Large panel veneering

In article <[email protected]>,
Dennis Sweeney <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>I am planning to veneer a large panel (4' x 5') with avodire and am somewhat
>intimidated by the task. I plan to veneer one side of 1/2 inch baltic birch
>plywood with a frame on the back. I would like to use contact cement but
>feel that the requirements for burnishing to ensure a tight fit may make
>this an unrealistic method. I would prefer not to invest in a vacuum pump
>and associated material and have heard about a technique where you can use
>yellow glue and a hot iron. Does anyone have any observations, suggestions,
>or critiques?
>
>Dennis Sweeney
>
>
>

'burnishing' is *not* unrealistic. get one of the heavy-duty "J" rollers
used to put down laminate counter-tops. (shortly, I'll be doing this
with some 32" x 11' countertops -- just to put the size of your job in
perspective :)

Otherwise, a series of "slightly bowed" bar-type pieces (where the middle
of the bar is bent *closer* to the panel than are the outside edges), with
a 'load distribution' piece between the bars and the actual stock
you're glueing up. then clamp each 'bar' down at each end. With a reasonable
'density' of the bars going across the piece (every few inches), you can do
a every adequate job of 'pressure gluing' the materials together. There are
a couple of 'tricks' to this approach -- First, getting the 'curvature' of the
bar stock right; so that as you clamp the edges down, you get a reasonably
even pressure across the entire bar. Second, making sure your 'load
distribution' stock is thick/ridgid enough to do a good job of 'spreading'
the load across the spaces between the bars, *and* that you don't have
enough 'localized pressure' to crush wood-fiber in the 'good stock you're
clamping.