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So I went to glue a tiger maple veneer sheet to the face of my project today. I have never done veneer BTW. I figured it would be straight forward, smear some wood glue on it and throw something flat on top with some weight.

This thing went south right away. The first thing that happened was the glue caused too much moisture in the wood and it curdled. So I freaked out and wiped it down with some warm water and was able to make it lay flat again, and it looked good again. Once the glue and the wood dried, the veneer cracked all over the place. So I tore it all off. Another expensive lesson learned.

Well now I have a few days to clean it up and I need to order some more material, but I'm not giving up.

I would really appreciate some insight from anyone who is good at veneering. Thicker material? Glue type? Method? What I do wrong?

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Whatever you do DON'T confuse me as an EXPERT, or MASTER, just a self learned trial and error guy. I had to build a dozen guitar before I found out what a "Luthier" even was (????)

Look up "hammer veneering" and buy some hot hide glue. Much easier when doing a large veneer.

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PMoMC

Exactly what tony said, hot hide glue is the easiest way, to start veneering. The only other things I would add is, keep your veneer moist whilst you use it, and practice on lots of scrap first.

Oh yeah and don't forget to balance it.

I only did on one project so I am not an expert, but it was ebony veneer and it was sure brittle.

This worked for me.

Spray supersoft 2 on the veneer the night before and press between paper towels.
Coat each surface (wood and veneer) of what you want to glue with tightbond, fish glue Hide glue or veneer glue. Let the glue dry. Knock back any chuncks of glue with sand paper. Then iron on the veneer.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I've always used a vacuum bag but you can still mess things up if you don't get the correct amount of glue. I apply adhesive to one surface & I want it to look like I painted the wood - enough to cover but no puddles or dry spots. I use a brayer (available at art supply stores) which I think is a worthwhile investment.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I gave up on the veneer idea and ordered a book matched flame maple acoustic back. It will probably look much nicer anyway. So I have a few days to clean it back up I guess.

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Whatever you do DON'T confuse me as an EXPERT, or MASTER, just a self learned trial and error guy. I had to build a dozen guitar before I found out what a "Luthier" even was (????)

I'm more into acoustic guitars but I usually use polyurethane glue for headplate and rosace veneers as it is not water based
hope this help.

i have done vaneer on 3 solid bodies....
apply tightbond to both sides
use a paint brush to spread
apply vaneer
use a wallpaper seemer to get it flat on top
lay a piece of 1/4 mdf over top & bottom of body same size as body, make sure there are no routes cut out yet, this will protect the wood from clamps marring it.
clamp the you know what out of it

then i check it after about 20 minutes to see if anything curled & put it back together & clamp that area more which will lay it flat since the glue is not yet 100% dry...after 2-3 hours you can unclamp it but wait a day before you work with it

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