# Veneer Q's



## ihartred (Jun 1, 2009)

has anyone ACTUALLY veneered speakers here? I'm at that stage where I need to find out what I got myself into. I have some birdseye maple for a recent build, and get a lot of conflicting information on what products/ techniques work. Any input is appreciated.


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

I veneered a sub enclosure. Fortunately I didn't have any complex curves so it was pretty straight forward. 

I would go to a good woodworking shop to get the best glues/sanding sealers vs a big box store. One thing I learned was the importance of a completely smooth surface. It's not enough just to flush mount your screws, you need to fill them in. When the glue dries, it really pulls the veneer in. If your surface isn't absolutely flat, you will see all sorts of dimples when it dries. 

As far as the procedure, it was relatively simple. I didn't need to join multiple pieces of veneer. I laid one sheet down on the glue and then pressed it until it was dry. Then I took an exacto knife and trimmed around the edges. 

If you have remnants, it might be pretty hard to match up the grain. One of the nice things about getting multiple sheets is that they line up easily. Find a good woodworking shop in your area and ask. I found people to be very helpful.

Here's a short thread about veneer http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ustom-ribbon-stripe-african-mahogany-box.html

This was my enclosure


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## ihartred (Jun 1, 2009)

what type of glue did you use? That box was gorgeous! does the veneer tend to float and slide like mdf tends to do?


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## AudioAmbiance (Mar 3, 2010)

I've done about 10pr of speakers with different veneers and woods. I've found contact cement to be the best adhesive of what I have worked with. Use the liquid, not the thick gel; it spreads much easier. On very porous veneers/woods, you may need two coats before sticking the veneer to the substrate. For trimming, I've always used a router with a flush trim bit, then finish sand with 220 before applying the first layer of finish. Some will say you need something finer, however I always use steel wool after the first coat. Anything with moisture you apply to the wood after sanding will raise the grain again, and sanding over 220 really doesn't help. Finishing techniques vary, and it will depend on what you are using and what you want it to look like.

Hope that helps!


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## Dryseals (Sep 7, 2008)

It really depends on the enviroment where you plan to use the sub. For inside a house, I use hide glue. But hide glue doesn't work well in a car interior, to much heat and moisture.
For a car, you need a glue that can take the heat changes and at the same time be workable with the tools you have. Cold press glues work best here, but not many folks have a vacuum press to work with.
Contact glues are very unforgiving, once you stick them, they don't want to allow you a reposition, better get it right the first time.

If you have flat surfaces and this is a first time, go with a paper backed veneer and some flex pro glue.

The main thing to help is the use of stringers, a slip of wood on the edges that lays equal to the veneer. keeps the edges from being peeled up.


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## ihartred (Jun 1, 2009)

End Result...





























Satisfied, not thrilled. Ordered the veneer before I realized I was diving off the deep end and learned a lot of things the hard way.
also made several cuts on the boxes before i realized my tablesaw was bumped to a 3 degree bevel:uhoh: tried to just deal with it. I should have painted them. In their location you only see the front anyways.

And I don't know what the hell those light spots are towards the bottom but you only see them with the flash?


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## briansz (Feb 5, 2008)

Speaking as a professional cabinetmaker/woodworker of ~15 years, I can say that contact cement is _never_ desirable for use with veneer - unless the veneer is two-ply or phenolic backed. You will expose the contact cement to solvents from most finishes if you use single ply unbacked veneers. It _will_ lift eventually.

The two-ply veneers work fine with contact cement. Phenolic backed is sort of ugly as it has the black line you'd find with plastic laminate.


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## tyort1 (Jun 2, 2010)

Head over to HTguide.com and check out their FAQ section, it's got a great veneering tutorial.


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Those light spots you're seeing are probably burn marks from sanding through the veneer. The contact cement idea isn't the best I've heard but I use a professional grade red contact glue that works well, I've never seen it peel even in high temperatures here in Texas. It's true that once it sticks it's what it is but that's why you always cut the piece of veneer as close to size as possible to avoid big mistakes like that. Also a tip is that when you're laying it down, lay multiple sticks beneath it and take one by one out so the veneer with lay flat without any bubbles. Your birds eye looks great, it's a shame your cuts were off because on the flat table top it really shows. Veneering is fun and well worth the time spent.

Edit: Also the paper backed veneer is for the birds. Go wood on wood if you want the best end product available. The paper backed veneers have a tendency to bubble. i.e. the paper separates from the veneer and the veneer will bubble up.


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