Enrico Konig
Posts: 74
Joined: 2006-01-06
Location: Vancouver, BC
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You can do it either way, either by cutting the veneer just very slightly oversize and gluing it to a panel already cut to size beforehand, and then carefully trimming the veneer edge back afterward. Or you can, as you ask, make the whole thing oversize and trim it down after glued. When possible, I prefer the latter, as then I can sand the panel with a rotary sander without worrying about cutting through edges and corners, where it's the most prone to happen. The feathered edges are just trimmed off.
There are many factors as to whether the veneer will chip or not. The ones I can think of right now: the sharpness and appropriateness of the saw blade, the specie of wood and the type of figure, whether you're cutting cross-grain or with the grain. Some woods are very prone to chipping, whether in veneer form or not. The back side of the panel can be particularly challenging to get a clean cut on, especially on cuts across the grain. Blue masking tape on the back side can help, and sometimes even will help on the face side if it's proving problematic there as well. With particularly ornery stuff, re-applying veneer tape where the cut is going to be(especially on the backside)can be useful too.
I always try a test cut on the outside of the cut line to see if that particular veneer/panel is going to be problematic.
Good luck.
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