Apply Wood Veneer Using Contact Cement & Build Beautiful Furniture - Woodworking

I'm at the stage of this project where  I'm ready to veneer the cabinet and when   you veneer anything the first step is to  purchase your veneer it's going to come   in a box like this rolled up you can get 1ft  wide sections twoot I don't know about 3ot 3ft   but definitely 4T which is what I have here  this is 4T by 8T cuz actually two pieces in   here this piece is from I'm just storing it  here I'm going to use this on the doors but   right now we're focusing on the cabinet and  that's going to be this piece on the bottom   which is claro Walnut highly figured so you  want to roll this out sometimes it's nice   to have some kind of a weight which I don't  have right now but like this speaker would work you want to it's also good  idea to do do this part maybe   the night before to give the veneer  some time to kind of flatten out a bit before you even start to think about  cutting the veneer you want to make sure   that your cabinet is sanded all of your  Fastener holes are filled your screw holes   I fill mine with Auto Body Bondo The Edge is  band and the cabinet is sanded so the edge is   flush everything is nice and flush you want a  perfectly smooth surface because anything can   Telegraph through the veneer when you're going  to cut your veneer you can cut it a half of an   inch maybe 3/4 of an inch heavy that'll give  you either a/ qu of an inch or 3/8 overhang   all around sometimes I use uh 3/8 overhang just  as a little bit more insurance so this cabinet   is 18 in wide I'm going to cut the Veneer at 18  and 3/4 it's 6 63 in long so the length will be   63 and 3/4 after you've taken some time looked  at the wood grain figured out what is going to   be the best grain match for your project measured  twice this is the kind of pro part of the project   that you don't want to screw up again I'm going  to measure one more time 18 and 3/4 and I keep   this long piece of aluminum it's an 8ft piece  clamped on both ends and it usually takes maybe   two sometimes three scores with the razor blade  to make the cut so I'm cutting the the length first definitely want to take your time here   you don't want to accidentally move the  straight edge or have the knife run on you also you want to keep pressure on the  straight edge even though it's clamped at the ends so I'm almost through I am through over there   this one I got to work a little bit  cuz the straight edge wasn't long enough okay so now I'm going to look at it  again before I make my cross Cuts I like   to use tape and make notes to myself so  this will be the right side front of the   cabinet if all goes well the grain should  flow into the top of the cabinet I've got   a note that says top front with an arrow  pointing this way and then when I get to   this side of the cabinet over here I'll flip  this veneer around and find the best grain   match on what I have left over so right  now I'm making my first Crosscut for the   right side of the cabinet which I've already  marked out see I'm tempted to measure one more time definitely don't want to  make a mistake this stuff's pretty expensive okay so after making that last cut I'm left  with one more cut and this is going to be   the left side of the cabinet this is the side  of the cabinet that will be going against the   wall so it's not as crucial but I still want  to get a pretty good match so that's going to   require having a little waste and you can see  that that's a pretty good match especially when   the cabinet starts to fall off you're not  really going to see it as pronounced as if   it were like right on the top so I'm measuring  from this you probably can't see but there's a   little white Mark here to the length that I'll  need for the piece of veneer that goes on that side definitely happy with that so now I want to Mark   left side yes left side with an  arrow pointing towards the front I've got the pieces that I'm going to use for  this part of the project and I'm going to roll   these up I'll still use these but uh I just  want them out of my way I want to keep the   area clean and stay focused on what I'm doing and  these will just go right back in the cardboard box another important step before you really  get started is to have some sticks these are   going to help you position the veneer you can  also use dowels but I just cut some sticks and   now this time I'm going to remember to store  these because I end up cutting sticks for every   project which is kind of a waste and you want  to veneer the sides of the cabinet first even   though the seam is very minimal it's better  for it to be on the side than right on the   top so I'm going to use cardboard I always keep  cardboard around the shop because you can sand   on this I'm going to balance the cabinet on it  it and that way it won't scratch it even after   I do the veneering I'm going to use cardboard  to put the the cabinet on if I have to work   on it that'll keep the the veneer from getting  scratched so anytime you're working for yourself   you just got to kind of go slow and figure  things out I'm going to push this over that   way a little bit move this this thing out of  the way kick kick my uh cardboard into place and kind of drop it down so I'm going to veneer this side and I'll  flip it over and veneer the other side to apply   the veneer I'm using the weldwood contact  cement I've been using this on projects for   maybe 25 years or more I've never had a problem  with delamination I always like to have a thr   thr away brush on hand clean up the the rim or  whatever any drips this is a mohair roller I   often use a 4in or 6 in I just happened to have  this kind of fancy looking red one not even sure   where I got it but it's the only one I had so  that's what I'm using so I didn't have to run to   the hardware store and I like to line the paint  tray with tin foil this one's going to fight me   because it's brand new so anyway the nice thing  about this is not only can you line your tray   with tin foil you can also make a tray cover with  tin foil and that's a good thing to do it'll keep   your contact cement from drying up it'll keep  your roller fresh and your your throwaway brush fresh I'm about to open this stuff up mix  it up pour it in the tray here and then   start to apply it I like to apply two coats  one to the back of the veneer and one to the   substrate meaning the cabinet let it dry and  then apply another coat I feel like you get   a better Bond when you use two coats you  have to let the first coat completely dry   