Veneering a Tight Radius

Tips and techniques for applying wood veneer to a four-inch radius column. October 30, 2005

Question
I have to wrap two half columns in veneer. The construction is a ply box 12'' deep by 60'' long by 4'' wide to which a half turned 4'' diameter white pine column is attached. I do not want to use anything other than a rigid glue line in a vacuum bag. Normally, I would run a cross band veneer perpendicular to the column, then veneer long grain with the long dimension of the column, but the 2'' radius is a bit tight to do. Can I get away with just running the vertical veneer without the backing, or will I end up with telegraphing and checking?

Forum Responses
(Veneer Forum)
The pine half round is what concerns me! Any other wood might not be a problem. I would try wrapping a very thin veneer 1/42" or thinner to crossband and then glue up face with the grain running parallel to the joint. Use only urea glue for a rigid glue line.

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Jacaranda offers two products with very high quality (architectural grade "AA") faces that are only 1/85" thick. One of the products has a micro thin aluminum barrier. Works great in a vac bag with either PPR or FSV, urea or fast set PVA. Should be fairly simple application.

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In this situation, I like to crossband with Yorkite, a phenolic-impregnated paper crossband. Have you done a dry run with your face veneer to make sure that you can get it to make your radius? The only problem with the Yorkite is that you have to buy a whole roll (about 1000 sq. ft., I think).