A package of Maple paper-backed veneer. Cost was about $55 (in early 2007) for a 24" x 96" roll from Woodcraft.
Flexible veneer feels like stiff cardboard
Veneering a Loudspeaker Cabinet
Quick Index
Prelude
Buying Veneer
Planning the Job
Putting Glue on the Veneer and Enclosure
Adhering Veneer to the Enclosure
Trimming
Finishing the Job
I learned to veneer out of necessity - a botched attempt at faux painting left me with no confidence in my artistic painting abilities. My wife confirmed (with great vigor) that the paint was ugly, and that I should consider an alternative instead. I suggested veneer, she agreed and she even offered to pay for the veneer material. She's very pleased with the results, but I'm still waiting for the money.
The following information about veneering was accumulated through research on the internet and through the usual "newbie" questions to the patient folks on the Parts Express Tech Talk discussion board. The following methods worked for me, and involved some trial and error. This information is meant to help someone else gather detailed information about what worked in one case - mine. As usual, your methods and materials may be different, so I cannot guarantee your own results. However, use the information presented here and experiment to see how it fits your needs.
A plain-color paint job didn't appeal to me, so I bought a roll of 24" x96" Maple paper-backed veneer from Woodcraft in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Each roll of veneer is different, and I selected one in the store with a pleasing figure and color. Other sources of veneer include Parts Express, Homecraft Veneer, Constantines, Joe Woodworker.com, Oakwood Veneer, and others.
A package of Maple paper-backed veneer. Cost was about $55 (in early 2007) for a 24" x 96" roll from Woodcraft.
Flexible veneer feels like stiff cardboard
The veneer has a 0.010" paper backing. I measured the total thickness to be 0.025", so that leaves a thin 0.015" for the wood itself. Not much room for sanding mistakes!
If you haven't used veneer before, cut a small 6" square piece from the roll and practice the steps below on a piece of scrap MDF or plywood. I actually made two test samples seeking a good way to trim excess veneer. Later the samples came in handy for stain and finishing experiments. One sample showed a smoothness problem with my new router's base. By doing a small test sample before tackling the actual loudspeaker, you'll learn little things to make the final job go better.
Before you do anything, construct a cutting plan to see how the parts will fit on the roll of veneer. Pay attention to grain direction and to the joint between adjacent lays of veneer. I used a scale drawing of the veneer roll (length divided in two to fit a computer screen) to get a feel for usage.
I like to have grain direction going vertical on the sides of the enclosure, sideways across the top and bottom, and grain vertical on the back, so that was part of my planning.
The cutting plan
After sketching the cutting plan, cut full-size cardboard panels that represent each side of the loudspeakers to be veneered. Mark the desired grain direction on each piece of cardboard so you won't make a mistake. Then trace around the cardboard shapes onto the back of the veneer. Leave a minimum of 1/2" clearance between each panel to be cut. Excess will be trimmed after the veneer is adhered to the enclosure.
Marking the cutting plan onto the back of the veneer.
After drawing the panel shapes on the veneer, use a sharp knife (Xacto, etc.) to cut the roll of veneer into several manageable sheets. I did NOT cut each individual panel from the stock at this time. Gluing will be easier if they are grouped.
Roll is cut down into several manageable sections.
Putting Glue on the Veneer and the Enclosure
In a practice run on scrap material, I discovered that a regular nap paint roller or paint brush applies glue somewhat unevenly, and that translates to slight undulations on the finished veneer surface. Because there isn't much veneer material to sand flat (and also because I hate unnecessary sanding), I found that a smooth foam paint roller works best. It lays down glue very evenly. (Tip o' the hat to the Parts Express Tech talk forum!) The glue I used was commonly available Titebond wood glue. I did NOT thin the glue with water as suggested by some other web sites. Undiluted worked fine.
A smooth foam paint roller from Lowes applies an even coat of undiluted Titebond. I'm not really left handed though.
Tape down a section of veneer that has several panels on it, and roll on the Titebond glue evenly. Apply glue about 3/8" beyond the traced panel shapes. This will allow for slight positioning errors when the veneer is placed on the enclosure. Be sure that you don't get glue on the front of the veneer! It will not take a finishing stain if you do.
Glue is drying on the back of the veneer. Don't get glue on the front!
Roll glue onto the mating enclosure panel you wish to veneer. Needless to say, it should be free of major imperfections like screw holes, etc. They should be filled with wood filler or Bondo and sanded flush.
I coated only one or two sides at a time for each box. Let the glue dry completely on both veneer and enclosure. Unlike contact cement, Titebond wood glue dries without tack.
After the glue has dried, use a sharp knife to cut apart the veneer panels. Be sure to leave extra material all the way around each panel to accommodate positioning errors. Excess veneer will be trimmed flush with the enclosure later.
If you've already done some panels on your enclosures, you will want to protect the already-applied veneer with masking tape before applying glue to an adjacent panel. A slip of the glue roller onto the adjacent veneer would be a disaster when it's time to apply stain.
Top surface is ready for glue. Masking tape around the edge protects the veneered sides from a glue accident.
You can coat veneer several days in advance before you use it. I don't know if there is an "expiration date" on dried glue, but waiting several days didn't make any difference for me. It worked fine.
Even though the glue is completely dry, the heat of a clothes iron melts it for good adhesion to the enclosure. The order in which I chose to veneer the enclosures was:
By doing the veneer panels in the order listed above, you hide more of the glue joints. They are very small anyway, so it isn't critical. But still...
Adhering the Veneer to the Enclosure
Position the veneer with the dried glue on the enclosure. The mating enclosure surface has dried glue too.
Note: Some users report success applying glue just one surface, i.e. the enclosure only. This may be necessary when working with unbacked veneer to prevent liquid glue seeping through wood grain to the front surface. However with paper-backed veneer, I used the traditional method and applied glue on both mating surfaces.
