The Complete Manual of Wood Veneering

by William Alexander Lincoln

Book Overview

This book offers extensive coverage of the craft including: selection, cutting, matching and care of veneers, adhesives, preparation work, the use of tools, presses and cauls, laying the veneers,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684181894
• ISBN13: 9780684181899
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.98 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Encyclopedic

Lincoln's outstanding book really does live up to title promise of being "complete," or at least comes close. It covers just about every aspect of wood veneer, from its history in classical Egypt up to the 1980s. After a whirlwind tour of history (the whole of the Renaissance gets less then half a page), Lincoln goes on to discuss the tree, how it's cut, how the tree's habit of growth affects the veneer and the final product, and cutting and storage of the veneers. The next eighty pages discuss adhesives and tools, especially the custom jigs needed for particular tasks. This section often addresses the commercial woodshop more than the amateur - although interesting and a possible source of ideas, the massive, heated vacuum presses would be out of range of all but the largest and best-equipped shops. Likewise, the discussion of adhesives includes formaldehyde-based materials that a home woodworker is not likely to use. This is the one section of the book that's showing its age. Although PVA and hide glue are still common, this does not address any of the adhesives new in the last twenty years. The second and longer part of the book covers technique, ending with a few projects well within reach of the skilled amateur. It starts with matching, the process of laying out mutliple sheets of veener next to each other. This is necessary in the many projects where one sheet of veneer just isn't big enough to cover the work. It's also an exciting part of the creatives process. Lincoln covers it in detail, down to a discussion of the inevitable difference between front and back of a sheet, caused by the inherent asymmetry of cutting the veneer from the log. He also goes over the basics of marquetry, parquet, edge and inlay bands, finishing, and repairs. The book ends with some reference material, including a very helpful table of a few hundred types of wood, giving brief descriptions of each one's grain, figure, relative cost, and working characteristics. Although useful, this section will work even better with an illustrated reference (such as Lincoln's "World Woods in Color"). This is a great introduction to a broad and useful set of woodworking techniques. Veneers are not just an effective way to get more use from each tree, especially rare ones. They offer a variety of decorative and structural capabilities that can't be equalled in other ways. The beginner might need another reference for filling in some of the how-to details, but this is the place to start for understanding the advantages and techniques of veneering. //wiredweird