A friend, Sandy, suggested trying laser cutting wood veneer (he has plans for a complex design).
However, I’d not tried that before, and it sounded like an interesting idea. I’ve often watched people on Youtube restoring veneer, for example, the excellent AT Restoration.
I ordered some cheap samples of veneer from Amazon, and, when they arrived, made a quick test file in Lightburn. Cutting went really well. Only problem is my circles weren’t actually circular so I couldn’t rotate them to show off the grain:
A few weeks later, I made a new test file, and this time made sure to make sure things fit. I cut it again, this time also sticking some transfer tape on the surface of the veneer to prevent scorching:
Using Ahti (from AT Restoration)’s example, I attached the veneer to a stray piece of plywood:
- I thinly coated a piece of test plywood with PVA wood glue
- I thinly coated the back of the veneer with PVA wood glue also.
- Waited overnight for it all to dry.
- Used a clothes iron on full heat to melt the glue and bond the veneer to the plywood.
It went pretty well: Definitely a lot easier than trying to stick it with wet glue and keep it flat. I finished it off with a random orbital sander on 180 grit sandpaper, and a spot of boiled linseed oil:
It looks very promising! Need to try and keep the glue away from the upper surface of the veneer next time though: maybe slightly less glue is needed as well.
adq 