…an art that goes back to the times of the ancient Egyptians
Unfortunately many people associate veneered products with the cheap mass produced items that have flooded the markets since post Second World War. Originally veneering was only available to royalty and the very wealthy, since this process used only the highest quality materials and required great skill.
Today, with the rising cost and scarcity of many species of wood, veneering is becoming a more ethical and cost effective choice.
The veneering process uses thin layers of wood sliced from the tree in such a manner that it yields between 8 and 40 square feet of veneer for every square foot of one inch of solid wood. These slices of the tree are then joined in decorative series to best show the particular grain characteristics of the woods used. These sheets of veneer are then glued under pressure to a substrate to produce a flat panel similar to a solid wood board or boards. My particular process uses veneers applied to high quality “Baltic” birch plywood, manufactured from sustainable forests. Solid wood edging rather than commercial veneer tape is glued to the plywood core before veneering. This gives the panels a solid wood look and feel, and also allows for custom edge detailing.
With the large variety of veneers now available, some with highly unusual grain patterns only offered in veneer, I can create furnishings with unusual and/or dramatic effects. Veneers also lend themselves very well to curved surfaces, which can ad further interest to your project.
Click here to view a slide show of my veneering process
