Veneer Joint Cutting in Volume

Suggestions for boosting production in veneer seaming. June 11, 2014

Question (WOODWEB Member) :
We are an Indonesian company using wood veneer (thickness 0.6mm). We specialize in marquetry and inlay work. All the process is manual: cutting veneer with a cutter hand tool, stitching with gum tape, pressing with hot press (glue, urea or PVAC) and sanding to eliminate the gum tape with a belt sander. Currently our activity is growing and we have to find a solution to increase our capacity without expenses being too high.

We are losing too much time to cut the veneer when it is straight. We have to cut sheet after sheet with the cutter which is very slow and quality could be better. We read about the Miracle Veneer Trimmer and found some information about a jig which may help us. Does anyone have any experience or drawings of jigs? We plan to use a router machine to trim. Is it a good choice, or should we buy a circular saw with a guide in aluminum?

Forum Responses
(Veneer Forum)
From contributor V:
The MVT is a very accurate and inexpensive way to joint veneer. It utilizes existing shop equipment like a tablesaw or a sliding tablesaw. There is also a version which uses a circular saw. You can cut stacks of veneer up to 5/8" (15mm) thick. Because it utilizes a saw blade you do not get the chipout on some decorative species that you would if you used a router.


From contributor B:
The Festool track saw with guide rail works fantastic for cutting the straight lines you need. You can get rails in many lengths and there are two sizes of the saw available. We use the smaller one and it's plenty powerful enough to cut stacks of veneer. We've used it on burl and figured wood without problems. The price is not bad, about $500 US for a saw and 4' guide rail. It's also small enough to store without taking much room when you don't need it.

From the original questioner:
I just tried to use a hand router on a guide and the result is not so bad. The cut is straight and smooth as long as there is a good pressure from the beam on the top of the veneer layers. The Festool kit seems to be good. I am currently looking for another brand of saw which is sold with the rail guide.


From contributor L:
I sandwich the veneer between two sheets of 1/4" MDF and hot-melt the ends. I don't have a power feeder so I walk the sandwich through the table saw keeping downward pressure near the front of the blade.


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