face and finished in the same manner. This is impractical, especially if you do marquetry. A balancing veneer oriented in the same direction as the face is probably more critical than its thickness or specie. Other observations anyone?

 

[pampine]

A balancing veneer oriented in the same direction as the face is probably more critical than its thickness or specie. Other observations anyone?

Mark, is this empirically derived? Reason I asked, lots of people on woodworking fora say something similar about finishing (cabinet interior and exterior the same, etc.); but if you look at antique cabinetry you'll notice that the interiors are not finished (a couple swishes of shellac at most) and the piece is holding together just fine. This is because the interior is not subject to the same stresses at the same rate as the exterior.

I've never seen interior veneering.

Pam

 

[Mark Arnold]

I've never seen interior veneering.

Pam,

Neither have I but I have seen plenty of cupped, bowed and cracked panels. I do apply a balancing veneer to large panels like tabletops that otherwise would be too difficult to control. Smaller items, like drawer fronts, I don't bother to veneer on their inside faces although I may use an underlayment depending on the grain of the face veneer. On drawers done this way I have noticed a slight bow lengthwise.

As for finishing the inside of a case, I do agree that this was not a common practice. Common sense would tell us to finish all six sides of a board evenly but it is hardly necessary given the mechanical nature of the joinery we employ--a frame and panel traps the panel in place, a dovetailed drawer blade keeps the case sides from bowing in or out, etc.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Jprconsulting doesn't say what he's veneering, which I would think would be relevant to his question.  If he's building a Federal-style piece that's an absolute reproduction, veneering the other side of a show surface would be inappropriate, since few, if any, orginals were built this way.  Of course, if it's an "in the style of" piece that's using a plywood core, there's no reason not to veneer the opposite face for esthetic purposes.

One question that's very pertinent to the discussion is whether the veneer surface is the front of a bow or serpentine shaped drawer.  On the vast majority of period pieces, the drawer front itself is built up with stacked pieces of pine or poplar oriented so that the resulting faces are "quartered".  I've never seen any period piece in person or in photographs that has the inside of these curved, built-up pieces veneered.