Veneering Info Needed

[sawnuts]

I'd like to make some veneer on my 14" band saw/. I have some exotics and I think it would be the best use of this wood.

I'd like to learn how to cut and edge and apply this to a substrate.

I can't seem to find much info online.

Can anyone suggest a book or an online source of info?

Thanks

Mark

[jteneyck]

What 14" saw do you have?

John

[Mr Eddie]

Tage Frid has a couple of articles in Fine Woodworking that will give you a start on understanding the process:

Fine Woodworking - Spring 1978 (Issue 10) - 'Hammer Veneering'
Fine Woodworking - September/October 1983 (Issue 42) - 'Tips on Veneering'

Also, one of our members, Rob Millard has some excellent Youtube videos.  Even better are the CDs he sells.  His user name is RLMillard and his website:

http://www.americanfederalperiod.com

That should keep you busy for awhile!

Lonnie

[sawnuts]

John,
Grizzly G0555LX.

I have a woodslicer 1/2" blade for it as well.

Mark

[jteneyck]

OK, that looks like a 14" Delta clone, with a 1 HP motor.  I assume you have no riser block, correct.  You should be able to slice nice veneer with that saw once it's tuned up and you use a good blade.  If it cuts straight and parallel with the miter slot then you don't need to do anything except put a good blade on it and a tall fence. 

I see that saw has two speeds.  Set it at the higher speed - 3100 fpm I think it was.  

If it doesn't cut straight and parallel with the miter slot then your first task is to figure out why.  Start by putting a new, sharp blade on it, center it on the top wheel, and adjust the tension however you prefer.  Adjust the blade guides per Grizzly's instructions.  Adjust your fence parallel with the miter slot and then set it maybe 1/2" from the blade.  Now take a piece of 4/4 stock, poplar or something with nice straight grain, lay it flat on the table and against the fence and take a cut.  If the blade pulls to the right, tilt the top wheel forward a little; if the blade pulls left tilt the top wheel backwards a little.  If it helps, adjust until it cuts straight and true and you can take consecutive slices with no wander.  If it won't cut straight no matter how much you tilt the upper wheel, then either the blade isn't sharp, the set isn't equal on both sides, or the wheels on your saw are not coplaner.  Not all new blades are perfect, so put another one on and try it again.  If it still won't cut straight after repeating all of the above then you can assume the blade is not the problem, and you need to check and likely adjust the saw so the wheels are coplaner.  Let's not go into that unless you come back and say we need to.

For now let's assume it now cuts straight.  If so, all you need to cut veneer is a tall fence and a good blade.  The fence on your Grizzly looks pretty robust.  Assuming it doesn't deflect with moderate side pressure when it's locked down you should be able to use it w/o problems.   Attach a piece of MDF, Baltic birch plywood, etc. to it.  For your 6" height a fence about 5" tall should be good.  Once you have it attached to the stock fence slide it up close to the blade.  The gap should be constant between the blade and fence.  If it's not, tilt the table until it is.  And make sure it's parallel with the miter slot.  

OK, blades.  Lots of folks swear Woodslicer blades cut great, but the one I tried didn't.  It cut beautifully until my wood cupped just a little bit.  When that happened it got pinched and stalled in the cut.  Maybe it will work well for you.  If it does, great.  If it doesn't then try a Starret, Lennox, or Olson 1/2" - 3 tpi hook style blade.  

Dust collection:  you need it.  You need it to keep the sawdust from building up between the lower blade and wheel.  Bad things can happen then.  

Stock.  I start with 4 square stock.  At a minimum you need to have one face jointed flat and one edge jointed square to that face.  I prefer to start with 4 square stock; you'll see why in a minute. 

A feather board pushing the stock against the fence is helpful for me when cutting veneer.  I also use a jointer push block to hold the board against the fence as I push it through the blade with my other hand and/or push stick.  

Set the fence to whatever thickness veneer you want to cut, plus a little bit.  I usually cut veneer about 0.090" thick so that I'll end up with 0.065" (1/6") after drum sanding both sides.  With a Woodslicer blade you should be able to set the fence closer to your final desired thickness. 

Ok, if your saw cuts straight, your fence is parallel with the blade, and your stock is 4 square, cutting veneer is just a matter of pushing the stock into the blade at a constant speed.   The blade will tell you what that speed should be.  It needs to be slow enough so that the blade can clear the sawdust out of the kerf.  I can't tell you the speed, but I can tell you it will be slow.  I timed some cuts recently and it took me 45 seconds to cut a piece of 6" red oak that was 20 inches long, using a Starret 1/2" 4 tpi blade.  If you try to feed too fast the blade won't be able to clear the sawdust and the blade will bend and the cut won't be straight vertically.  Better to push too slowly then too fast.

If all goes well you will end up with a piece of veneer that's constant thickness top to bottom from one end to the other within a few thousandths.  If so, turn the board around and take a slice off the other face.  Doing this helps keep the board from cupping or bowing if the moisture content isn't perfectly constant from surface to center.  You should now have two nice slices of veneer.  If all went well and the faces of your stock are still flat you can just keep taking slices off both sides.  If the one or both faces aren't flat I joint and plane them flat and parallel again before cutting more slices. 

Sorry to be so long winded.  I've cut a lot of veneer on my 14" Delta; this is what has worked for me and I hope you find it helpful.  I recently bought a larger saw and I can tell you it's a lot easier cutting veneer on it than it ever was on the 14" saw.  But it can be done, and done well, it just requires very careful set up and consistent technique.     

John

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Long winded? Not at all, John. Thanks for that response. I'll be trying my hand at cutting veneer in the not-too-distant future. This answered questions I have /would have had.

[jteneyck]

Here are a couple of photos I found cutting veneer on my Delta.  The fence is 7" tall - I have a riser block on my saw.  I'm cutting 8" wide white oak.  





The thing I like a lot about shop sawn veneer is that you can joint the edges on your jointer to assemble a panel.  Note:  If you start with 4 square stock you often don't have to edge joint the veneer slices; they will fit together tightly with no tweeking required.  This is another advantage of starting with nice, square stock.  This is especially true if you are cutting veneer from two or more boards.  If you check to make sure the boards fit together w/o gaps, as you would if you were making a solid top, then the slices you cut from the will fit together tightly, too, the great majority of the time.  

[jcousins2]

try joewoodworker.com
jerry

[Texan]

Having a drum sander is a big help.  It quickly removes blade marks and ensures consistent thickness.  I refaced my kitchen cabinets a couple years back with shop sawn oak veneers and the DS was a godsend.

[jteneyck]

You are absolutely right about the drum sander.  I would have been lost w/o it.  But after I upgraded to my new, larger bandsaw I followed Dave Diaman's advise and put a Lennox Woodmaster CT 1", 1.3 tpi blade on it.  That blade cuts so smoothly that you would not need to drum sand it prior to gluing it down onto a substrate.  Someone makes a carbide tipped blade for a 14" saw, too, I just can't remember who it is.  The Wood Slicer also cuts very smoothly, I just didn't have good luck with it.  In any case, a drum sander is a great tool to have, but wouldn't be absolutely necessary if you can figure out how to cut your veneer very smoothly. 

John