Veneering and Marquetry

[countryscroller]

Here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoZhpEt07eA

[Becky]

I just finished watching the video.  That process is definitely more complicated but, as I posted before, at least you know the pieces will fit when you're done which has to be nice.  

I tried using the gum tape to reinforce mine but thought it was a sticky, nasty mess and just went with the blue tape to reinforce key areas.  OTOH, I know exactly where my key areas are and you don't. Using that much blue tape might be a problem if you had to put it all over everything.  Just (by the way) a tip re the blue tape, if you pull it off at a 45 degree angle to the veneer grain, it is less likely to cause damage to the veneer.  If you pull it off straight, it is more likely to bring a few fibers with it and sometimes rather a lot of them.  At least that has been my experience.

One of these days I will have to do a border.  I need to try the resin glue too.  Just using wood glue, I have had concerns in final glue up about the piece moving a little.  That would make my borders wonky.  It sounds like the resin glue firms up faster.  That might give me a better feeling about sticking it in the clamps and knowing it wouldn't slide around.  

Thanks for the video.  I learned some things from it.

At the risk of stealing a little of your thunder, I will update you on what I have been doing.  Since I have a request for those coasters, I decided to try a polyurethane finish on my sand-shaded project.  I don't imagine it will be any different than using another finish but it is better to be sure.  I want the coasters to have more resistance to water since they are likely to get condensation on them.  The coasters are on temporary hold because I couldn't see the lines on darker wood when I used my graphite paper.  I have ordered some white transfer paper from cherry tree and it looks like it might be getting here tomorrow or the next day.

I've just gotten back from a business trip so I haven't done much of anything these past couple days except put a coat of poly on my sand shaded project.  But I did finally make a big enough pest of myself to get a picture of my rose.  The problem areas look glaring to me but I am posting a close up so you can see it, warts and all.  It's still a learning process after all.

The poly process will take longer because of the longer drying time between coats but I will post a pic of that when I get the top done (I don't take a picture of the back side so don't need to get that done before posting it).  Speaking of which, does he not tell you to put a piece of veneer on the back of your projects?  That was one surprise in your video because that has been a universal in everything I have read.

Anyway, here's the rose.

[countryscroller]

Thanks for watching Becky! That rose turned out great too. Well, I would've put a piece of veneer on the back too, but just for demonstration purposes and this is only my second time making something, I just wanted to make it simple just to practice with.

[Keefie]

Realy good video, very informative. thanks for all the time and effort you put into these videos.

Keith.

[countryscroller]

Thank you Keith. I enjoy making them for you guys on here.

[Becky]

Thanks, Dustin. 

Honestly, I can't decide if the whole "put veneer on the back too" thing is propaganda from the sellers of veneer or a for-real thing but it has always been consistent.  You'll have to report if the ones you made w/o veneer on the back end up warping.  We'll get to the bottom of this yet!   

I got my white transfer paper in the mail today and took one more step in my coaster project.  I quickly found that either mahogany veneer is very susceptable to splitting on the grain line or else my pattern encourages that (some pieces are very thin and they go all around so changing the grain orientation wouldn't help).  I've had to glue a few very small pieces back in place already.  I think I will be using lots of blue tape on this to try and just hold the thing together.  I am thinking of just taping the whole thing like you did with some of your pieces in the video.  I don't know if I'd have even thought of doing that before watching.  I may also go with the gooey gum tape since it will probably cut through more easily than the blue tape. 

I may not be using the same techinique as you, but you've definitely given me some ideas for improving my own efforts.  Thanks for that.  I am glad there are two of us experimenting with this and sharing tips and ideas.  I think it saves us some missteps along the way.  I hope you feel the same way.

[countryscroller]

I think with using MDF as a substrate it shouldn't warp. Well I'm glad that you have learned from my techniques and I have from yours. Looking forward to seeing your coaster project. Thanks for the updates.

[Becky]

Well, I am not happy with how this turned out but I promised a picture.  I was worried about making the wood too dark with my sand shading but, in general, I didn't make it nearly dark enough.  Somewhere between the sanding and the poly, it started looking like somebody with dirty hands had rubbed on it.  There are a couple of spots that I had thought were way too dark that actually look the best now.  I guess the lesson I take from this is to sand shade more aggressively. 

In other negative news, I think I need to get some more practice in before attempting the coaster project.  Problems followed problems and it just turned into a mess.  I'll work on my shading which will also give me more practice at my cutting and allow me to experiment with a few ideas.

But, it's a learning process.  Rome wasn't built in a day.The coaster project doesn't have a deadline so that's no big deal.  I'll just keep plugging away.  Anyway, here's what you get when you don't shade enough.

[Keefie]

It still looks pretty good to me, I haven't dared to attempt one yet.

[countryscroller]

It looks fine to me too. Like you said it is a learning process. I'm in no hurry with this, I am just going through all the steps over and over with a simple project until I think I am ready to advance to something to this scale. It looks good though. Thanks for sharing.

[EIEIO]

Beckey - it looks great to me. Did you do this with the scalpel and window method or with a scroll saw like CS? I like the shading effect. I'm sure that's a tough method to master and get what you had in mind. But its variability might be what makes it more interesting in the end.

[Becky]

Thanks all.  I didn't mean to imply I thought it was a total disaster, just that I didn't get the effect I wanted.  I am trying the same pattern with the same species and more aggressive shading to see how that looks. 

I have a very old stove in my basement (seriously, it looks like it might be from the 50's or even older).  Instead of a dial for regulating the heat, it has push buttons.  I think the proper temperature for doing this is between two of the buttons.  On one setting it barely does anything except dry up the wood and make it shrink.  One button higher and charcoal is but a blink away.  I am playing around with building little piles of sand to raise the wood farther from the heat source with mixed results so far.  It's been a few years since I played in a sandbox.   

EIEIO, I do it all with the window method and an x-acto knife... and frequent muttering, lol.

[Jim Finn]

I do a lot of "Double bevel inlay" and am wondering what the advantage  is in using veneer. It seems a LOT harder to do it with veneer than the way I do it with 3/8" stock.  Just curious.

[countryscroller]

Well, I have never tried double bevel, but for me, veneer is easy to work with as to do say make a cut or a mitered corner or something. Just simply us a knife and cut it. It is also easy to fix mistakes. Also veneer is pretty cheap, it makes sense that thicker wood would be more expensive. I might give double bevel a try someday. I know David Marks has a DVD out on it and I may try it sometime.

[Becky]

I was looking for something to do inside when it is too cold or too hot to be in my garage shop.  I figured I could make the decorations during those months and the pieces they would go with when the weather moderated.  I just need to gain the skills first. 

Plus it is always fun to try something new and see what you can learn.

I don't know if any of that is what I would call an advantage.  Certainly not a universal one if, for example, you have a more temperature-controlled shop.  But it has been fun and since this is all just a hobby for me, that's what counts.