Wood Veneers

[brian d]

Hi all,

This is my first posting to this board, so I hope this question is in the right forum....if not, please let me know.

I'm looking for advice on how to make veneers from a piece of wood. I want really thin veneers (1/32 -1/40") from the same piece of wood that I'm going to use for the fingerboard (Pau Ferro wood).

Do I need special equipment to get a uniform thickness?

Any advice?

Thanks in advance,

Brian.

[orgmorg]

Hi, Brian. Welcome to the forum.

Veneer that thin is sliced on a commercial veneer mill that uses a huge super sharp knife to peel off sheets of veneer. It can be done on a bandsaw, but requires a lot of very careful set up and patience. Then there's the issue of surfacing it. Even with a good thickness sander, you will have to rig a backer board to hold the veneer. If you are not worried about bookmatching it, though, you can surface the face of the wood before each cut, and use that face for the gluing surface, then sand the other side when it's all together. Real tricky any way you do it, and you will be making three times as much sawdust as veneer.

Why do you need it so thin?

[Doc]

If you're going to use veneer just buy it don't make it. It's incredibly wasteful unless you have a slicer. There are beaucoups of suppliers.

I recommennd Certainly Wood. In twenty years they've been nothing but great.

[terbo]

Just buy some. My dad owns a sawmill that used to cut veneers... The machinery that made veneer filled up a room that's roughly 80'x60'x25'. Probably larger..

Andy