Gluing Woven Veneer Layups
Advice on gluing up panels made by weaving strips of veneer and gluing it to a solid substrate. April 10, 2009
Question
We have a job that requires 4' x10' woven panels in a lobby setting. We have a good bond to the substrate but have no bond between the two layers of veneer. We need a bond between the weaving and do not know what glue we should use. The glue should be dry during the weaving time (so glue does not get all over) and should be activated when hotpressing the whole sheet to the substrate. We are planning to use urea resin for that.
Forum Responses
(Adhesive Forum)
From contributor L:
Hide glue comes to mind. I'm pretty sure it can be heat activated.
From contributor F:
Virutex makes a pre-gluer for making your own pre-glued heat activated edgebanding. They have a manual and an automatic spooler. Check the max width. The sheets have smaller strips and are very flat. Yours seems to have a neater texture. Maybe it’s easy on the press?
From contributor K:
The urea resin will bond under heat but only once. It is not reversible with subsequent application of heat since it is a thermosetting adhesive. I suggest a cross linking PVA that will bond to the substrate when hot pressed, then will reactivate under heat when re-pressed to bond the weaving. Although the bond formed with heat reactivation may not be as strong as if it were made while wet, it should be good enough to provide the results you want here.
From contributor E:
Do you need 4' X 10' panels or is there more to the project? If this concept could work for you, I can explain.
From the original questioner:
I like to know how thick your veneer was and how you assembled this, as well as which glue you used. We tried weaving with the original sample and found out that a thick layer of cross link glue, heat activated worked fine with 220º and solved the bubble issue.
From contributor E:
The veneer is quite thin but it is applied to 1/8" hardboard. The sheet length is not critical as end joints are concealed by a piece that is running 90° to and in front of the joint. For a 3D effect there are 3/4" wood blocks fixed to the wall. The veneer is prefinished, fire rated and has an aluminum barrier laminated in the sheet. The product is applied with a strippable clay coat adhesive (polymer emulsion similar to PVA). A smaller project is shown here that is free standing and the veneer/hardboard weave is attained with the use of closet poles, cut and finished to suit.
