Stage 4 Cont: Veneer Replacement (pt 3)

Now, I won't bore you with the details of sanding down the lid, but would like it noted that to prevent accidents or irreversible mistakes, we used 220-grit sandpaper on the orbital sander pictured here. Sanding out the black marks took quite a bit of time and required a good deal of patience, but we eventually got them sanded out and got all the pieces of veneer flush and down to the same thickness. The more I sanded the more the wood began to shine.

Work Time: 1.5 Hours
Total Time: 32 Hours

Next on the list was getting the veneer for the trim cut down and prepared to attach. After consulting with some of the shop hands, I decided to go on and use the same type of wood from the lid instead of going for a tri-color look using the redder veneer I had cut previously. To get our corners right, we took our longest piece of veneer (which was just barely long enough) and shaved one end down to a 45º angle. We held that board up to the front of the chest, then marked it on the other end to cut another 45º. As for the pieces on the sides, we cut them long from another board then cut a 45º on the end.

Once we matched up our corners, we set aside the piece that was to be the front to prepare to trace the pattern on the backside. To make life easier, we laid the chest on its back and propped it up on a 2x4 to give us room to play - since we left the side veneer long we needed the room. We laid the front board down on the face and traced the pattern on the back, then cut it out on the band saw.

After finding some 1x4s that we cut to size (which worked perfectly, as the veneer is only 3-1/2" wide), we painted plenty of glue on the chest and laid our pieces on. Using the C-clamps actually made the process a little bit of a challenge; because of the way they function, the clamps would move the veneer on the final crank. We got everything "close 'nuff" and left it to dry overnight. When gluing, we were sure to put a bead along the corners to prevent any pulling or them getting kicked away from each other down the line. No mistakes this time!

Side note: To get the bubbles out of the lid's veneer, we ran a syringe up underneath the pockets to literally inject watered down glue into the trouble spot.

Work Time: 3 Hours
Total Time: 35 Hours