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The thinner the panel, the more likely you'll get cupping. It's generally advisable to do both sides but if you are veneering a thick piece it probably will be fine.
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What Steve ^ said.
The thinner and wider the substrate the more important do both sides.
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What are you using as a substrate?
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Fred,
I've got a single piece of mahogany for the substrate that will finish a little over an inch thick. It's very plain looking so it wouldn't make a very interesting top by itself. However, the veneer has a nice flame crotch pattern.
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There are very few exceptions where I think it's OK to only veneer one side, a drawer front on a 5 piece drawer being the only common one that quickly comes to mind. Any flat panel, whether the substrate is plywood or solid, whether in a vacuum bag or not, and with any glue, needs to be veneered on both sides to minimize the chance of warping right away or in the future. You don't have to use your top quality veneer on the side that doesn't show. Anything of similar thickness will do, and the seams don't need to be perfect either.
John
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i think it's pretty universally accepted to always veneer both sides
jerry
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On almost all the 18th century veneered pieces I have seen they veneered only one side. That being said I make it my practice to always veneer both sides. I started this after veneering the drawer fronts for a chest of drawers. I assembled the chest and noticed there was over 1/4" of cup over the length of the drawers. I ended up spending a lot of time fixing the problem. I have been able to over come the cupping by keeping the piece clamped flat until the glue completely dries. Personally I would rather just veneer both sides and have the piece of mind that comes with it though. There is no need to buy fancy veneer. When I'm making drawer fronts I usually just slice a veneer off what will be the inside of the drawer and veneer it back on. This gives me veneer on both sides of the drawer and looks seamless when you see the dovetails from the side. If you have extra mahogany just slice some veneers off some matching wood and use them to balance the panel.
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(06-15-2017, 07:32 PM)Dave Diaman Wrote: On almost all the 18th century veneered pieces I have seen they veneered only one side. That being said I make it my practice to always veneer both sides. I started this after veneering the drawer fronts for a chest of drawers. I assembled the chest and noticed there was over 1/4" of cup over the length of the drawers. I ended up spending a lot of time fixing the problem. I have been able to over come the cupping by keeping the piece clamped flat until the glue completely dries. Personally I would rather just veneer both sides and have the piece of mind that comes with it though. There is no need to buy fancy veneer. When I'm making drawer fronts I usually just slice a veneer off what will be the inside of the drawer and veneer it back on. This gives me veneer on both sides of the drawer and looks seamless when you see the dovetails from the side. If you have extra mahogany just slice some veneers off some matching wood and use them to balance the panel.
"When I'm making drawer fronts I usually just slice a veneer off what will be the inside of the drawer and veneer it back on."
Excellent Dave! Very simple solution I wouldn't have thought of.
Thanks everyone for the input. Always helpful to hear how others do it.
Lonnie
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Dave,
You are a genius!
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