Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
So what’s the original veneer? Is it french/white oak or walnut?
Wood veneer replacement
- Thread starter Rex Kapriellian
- Start date
the prices at rosebud are really low/good! Maybe I'll try them when I need some! Thanks for the reference.
Rex,
I've only used unbacked veneers. But I imagine that for an automotive application there might be advantages to using the backed material. IDK, Perhaps others can weigh in on this.
Harry's idea of doing the door trim from solid stock seem pretty interesting from a durability standpoint. I'd worry just a tad about warping, but of the piece is sealed well front and back against moisture it may not be an issue. If you go this route try to pick really straight grained stock, maybe quarter sawn. However, my chief concern would be getting a good match of tone/color and flow of the grain from the dash to the doors ... if you use veneer on the dash and solid on the doors. Perhaps the solution is to use veneer all the way around but with a solid walnut substrate for the doors. I have not done an automotive veneer job before so everything I'm saying is speculation based on experience with interior furniture making.
Finally, regarding color tone, in my experience walnut lightens considerably with exposure to direct sunlight. For a classic car or interior furniture this is usually not a big concern. But, depending on how paranoid you are, you might consider using a UV stable stain which will give you consistent, stable tone across all the pieces.
Rex,
I've only used unbacked veneers. But I imagine that for an automotive application there might be advantages to using the backed material. IDK, Perhaps others can weigh in on this.
Harry's idea of doing the door trim from solid stock seem pretty interesting from a durability standpoint. I'd worry just a tad about warping, but of the piece is sealed well front and back against moisture it may not be an issue. If you go this route try to pick really straight grained stock, maybe quarter sawn. However, my chief concern would be getting a good match of tone/color and flow of the grain from the dash to the doors ... if you use veneer on the dash and solid on the doors. Perhaps the solution is to use veneer all the way around but with a solid walnut substrate for the doors. I have not done an automotive veneer job before so everything I'm saying is speculation based on experience with interior furniture making.
Finally, regarding color tone, in my experience walnut lightens considerably with exposure to direct sunlight. For a classic car or interior furniture this is usually not a big concern. But, depending on how paranoid you are, you might consider using a UV stable stain which will give you consistent, stable tone across all the pieces.
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
I agree on consistency of the wood, I’m just trying to figure out the specie of wood:eek: I peeled the veneer of the dash, gave it a light sanding, and looks more like walnut or a darker oak.
Thoughts
It’s walnut.
bfeng gives good advice. Another alternative if you want to do solid for the door pieces would be butternut...known as "white walnut" by some old-timers, it has a very similar character and grain to walnut, but is very light in color, thus making it easier to finish "up to" any walnut veneer, rather than trying to make walnut lighter with bleach/other. Always easier to go light to darker, rather than the converse.
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
Thanks Chris! I guess i can repurpose the oak sheets into furniture, good timing as natural oak is in
Do we have a local source for veneers?
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
I assume that the bottom pic is from a 2000c/cs? (different speaker cut-out, minor differences/cutouts like the part that fits behind cluster surround?) ..Or something else?. Top pic looks like the ones I have worked on...
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Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
This is the same piece with the finish veneer peeled.
Rex,Thanks Chris! I guess i can repurpose the oak sheets into furniture, good timing as natural oak is in
Do we have a local source for veneers?
Don’t worry about local or not.
A Good veneer retailer will send you pics first to confirm if the wood grain meets your needs.
I guess that, as usual, I'm confused..So that's not two different dash pieces laid out together in the photo labelled "Peeled"?
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
Dave, The top piece is the substructure, the Lower identical piece is the actual veneer that I was able to peel off in one piece, followed by the substructure of the speaker grill and then the veneer for the speaker Grill.
Attachments
I now understand...I had never seen one, or rather two, pieces separate that cleanly.
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
Are you going to put that book match joint on your panels? I wouldn’t.
Agree. The trick is to get a veneer with the leaves of the book match that are wider than your tallest piece (the dash piece). The dash isn't 'that' tall, so you should be able to find a flitch that has the right pattern.
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
I’m going to find a piece that doesn’t, I was just confirming that walnut matches well.
Rex Kapriellian
Well-Known Member
I have a 2 foot by 8 foot veneer, I should be ableAgree. The trick is to get a veneer with the leaves of the book match that are wider than your tallest piece (the dash piece). The dash isn't 'that' tall, so you should be able to find a flitch that has the right pattern.
......maybe.
It’s a nice piece and it looks right as far as the species.
IIRC they used close to quarter sawn figure on our cars. Or at least I don’t remember seeing any with flat sawn figure. Harry, since you are doing solid then quarter sawn is the way to go for stability.
If you care about authenticity then the piece in the photo looks ok to me. I might prefer a little straighter grain. With any curvature to the grain make sure you are sure if you want it curve up (smiling) or curve down like a frown, then be consistent with your other pieces. If might be nice to has two pieces that are in sequence in case something needs to be redone.
IIRC they used close to quarter sawn figure on our cars. Or at least I don’t remember seeing any with flat sawn figure. Harry, since you are doing solid then quarter sawn is the way to go for stability.
If you care about authenticity then the piece in the photo looks ok to me. I might prefer a little straighter grain. With any curvature to the grain make sure you are sure if you want it curve up (smiling) or curve down like a frown, then be consistent with your other pieces. If might be nice to has two pieces that are in sequence in case something needs to be redone.