Double-check grain direction!
Place a piece of clean cotton cloth (old t-shirt, sheet, etc.) over the veneer, and use a clothes iron on the "cotton" heat setting.
Simulated picture - couldn't photograph my hand ironing and take the picture too!
Press the iron firmly and keep it moving very slowly. Remember you have to transfer the heat through the cotton, the paper backing, and a thickness of veneer before you melt the glue. That takes time to do.
If you hear a little crackling when you move the iron, that's the veneer lifting and it means that it hasn't stuck completely yet. Keep pressing down and applying heat. It takes a couple minutes to do a small panel.
When you're done, set the iron aside and avoid testing the glue joint for a few minutes while it cools. The glue must cool to be strong. After waiting a minute or two, test adhesion of the edges with light upward pressure. I've had to go back over a panel or two myself and I just reheat again to fix it.
Unverified tips: If you have two irons, follow the hot iron with the cold one to apply pressure to the veneer while the glue sets. Sounds reasonable to me, but I haven't tried it. Another poster on the HTGuide DIY forum employs a block of MDF following the iron to achieve the same thing.
Once the panel has cooled and you are satisfied that it has adhered sufficiently, it's time to trim it flush with the loudspeaker enclosure. I did it in three steps - a rough cut with a knife to leave about 1/8" material from the edge of the box, then a flush trim bit in a router, and finally some gentle sanding.
To make the rough cut, use a 1/8" piece of metal as an straight edge and spacer for the knife. It spaces the knife a small distance away from the enclosure. You'll find that the cut is ragged and the veneer surface splinters when cutting against the grain. The metal spacer keeps splintering at a distance from the box. You don't want to cut too close or the splintering and chips will become a "feature" of your loudspeaker! You'll also notice that it's much easier to cut with the grain. When cutting against the grain you get splintering and chipping.
When making these cuts, I went over the same cut line multiple times using light pressure. Eventually it cut through.
While I haven't tried it, I suspect that a veneer saw could be also employed here to make the rough cut.
Rough cut: a piece of metal spaces the knife away from the box edge. Splintering wood WILL happen, so don't cut too close to the edge of the box.
This leaves a small amount to be trimmed with a router. It may be possible to use the router alone to trim the entire excess veneer material (without the initial rough cut), but I felt nervous about a large flap of loose veneer next to a spinning router bit.
There was some discussion on the PE Tech Talk board about the best method to use for trimming the veneer close to the box. I tried several methods - a spiral down-cut trim bit, a straight flute trim bit, and an edge trimmer. (More information on this page) I didn't like the edge trimmer for use with veneer.
Neither router bit is perfect, but I ended up using the straight flute bit. The spiral bit produced less chip out of the veneer, but it must have produced more friction. The friction apparently heated the glue on the excess material being trimmed. In places, the trimmed paper backing was pushed against the side of the enclosure without being cleanly cut, and stuck there with determination. Lots of delicate sanding was needed to remove the stuck paper backing from the side of the enclosure, and I decided to use the straight flute flush trim bit instead. Besides, the straight bit is cheaper.
A Bosch straight fluted flush trim bit from Lowes. The dime is for scale.
The straight fluted trim bit left a little more fuzz on the veneer edges, but it sanded smooth very easily. The picture below shows a close-up of an edge of a piece of test material trimmed with a 3/8" straight flute trim bit (a Bosch bit from Lowes). Despite the alarming appearance in this close-up, a couple strokes with sandpaper made it invisible. Be sure the sanding direction goes to the outside. Very easy! By contrast, the spiral down-cut bit made a lot of extra work by adhering bits of paper backing onto to the side of the box.
Fuzzy edges left after a flush trim with a router. A couple strokes with sandpaper fixes it easily.
Newly applied veneer ready for a flush trim.
TIP: I had to sand smooth the base of my new router before trimming. Thanks to experiments with test pieces, I found that the router base had raised plastic ridges around the mounting screws. The elevated areas marred the veneer surface (they produced a glossy area where they rubbed). Check your own router base around the screw mounting holes to see if it is truly smooth!
If you have already veneered adjacent sides, put masking tape (or better yet, some low-tack drafting tape) around the edges for the router bit bearing. This will both reduce scarring of the new veneer where the bearing rides, and it will give you a little bit of veneer overhang to sand away. When done routing, sand any remaining veneer overhang in the direction of the grain of the adjacent panel.
The router bit may scar the veneer where the bearing rides against it. Use low-tack tape to reduce scarring by the router bearing.
The heat from the iron seems to raise the grain of the veneer surface. I suspect it's because of lost moisture in the wood. Don't finish sand for several hours until the veneer has cooled and re-absorbed lost moisture from the atmosphere.
Once you've lightly sanded the veneer (and I used "tired" 150 grit mounted on a sanding block), it's time to think about what finish you want. Gloss, semi-gloss, or natural. To stain or not. Those are individual choices for you to make. But whichever you choose, the Titebond glue will not soften like contact cements when exposed to finishing solvents. That's part of the beauty of this process.
Veneered and lightly sanded loudspeaker enclosure getting a coat of General Finishes pre-stain. It already looks very nice!
I used General Finishes Pre-Stain, then applied General Finishes Honey stain on the veneer. I purchased them from Woodcraft in Parkersburg. That treatment was followed up with 5 or 6 coats of Minwax clear Polyurethane semi-gloss. I did some light sanding with 220 grit between coats. Wife likes the looks of them - mission accomplished!
Completed loudspeakers.
Bill Schneider
June 16, 2007
Other useful veneering links:
HT Guide forum link to pressure application of raw veneer -
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showpost.php4?p=294704&postcount=19
