Don Stephan
Posts: 825
Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
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Customer today brought in an old roll top desk top (35" x 60" with badly cracked and chipped veneer. The core was 1x6 lumber edged all around with 1x2 hardwood mitred at the corners. The upper and lower veneers were applied edge to edge, and then a molding fashioned on the edging.
I'm thinking there are two ways to make a new top. The first would be to veneer (Unibond) a 3/4" thick plywood or MDF core 32" x 57", then glue (epoxy) 7/8" thick x 1" wide edging, sand flush with the veneer surfaces, and then rout a molded edge. Customer wasn't entirely thrilled with grain of the edging at the ends perpendicular to the veneer.
The second option I thought of was to make a two ply veneer for the upper surface, glue (epoxy for rigid glue line) 3/4" thick x 1" wide edging to the plywood or MDF, then glue (Unibond) the top and backer veneers edge to edge and finally rout a molded edge. This would replicate the original look of the top, although the fillet at the top of the molding would have to be wider due to the doubled thickness of the two ply.
Will the two ply veneer be strong enough not to develop cracks as the edging expands and contracts with humidity changes? Would another solution be better?
Thanks for your time and input.
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