it takes about 15 minutes so I'm going to  wear my mask you definitely want to wear   a respirator this stuff is pretty toxic  open up your windows and then just get to work you'll be able to see that it really needs a mixing okay you see I have the edge propped up that's so  I don't get any contact cement on the work   surface then slide the veneer over and then get  the contact cement on the face of the veneer so   I'm always trying to keep that edge either  hanging off the table or somehow propped up [Music] I'm taking my mask off for just a second to  point out that the contact is now dry on the   cabinet you can see that it's also dry on the back  of the veneer so now I'm going to apply the second coat the second coat is almost dry you can see  right there it's not dry so you just want the   whole surface to be flat like this over here it  needs to be dry to touch should really touch it   with the back of your hand because you can have  oils on your fingertips you don't want that to   get on the glue it's been about another 10 minutes  and you can see it's nice and dry now I'll take   these sticks and I'll place them on top of the  cabinet here and I'll be ready to position the venea I'm remembering that  this is the front of the cabinet so I'll make sure that  I have my label facing the front just looking underneath to  make sure that I've got the same   reveal all the way around at least  pretty close looks pretty good I'll put a little pressure  right here at the top makes   good okay now I can pull this back get rid of my sticks to apply pressure to the veneer I'm using  a piece of plywood here that I've rounded over   the edge this works better than a j roller you  just want to make sure you just be careful around   the edges because you can break those so I'm  going to push towards from the center towards   the edge being careful not to break that edge  I can remove this now I don't want to push that in [Music] this part here is going to have to be removed and   to do that I use a sanding block kind  of sanding up and around kind of like that for I've got the two sides of the cabinet veneered  and that's the order that you want to work in   veneer the sides first the top last it's  a very minimal seam but you wouldn't want   it on the top you'd rather have it on the  side so that's why you work in that order   I stopped after the sides last night just  because I ran out of time and you can see   the benefit of using this tin foil lid is  the brush and the roller are still usable   it also keeps any dust out so now I'm  going to go ahead and just repeat the process this is the second coat of veneer  or I should say the second coat of veneer   is now dry I've got the sticks on top of the  cabinet to help me position the veneer I'll   double check [ __ ] that was close I'll I'll  double check to make sure that I'm lining it   up correctly with my labels and it's looking  pretty good could have probably used another   stick you really don't want the veneer to touch  the contact cement until you're you're ready for it so you'll kind of get down look  at that reveal make sure everything   looks good before you remove  the stick and start to add some pressure you can take as much time as you want at  this point and I think it's a good idea to take   advantage of that everything looks good so I'll  apply a little pressure to this outside Ed edge here I'll come over to this side  pick up all the veneer remove the sticks [Music] and I'm going to use my board here  with the slightly rounded Edge work   from the center and apply pressure all the way   out being careful around the edges  you don't want to break the veneer finished applying pressure to  the veneer and the next step   is to use the flush cut bit in  the router to trim the [Music] [Music] edge chances are after you run the flush cut bit with  the router you're going to end up with this kind   of a fringe here that might be because I use two  coats of contact cement I'm not sure but it's   something I always have to deal with and I find  the best way to deal with it is with a sanding   block and 120 paper and I'm just going to slowly  work this whole seam probably will take about 10 minutes as you can see I've made a little more  progress on the cabinet it looks like it's almost   done but trust me there's still a lot of work that  needs to be done here I need to add the stops for   the doors obviously it needs to be finished the  drawers need to be sanded and the sides need to   be plugged but it's getting there and hopefully  this project will be done in about two weeks and   I'll have the plans and everything on my website  so the sides and top are veneered with the figured   claro Walnut the front of the cabinet is quarter  cut Walnut and that's one of the things I really   like about working with veneer just opens up so  many design possibilities cuz essentially you're   just building a box and then going over the box  with whatever species or grain pattern that you   like now I'm a big fan of mid-century modern  furniture and if you really look at mid-century   modern furniture it's generally a combination  of veneer and solid wood and that's what this   project will be so you've got your plywood  veneered box a little solid wood on the sides   here where the doors are Mor into the Styles  but it will have a solid wood base and I'll be   working on that next so a lot of fun working with  veneer I hope that you'll try it out I hope this   video was helpful and my suggestion if you're  going to start working with veneer just start   with something small you'll have no problem if  you take your time and that's really what wood   working is all about you need to be prepared to  be patient take time and do things in the steps   that they need to be done in and if you do that  you'll have no problems and you'll end up with a   project that you're proud of and that will last  for Generations so I hope you enjoyed this video   thanks for tuning in and I'll see you next time  here's a few of the veneer projects that I have   plans for available on my website and they all  have step-by-step video tutorials right here on YouTube

Channel: Jon Peters - Longview Woodworking

Views: 50,565

Keywords: DIY, Jon Peters, how to, woodworking, tools, power tools, furniture making, home and garden, woodworker, furniture maker, maker, creator, influencer, jon peters art, artist, furniture, do it yourself, DIY project, garden, power tool, dewalt, milwaukee, lumber

Id: t1oV8oG_CQA

Length: 22min 8sec (1328 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 01 2023