Table top veneered
#3
So I finally got my table top veneered. The first pic is the top show side. The second is the bottom side which I used to practice for the show side. The short diameter is 48" so getting the triangle size was very critical. I originally tested the triangle template with some poster board. The first time I was a little big. I re-cut the template slightly smaller. Of course I was then just a little too small. Made another very small adjustment and cut the backer veneer. Of course now I was ever so slightly big. So I put one piece of poster board 26" from the point on my table saw sled and cut the template one more time. I then crossed my fingers and cut the show veneer. It actually came out just right. Previously I had used the traditional veneer tape that you wet. No matter what I did you could always see the hole pattern of the tape in the veneer so this time I used the water-less veneer tape that Joewoodworker sells. On the bottom side the tape was stuck so hard it would peel up the grain of the wood. I tired using a hairdryer like he suggests and it only marginally helped. On the show side the tape stuck just fine to hold the veneer together when gluing but when I pulled it out of the vacuum bag the tape was falling off. It might have had something to do with the softener I used on the show side. The tape did do its job and held the joints tight during gluing.

The other fun was setting up the vacuum system to glue this. I made a 6.5' square bag from 20mil PVC. I used 2 full sheets of 3/4" baltic birch ply for the top and bottom platens. I used some spacers along the edges just slightly thinner than the table top to keep the vacuum from bending the platens. My piece of burlap that I use as breather mesh was too small so I stole some towels from the kitchen. To seal the bag I used 2 2x4s and a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe. This worked fine except were the seam was in my bag. Because the bag is so big I had to glue several sheets together. I had just overlapped the two pieces of PVC to make a flat seam. That 20mil bump was enough to still leak. To help minimize the leak I slathered Vaseline on that area before folding it over. I am not sure how much it helped but it worked. To help pull out all the extra air I used a 10' long 4" PVC pipe as a vacuum reservoir. It mostly worked but I could have used probably 2 or 3 more pipes. Since I had my wife and son helping me get this thing in the bag I had the three of us sit on top trying to get as much pressure on until the vacuum pump caught back up. I didn't time it but I think I was close to the 10 minute cutoff from the time I started spreading glue and the vacuum reached 20in Hg. Gluing was an adventure also. I used better bond since I was familiar with it and I had no way of getting things warm enough for a urea glue. First I poured the gallon jug into a wide mouth jar so I could get a paint stirrer in there. The flour and colorant in this glue settles and cakes. I hooked up the paint stirrer to the drill and mixed well. I then transferred some to a smaller jar for easier manipulation. I poured the glue on the substrate then used a 12" drywall knife to do the initial spreading then finished with a rubber roller. After I had done the initial spreading on one side my wife would work on the other side while I finished up with the rubber roller. Quick slide the veneer on and give it a quick roll to get it relatively flat and stick it in the bag.

Overall I think it came out okay. The substrate was not a perfect octagon so some of the points of the veneer don't exactly line up with the points on the substrate. Most likely I will notice it more than others. Next is making the 3" wide cherry boarder then put it on the base.

[Image: top_2.jpg]

[Image: bottom_2.jpg]

[Image: press_1.jpg]
Reply
#4
That looks great, nicely done.  Your story of the stress when applying the glue and getting it into the bag rings pretty true.  Something always seems to go wrong just after you start applying the glue and makes getting everything done and into the bag before the glue sets up a real adventure. 

Look forward to further updates on your table.

John
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.