Veneer on one side of solid wood?

[LongLook]

I'm designing a box and the top, which will float in a groove, will be walnut approximately 1/2" thick.  I would like the interior of the lid to have a different wood and have some veneer (kind not yet decided) that I would like to use.  Is it possible to successfully veneer one side of a solid wood slab and not encounter cupping or splitting?  I would plan to glue the veneer to the wood.  If this is not a good idea, is it reasonable to bloat the veneer below the solid top in the groove?  Off the top it would seem to me that this is not a good idea as the veneer will be more likely to move given the thin nature of it.  I'm open to other ideas here as well.

[jteneyck]

Veneering on one side only is done all the time with drawer fronts.  Of course, the drawer box helps hold the front flat, but the veneer doesn't split.  And I've veneered a couple of small end table tops just on the top surface, with the grain of the veneer running in the same direction as the board it was glued to, and never had a problem.  I think if your box is relatively small, like less than 10" wide, and the veneered panel will be captured in the lid frame that it will be fine.  Keep in mind that the panel is likely to cup after you veneer it, but it should flatten out again as the moisture redistributes itself.  You could wipe the side you don't veneer with water at the same time you apply the veneer to help keep the MC equal on both sides.  In any case, if it does cup just let it sit for day or two and I think it will flatten out again.  

John

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I'm no expert and I've read your post 3 times. Is the box and lid 1/2" walnut or just the box? The way I read it, you're wanting to veneer over 1/2" walnut for the lid. I'm guessing I'm wrong but if I'm not, I'd veneer mdf or BB plywood on both sides of the lid. Problem solved. I'm envisioning a "pencil box" style design but you don't make that clear. Am I missing something?

[fredhargis]

What John said has been my experience. You'll be OK, but the panel may still cup (it might even cup without veneer depending on the growth rings). The veneer grain needs to run in the same direction as the panel, otherwise you're good to go. One thing was you didn't mention how big the box is, and the likelihood of a problem increases with size. I'm guessing this isn't too big since your using 1/2" thick wood.

[LongLook]

Thanks for the replies.  The top will be about 8 or 9 inches wide and captured in a grove in the lid frame so I'll give it a try.  The worst that can happen is that it cups too badly to use so I make another one from mdf or bbp and veneer both sides.

[Herebrooks]

You would probably be better off just putting a dab of glue in the center of the veneer so it can move independently from the walnut. They will both be captured in the grove, right?

[Willyou]

If you really want to use walnut for the substrate, you could glue it up in 4-5 narrow strips. This would minimize the severity of any cupping that might occur. However, you might not want that appearance if the walnut will be exposed on the under side when the lid is open. Also, you can minimize potential cupping by using as much quarter/rift sawn walnut as you can.

[rwe2156]

What Willyou said +++.  What Herebrooks said would not be good option.

I've seen lots of old sewing machine cabinets with veneered lids they are always made with glued up cores and veneered on both sides.

I've seen the core made up with wood < 2" wide.