How to attach veneer with wood glue and an iron!

attach veneer to plywood without a vacuum press using glue. This works excellent on little and big jobs where securing and calls simply won't work. I'm simply using regular ol' PVA Titebond wood glue.

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Iron (similar):.

attach veneer with wood glue and an iron!

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28 Comments

  1. How long does any given spot the size of the iron’s footprint need to be heated? How do you know when a spot is done without trying to take it off? I’m interested in trying this with some larger projects like cabinet sides, but an iron is a bit puny for that surface area, and I’d get paranoid about how well the veneer is attached across it.

    1. Really depends on how thick the veneers are. You just need to get a feel for it. Veneer the edge and see how long it takes to attach. Usually only a few seconds on the hottest setting.

  2. just use a contact glue not white :))) and iron not needed too – use a hard roller. regards!

    1. Yep, I’ve done this. Unfortunately contact cement is not as strong on thicker veneers and the veneers will shrink in the winter. See my wood movement video from a couple of weeks ago for an example. For this reason I will always use PVA glue.

    2. @Make Something interesting. I’ll try pva too. Normaly im using contact glue (like for rubber) Pattex Contact for example. Just wait to dry out, put 2 pcs together and use a vaneer hammer or roller. Its stick in 0.1 sec 😉 It is also very important that the glue does not penetrate the veneer – so it will not puncture it when oiling or varnishing it.

    3. In our shop, we sometimes use both: contact cement in the field, and white glue at the edge for strength.

  3. Hello David thanks for the video. I want to try this. Can you please tell what kind of glue? Does a regular wood glue like Titebond work or is this some special heat treatment glue? Thanks in advance.

    1. I know many epoxies can behave like a thermo plastic, it might have some improved performance over normal wood glue (perhaps better moisture resistance?)

    1. Yep, I’ve done this. Unfortunately contact cement is not as strong on thicker veneers and the veneers will shrink in the winter. See my wood movement video from a couple of weeks ago for an example. For this reason I will always use PVA glue.

    2. @Make Something American winter is much colder than Rio de Janeiro winter. If so, reaches 15 celcius in early morning.

  4. I used this technique to make small and relatively thin (3-4mm) plywood panels from walnut and mahogany. Or you can use whatever veneer you need for the project to create that custom plywood.

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