What a task you’ve taken on Colin, but you’re making excellent progress now you’ve really got the bit between your teeth! Even well behaved plain veneer would be a big enough challenge, let alone burr walnut.
As to glue types, as far as I know, most cabinet makers favour hide glue for ‘hammer’ veneering, because it has the merit of being able to be re-melted and repositioned. What always amazes me is the way that they slosh the glue and water around – even over the surface of the veneer as a lubricant for the ‘hammer’. Also, if the veneer expands when wet – as indeed it does, then surely the converse is true – it risks shrinkage when it dries out?
The term veneer ‘hammer’ is a bit misleading because it isn’t a hammer at all, except in name – it’s a squeegee. It got its name because originally cabinet makers used the surface of their hammer to smooth down the veneers. Easy enough to make. I’ve only done a small amount of veneering on flat surfaces using cheap rift-oak veneer, and made a couple of ‘hammers’ for the task.
I used to use Cascamite many years ago (fifty years ago in fact, when I made new window frames for the first house we bought when we got married). The only problem I had with it was that I always either made too much or not enough and depending on the mix, it soon goes off. I also used it when I made model boats. Most of the woodworkers and woodturners I know use Titebond Aliphatic wood glue nowadays, sometimes known as ‘yeller’ due to its colour, though it dries clear. It sticks like the very devil and has a fast set and short clamp time. There are several varieties including one for musical instrument making. I just use the ‘Original’ Titebond:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=titebond+glue&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=9671905808&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=781215830221477383&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_61tz4zt1zy_e
One of our woodturning club members specialises in ‘segmented’ turning. He assembles a turning bank from often hundreds of accurately cut pieces of contrasting timbers. He holds the pieces together by hand for a minute or so, then adds the next piece. When the blank is finished, it’s ready next day to be mounted on the lathe. His name is Alan Sinclair, and examples of his work can be seen at the gallery at this link:
http://www.eastyorkshirewoodturners.org.uk/
Another glue popular with furniture makers and repairers is 'Gorrila Glue' (I don't thinks it's made from gorillas, but then I didn't think beefburgers were made from Horse!).
Apart from the natural characteristics of the timber, the figuring of veneers has much to do with the way that it’s produced – oak tend to be ‘rift cut’. Plain veneers such as beech for plywood tend to be peeled off the log rather like a giant pencil sharpener, which though the veneer will be bland looking, it has the merit of being in large sheets if need be. I doubt that burr will tolerate being produced by that manner, and I imagine it will be flat or quarter sliced. This gives example of the various techniques:
http://www.americanhardwood.org/products...nufacture/
Burrs (or burls as Americans call them) are basically defects and come from tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. A burr results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. There’s no such thing as a ‘burr walnut tree’ any more than there is a ‘ripple’ (or ‘fiddle back’) sycamore, a ‘spalted beech’ or an ‘olive ash’ tree. These are characteristics that are only discovered when the tree has been felled. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy, generally not discovered until the tree dies, falls over or is felled. It is also commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. You often see them on the trunks of trees, rather like a big carbuncle. I don't want to take Colin's thread too far off topic, but I was given a couple of 6” square 3” thick burr oak blanks by a chum to see if I could turn anything from them. I did manage to turn a couple of small bowls, but I didn’t turn them very thin as I could well see it either exploding on the lathe or just falling to bits. I won’t be using any more any time soon - it's no easier to turn the stuff than to veneer with it!
As to glue types, as far as I know, most cabinet makers favour hide glue for ‘hammer’ veneering, because it has the merit of being able to be re-melted and repositioned. What always amazes me is the way that they slosh the glue and water around – even over the surface of the veneer as a lubricant for the ‘hammer’. Also, if the veneer expands when wet – as indeed it does, then surely the converse is true – it risks shrinkage when it dries out?
The term veneer ‘hammer’ is a bit misleading because it isn’t a hammer at all, except in name – it’s a squeegee. It got its name because originally cabinet makers used the surface of their hammer to smooth down the veneers. Easy enough to make. I’ve only done a small amount of veneering on flat surfaces using cheap rift-oak veneer, and made a couple of ‘hammers’ for the task.
I used to use Cascamite many years ago (fifty years ago in fact, when I made new window frames for the first house we bought when we got married). The only problem I had with it was that I always either made too much or not enough and depending on the mix, it soon goes off. I also used it when I made model boats. Most of the woodworkers and woodturners I know use Titebond Aliphatic wood glue nowadays, sometimes known as ‘yeller’ due to its colour, though it dries clear. It sticks like the very devil and has a fast set and short clamp time. There are several varieties including one for musical instrument making. I just use the ‘Original’ Titebond:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=titebond+glue&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=9671905808&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=781215830221477383&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_61tz4zt1zy_e
One of our woodturning club members specialises in ‘segmented’ turning. He assembles a turning bank from often hundreds of accurately cut pieces of contrasting timbers. He holds the pieces together by hand for a minute or so, then adds the next piece. When the blank is finished, it’s ready next day to be mounted on the lathe. His name is Alan Sinclair, and examples of his work can be seen at the gallery at this link:
http://www.eastyorkshirewoodturners.org.uk/
Another glue popular with furniture makers and repairers is 'Gorrila Glue' (I don't thinks it's made from gorillas, but then I didn't think beefburgers were made from Horse!).
Apart from the natural characteristics of the timber, the figuring of veneers has much to do with the way that it’s produced – oak tend to be ‘rift cut’. Plain veneers such as beech for plywood tend to be peeled off the log rather like a giant pencil sharpener, which though the veneer will be bland looking, it has the merit of being in large sheets if need be. I doubt that burr will tolerate being produced by that manner, and I imagine it will be flat or quarter sliced. This gives example of the various techniques:
http://www.americanhardwood.org/products...nufacture/
Burrs (or burls as Americans call them) are basically defects and come from tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. A burr results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. There’s no such thing as a ‘burr walnut tree’ any more than there is a ‘ripple’ (or ‘fiddle back’) sycamore, a ‘spalted beech’ or an ‘olive ash’ tree. These are characteristics that are only discovered when the tree has been felled. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of malignancy, generally not discovered until the tree dies, falls over or is felled. It is also commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. You often see them on the trunks of trees, rather like a big carbuncle. I don't want to take Colin's thread too far off topic, but I was given a couple of 6” square 3” thick burr oak blanks by a chum to see if I could turn anything from them. I did manage to turn a couple of small bowls, but I didn’t turn them very thin as I could well see it either exploding on the lathe or just falling to bits. I won’t be using any more any time soon - it's no easier to turn the stuff than to veneer with it!
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
