The Many Challenges of Laying Veneer

 Veneer work takes a great amount of skill, even if you are just laying one piece.  But to successfully lay down 24 pieces?  That requires mastery!  And that is just what our 'veneer-man extraordinaire' did on this armoire side panel.   There are so many challenges with applying veneer to a surface, but when you do a job such as this one, with so many pieces of veneer, which all have to match perfectly, the challenges multiply quickly.

First off,  the base surface has to be perfectly smooth.  Any bumps or valleys will effect the way the veneer adheres and could create air bubbles.  Air bubbles are a big problem and lead to the veneer cracking and flaking off.


Next, when each piece of veneer is cut,  the cut has to be perfectly straight so that when you joint the pieces together, there are no gaps in the wood.  And, you have to make sure the the angles are the same so that the grain runs the same way and the seams between the pieces disappear.

Then, each piece of wood has to be aligned perfectly so that the center seam runs straight, all the way down the panel.  This requires lots of very careful measuring, marking, re-measuring, re-marking etc!

And finally, on this panel there is that gorgeous center diamond pattern.  For that you have to take all of the challenges I just told you about the other pieces, and multiply it!  That center diamond has to be cut perfectly, measured perfectly, aligned perfectly, glued perfectly, clamped perfectly.  If it is off, it will throw off the look of the entire panel.

The good thing is that we actually have craftsmen here at our shop who can do this picky, meticulous work, and do it well!  They are like woodworking superheroes.  They can make broken things 'unbroken', they can make ugly things beautiful, and they can perfectly align veneer!

Seth Thomas Clock Restoration

 This beautiful old Seth Thomas clock came to us needing a number of different things worked on.  The case was loose and easily came apart into multiple pieces,  the lower part of the door needed to be re-veneered, and the back panel was raw wood.
To finish the back panel, we used shellac which really let the burl shine through, and gave a beautiful contrast with the rest of the clock case.

Gluing the case together was fairly simple as we do that kind of work every day.

The tricky aspect of this job was really the re-veneer work on the door face.  What made it so tricky was the corner details.  There was an recessed area that needed to remain without veneer, but the leaflets needed to have the same grain pattern as the rest of the door.

So what we ended up doing making a tracing of the exact shape of each corner and then mask off (very very carefully!) the recessed area.  We could then glue a sheet of veneer over the door face.  Then, once the glue was set and dry our craftsman used the tracings to cut the veneer away and expose the masked off areas.  It was a tricky process, but did produce the results we were looking for.   Then the leaflets had to be carved to create depth and texture.  Finally, once the newly veneered door panel looked just how we wanted it, we stained and finished it to match the rest of the clock.

As I said, it was a tricky job.  But the end result was a beautiful clock with great detail and wonderful textural and color contrasts.

New Veneer on a Cedar Chest

 Cedar chests have such a sentimental appeal for me.  They are something that you put cozy winter coats in, store leather baby shoes in, and that vintage dress of grandmother's.  Cedar chests seem to store memories inside.  

This Cedar chest came to us because, while the inside was doing it's job quite well, the outside had fallen into dis-repair.  The veneer was damaged, peeling, and in some places missing.  The finish was old and worn. It was straying dangerously into 'shabby' territory and needed some help coming back to 'beautiful' territory.   We began our work by stripping all of the old, worn out finish off, using our brand-new water based stripping system.   

The next step was to complete the repairs to the chest.   The entire strip of gorgeous walnut burl veneer around the base had to be replaced.  Our craftsman did a great job with that walnut, it turned out beautifully.  There were also damaged areas of veneer on the top surface that had to be secured down, and a large discolored area where the veneer had a stain which we had to hide.  Hiding discoloration is a very tricky task, but it came out looking very good on this particular piece.

Lastly, we applied a beautiful new stain and finish.  The stain on this chest is a water based Pecan with a Satin sheen over the top.  It is really a beautiful color choice for the piece.  Because it is a lighter stain, the colors in the various types of wood are really able to shine through.

I think the outside of the cedar chest is now just as beautiful as the inside, and is now once again ready to house tangible memories for years and years to come.