How Veneer Panel is Made

The wood veneered panel is commonly used to replace the solid wood panel. The veneer that is layered on the laminated wood, particle board, or m.d.f., will produce panel with wood look that has very similar look to the solid wood panel. With the proper processing, the wood veneered panel gives some advantages compared with the solid wood panel. It is more stable, uniform in color, can be arranged with varied patterns, and is less expensive in price. The engineered wood products, such as m.d.f. or particle board, are homogenous materials that are more stable than the wood. since they are engineered products with certain specific standard properties. Even the bare core, plywood, and laminated wood also have less risk of getting warping or cracking problems than the solid panel from 1 piece of wood board. The engineered woods are made from many pieces of wood that are glued together. The tension of the wood pieces is eliminated from each other, resulting in a more stable and stronger wood panel. Since that reason, many woodworking industries prefer to use wood veneer over solid wood panels. 

The process of making wood veneer is actually a simple process, but each process must be done in the right way. It includes the preparation of the core panel, the veneer cutting and setting, the gluing process, and the sanding of the veneer.

 wood veneered panel for furniture

Preparation of the core panel.
 
Core is a board where the veneer is going to be attached. The engineered wood products are used as the core: m.d.f., particle board, bare core, plywood, or laminated wood. Each of them has their advantages and disadvantages, but it won’t be discussed here. You can go see my previous article: (m.d.f.,  particle board, laminated wood, plywood).
No matter what type of core is used, they need to be well prepared. First, the core must be cut to the correct size and shape, according to the size and shape of the panel that will be made. Then it needs to be properly sanded to make a flat and even surface-core panel.

The flat panel is usually glued by the hot press machine. It is a press machine that is equipped with a heater to heat the glue to fasten the glue curing process. To produce strong bonds, we need a core board with a flat and even surface. The uneven surface or panel, which varied in thickness, could make the uneven pressure and uneven temperature in the panel and make the gluing not well done.  The core surface must be cleaned of any dirt and texture that may affect the gluing. The wide belt sanding is the best tool for sanding and calibrating the core panel to make the flat and even panel. 

For a curved panel, then the gluing is done with the vacuum press. It used vacuum to press the veneer to keep it stacked with the core during the glue setting. The curved panel also needs to be prepared well; basically, it needs a clean and fairly smooth surface to let the veneer well attach to its surface.

The cutting and unification of the wood veneer.
 
Veneer is usually attached to make a wood look with certain patterns. First, the veneer is cut into certain sizes and shapes according to the design. Wood veneer pieces are then put together to produce unified veneer with the desired pattern. To produce the tidy veneer, then each piece must be connected tightly. The right, neat, and precise cutting is needed. A special machine called guillotine knives is purposed to cut the veneers. The guillotine has a sharp knife with high pressure that can cut the veneer with very sharp edges precisely, but it is limited to being used for the straight cutting. The laser knife is a modern tool to cut the veneer to make a special shape and pattern. For small volume work, then a cutter that has a sharp and thin knife can also be used with very good results if it is carefully conducted with the skilled people.
The next process is the unification of the veneer pieces before they are glued to the core panels. The unification should be done precisely to make a tidy and tight connection for each piece. To form a simple and straight pattern veneer, then there is a veneer jointer machine. It can glue and connect the veneer edges automatically with a very tight joint, but it only works for the straight connection. For the complex form, then we need to join each piece and then keep it with veneer tape or a thread. The manual handwork is needed in the jointing of the veneer to make a special pattern. 

Gluing veneer to the core.
 
Once the pieces of veneer are unified together, forming the desired pattern, he can be placed and glued to its core. The glue used should be strong enough to produce a strong panel board. The chemical reaction is widely used. It forms the thermosetting bond which is strong, durable, and highly resistant to thinner and finishing materials that will be layered on
Usually some layer of wood veneer is used to make a veneered panel. The C- or D-grade veneer is used as the first layer that is attached directly to the core. Then, on the top of the first layer, the A grade or the good-performance veneer is attached as the panel face. The first and second layers of veneer are usually set in a cross-banding arrangement. The first veneer is layered with the cross-direction grain, while the top veneer is set with the grain direction according to the face panel designed. 

The cross-banding will give you more strength for the wood veneer bonding. The special arrangement in the cross-banding can be used to address some specific veneer problems. The crack problem in the crotch mahogany veneer can be minimized by setting the cross-banding veneer at a 60-degree angle with the core and face veneer.

For flat panels, then the attachment is usually done by a hot press machine. A hot press machine can heat the veneer layer to temperatures up to 100 °C, thus the glue hardening process can be quickly done; the glue will dry in about 2–3 minutes. But the heating plate is flat, restricting the uses of the machine to the flat panel only. To form the curved panel, then the vacuum press is needed. It used the vacuum force to suck to keep the veneer attached to the core until the glue was dry. 

Veneer sanding.
 
The veneer that has been attached will have a rough and dirty surface. The tape at the veneer surface and the glue that sticks and stains that stick at the surface must be cleaned to perform a smooth and even panel. The tapes can be cleaned by water or mineral spirit, but then they still need sanding process to make a smooth and even surface. The sanding in the proper way can eliminate the tape, glue, and stain at the veneer surface. The veneer sanding can be done with # 150 or 120 grade sandpaper to clean the glue, tape, and stain mark. Then the sanding with # 180 grade sandpaper is usually enough for the last sanding to provide the clean and smooth unfinished surface for finishing. Some types of veneer may need #240 as the last unfinished sanding before stain application.