Fig 8. If you are using a PVA adhesive, water it down to avoid lumpiness and promote quick setting. Apply the adhesive with a fairly stiff brush.

Fig 9. You must take great care when laying the veneer on to the ground although the adhesive may remain workable, the veneer is very delicate.

fig 10. Once you have veneered both \J the top and bottom of the board, cover the veneers with paper then cramp up the work piece between two cauls.

Fig 11. When the adhesive has set, I remove the cramps and cauls and trim up the veneer with a sharp knife. Be careful not to cut into the lipping.

Fig 12. Finally, to give the appearance of a solid piece of timber, blend the edges of the veneer and lipping with glasspaper on a sanding block.

There are two types of adhesive suitable for amateur use: the first is the urea formaldehyde (UF) powder type; the second is ordinary white polyvinyl acetate (PVA) woodworking adhesive, the type used for most assembly work. The former must be mixed with water according to the manufacturer's in­structions; the latter is ready mixed, but for veneer purposes must be watered down with between one and one and a half parts of water to ten parts of adhesive.

For sizing or priming purposes PVAs can be diluted by as much as 30 percent, depending on the absorbency of the base timber. UF adhesives are workable for between 20 and 60 minutes while PVA adhesives remain so for between 15 and 30 minutes, according to the temperature of the room.

As well as the adhesive, you will need a short, stiff haired brush to apply it, a rubber photographic roller to even it out, and sufficient cramps and pressing boards to ensure even pressure over the whole surface of the work piece.

If you are using a made up pattern, pencil location marks on the base be­fore gluing. Then lay the base and the veneer (the latter face downwards) on the bench, and rapidly brush a thin, even coat of adhesive over both con­tact surfaces.

Even out the adhesive with the roller, then bring the two surfaces together and align them. Working from the centre outwards, rub down the veneer with the heel of your hand. Then fix it in position with masking tape, turn the board over, and repeat the process for the backing veneer.

To cramp up, first lay newspaper over the base pressing board, or caul. Then set the work on the caul, cover it with newspaper, lay on the top caul, and fit the cramps, working from the centre outwards.

Try not to get adhesive on the veneer face. If you do, wipe it clean with a damp rag; synthetic adhesives are very hard to remove once they have set. The setting time for UP adhesive is five to six hours and for PVA, one to two hours.

Once the adhesive has set, remove the piece from the cauls, lay it face down on a flat board, and then trim the edges with a scalpel or sharp knife. Finish off with a sheet of glass-paper wrapped around a cork block.

[edit] Bubbles

You may find, when you remove the piece from the cauls, that a bubble has formed in the surface. Unfortunately, if you have used UF adhesive the only thing you can do once it has set is to cut out the section of veneer with the bubble and patch it.

But where you have used PVA ad­hesive, first slit the bubble with a scalpel, then lay a piece of damp felt on the area and apply a hot iron over it, the resulting steam will lift the veneer. Allow it to cool, then force some methylated spirit into the crack. Finally, place a block of wood over the crack and arrange enough cramps to place firm, downward pressure on the whole area. Leave for a few hours until the veneer is back in place.