How to cut veneer round?

A

awleonard

Well-known member
I've got my pie wedges all taped up and after much consideration, I'm planing on making the whole top (banding and all) before glueup.  So, my next step is to cut the pie wedges round.  Any tips or ideas?  I have a compass I made with an Xacto knife on the end that I'm playing with.  The blade tends to flex very easilty and make a less than perfect cut.  I tried making the first cut very very light (barely a scratch) and also covering the cut line with tape.  That helped a little.  Just thought I'd ask to see if somebody had a better idea.  I thought about glueing the wedges and routing them after for the cross banding, but that made me nervous! 

Thanks,

Tony
 
If you've taped the wedges and made a round, why not cut a 1/4" template and lay on the taped face and use it as the cutting guide.
 
I would press the veneer on to the core oversize.  Then cut it to round(router) off a template, either 1/4 or 1/2 of the table.  Make the template to extend past the 1/4 or 1/2 points.  Then route out for the banding.  It is pretty easy and fast to do it this way...

Pete
www.cherrybrookwoodworks.com
 
Tony
There are many different ways of approaching this. All in one glue up or in segments. Your boarder might be a concern. What is your substrate? Applying all in one step means you need to glue your veneer with your substrate protruding past the veneer which you will have to trim afterwards. This could be a fun thing to do to not cut into your banding or boarder if it is bordered by a fine line. Does your boarder or banding have a fine line? What type of glue are you using? A water based glue will swell up your veneer and change your fit In which case you might want to lay it all out and not put in your last wedge. After a few hours remove all your clamping mechanism and then cut to fit the final wedge. This will be easy to do while the glue is still damp. I am sure that there is a lot more information you might add to make this process easier. I am still a bit unsure about what you want for your final product.
 
Your scaring me Jeff!  I really appreciate the help.  My substrate is MDF.  I have cut out 8 wedges of makore and added a black linlay strip between each pair.  I wasn't planning the strip, but I was playing around with it and liked the look of it.  I am going to "ebonize" the bead under the skirt and the feet of the table, so I like the hint of black there.  Anyway, I have the wedges and inlay all taped up.  I fussed and fitted and got a pretty good fit that I'm happy with.  I'm including a picture of the beginning.  I'm at work adn don't have a pic of the whole thing taped up.  What I hope to end up with is a the field of makore wedges surrounded by a black inlay line and then satinwood cross banding with the edges covered in satinwood as well.  I have a nice wide piece of plain mahogany for the bottom.  Here's an early pic...  The makore wedges are separated by a black inlay (not the original plan, but I was playing around with it and liked the black line - ties in with the "ebonized" beacd under the skirt and the "ebonized" socks on the legs).

What I am hoping to end up with is the field of makore surrounded by a cross banding of satinwood (separated by a black inlay).  The edges will be covered with the satinwood too.  I'm using Better Bond water based glue.  Mark Arnold used this in his article on a similar table.  Seems like a lot of folks suggest glueing the field down and then routing it round.  But then a lot of others sugest taping up the whole top and glueing it all down at once.  I would glue it to an oversized substrate and trim it afterwards.  I'm just not sure what the best approach is.  Going after it with a router makes me a little nervous. 

Thanks,

Tony

 
Oh, then center of the top will probably be a small black dot (maybe with alternate colored wedges).  I was planning a shaded fan, but I decided to inlay a dragon fly and was afraid it would be too much.  This is an early progress shot too - he has eyes now!

 
If you decide to glue it down as a whole- inlay and all, I would not use a water based glue.  Even on a piece that small. 
Pete
www.cherrybrookwoodworks.com
 
I've been a little concerned about the Betterbond.  I noticed that Vacupress offers a similar PVA product in their Unibond series.  I've used Unibond800 in teh past and had great luck with it.  So, maybe I'll stick with that.  I used the BetterBond ona couple of panels, but they were just basic panels.  As much time as I have in this already, I hate to experiment with adhesive.!  I ordered a fresh jug of Unibond800. 

Thanks,

Tony
 
I decided to try a technique that Daryl Kleil at Vacupress posted to my inquiry on his forum.  He suggested making a 1/4 circle template the same radius that I desired the field to be.  The radius is marked on the taped up field using a compass (set it once and don't change it before marking the template material and the field).  After the template is cut (I used 1/4 masonite and cut it on a circle jig on the BS), line it up with the radius drawn on the field and use a knife to cut the veneer.  That worked out very well.

To add the inlay and cross banding, I saw a technique in a marquetry book (great book but I can't recall the title right now) where masking tape is placed on the glue side such that it extends out past the efge of the veneer and the inlay can be applied and held by the tape.  The cross banding is then cut and fitted to that an taped.  The book used the inlay as teh cutting guide.  Daryl suggested the same template could be used since the inlay was so narrow.  That worked quite well.  Had to pay attention to the knife angle and a third hand would have been nice!

Thanks fo rthe help.

Tony

 
PS The border is way oversized.  I will cut it back to about 1 3/4" wide.  The top diameter is 18". 

This is the template.  I cut the border pieces with angled sides using another template (7.5?) with a veneer saw and tweaked the edges with a block plane. 

Tony
 
Well, the top is pretty much done.  I had one small bubble to repair.  Not sure how that happened. I used plenty of glue.  May have been a thin spot in the rubber sheet I used between the veneer and the caul.  A scalpel an some super glue make a decent repair.  A few more coats of finish and she'll be done.  I'll start applying the dye to the base this weekend. 

Thanks for the help.

Tony
 
Mike,

That circle cutter on the trammel beam is pretty nice!!!  Do you have any drawings on the beam?  For I sure would love to make one.

Thanks,

Fred
 
Freddy,
I think I pulled it from Roubo. Nothing to difficult to make. I can take a photo of it next to a ruler and answer any questions you may have. The beam is just under 3/4 of an inch.
Mike
 
This is a trammel I made.  Believe it or not, I got the idea from a Wood magazine plan.  I made my own version of using some of their ideas.  This will accommodate an Xacto knife and I also made an attachment that holds a mat cutting blade (much stiffer than a #11 Xacto blade).  I added the small block with the nylon screw for a fine adjustment capability.  Works great! 

Tony
 
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