Cutting veneers

Back to: The Use Of Veneers

Veneers, thank to their thinness, are cut with simple hand tools. Two types of cutting tools are most commonly used: the craft knife and the veneer saw. Both tools are used with the same technique:

The sheet of veneer is placed on a flat, non hard surface, like a thick cardboard, a sheet of plywood or particle board.
Using a straight edge, the sheet is cut dragging the tool and applying a proper vertical force.
As a side effect, the tool will cut also the surface below.

The simple description above makes the cutting sound almost trivial. Actually, if you do not pay the right attention to some details, the operation may become a frustrating experience. The potential problem lays in the fact that in most spices, when thin sheets are worked with, the bond between fibers is no longer as strong as when, for example, a board is worked with. In other words, the two following events can happen:

Ripping (cut longitudinal to fibers) The cut is (almost) parallel to the wood fibers. Here it is possible that the sheet will split along a fiber instead that along the intended straight cut.
Cross cutting (cut transverse to fibers) The cut crosses the wood fibers. This is a less serious situation, but it is still possible that the edges of the cut present lots of micro splits. With spices fairly homogeneous (like walnut) the occurrence is negligible, but with spices with stronger fibers (like mahogany) entire bits of material can spring out of the cut, making the edge resemble a saw, completely unusable.

The cutting problems due to fibers are particularly enhanced when using the craft knife, that heavily rely on the bonding between fibers to complete the cut. But also the veneer saw, although in a lesser degree, uses the same principle, hence can generate the same problems. A better cutting tool, although maybe less orthodox, is the rotary cutter. The improvement here is due to the fact that the cut is completely applying force mainly from the top, hence it doesn't rely on the bond between fibers, that don't split.

I do use a small trick, even with the rotary cutter (my preferred tool), to get an easy way out from the cutting problems. Since once the sheet is properly glued and cured, it doesn't really matter is the sheet had any number of splits as long as they are tight and no material is missing, I just make sure no material is allowed to spring away while cutting. This can be easily obtained placing a paper tape where the cut should occur and before it is done. The tape, although does not prevent splitting, keeps the splits closed and retains eventual little pieces that get loose during the cutting. The tape is cut with the veneer and, if you take care to place it on the face that will not be glued, it can be removed after the glue is cured. This beside is the reason why Flexible veneers can be cut with more ease.

Appendix: Cutting Tools

Craft knife. It's the popular cutter with retractable blade, sold is endless number of varieties and commonly available on the shelves of your local hardware store. The only required care is to keep it sharp, breaking away one of the sections of the blade as soon as the blade gets dull. For the few craft knifes with non-segmented blade, you must hone it with the stone, seldom on the rotary sharpener.

Veneer Saw. Specifically designed for cutting veneer, this saw is normally used next to a straight edge, as for the craft knife. The blade is curved so that cuts can be made in the centre of a panel and the handle is offset clear of your work. The blade comes sharpened on one side only and is easy to resharpen, since it is used without set. The teeth are filed to thin, sharp tips that try to slice rather than tear the fibers, although the results are not always as advertised.

Rotary cutter. Designed for the sewing industry, this cutter is excellent virtually for all fibers, and have superseded scissors in many areas. It resembles the ordinary rotary cutter for pizza. In woodworking, this cutter make excellent knifes for veneers and other think wood. The blade is incredibly sharp and has a build-in blade guard that is popped into position when the cutter is not in use. A tension nut on the cutting week lets you increase wheel drag for thick or hard materials (but this is not the normal case for veneer). Most rotary cutters are available with 1 3/4" and 1 1/8" diameter blades. Although a straight edge can be used with this tool, I rather prefer using it free hand, carefully following cutting lines drawn on the paper tape that I always use. Given their originally intended used in the sewing industry, they can be often found in fabric stores as well.

Version 1.0 - August 14, 1998