Don Stephan
Posts: 825
Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
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The Jan 2008 issue of Fine Woodworking includes a construction description of a handsome spice chest. Ten of the drawer fronts have crotch veneer, and one burl veneer, glued to 1/2" solid wood drawer fronts.
The Reader's Gallery section of the same issue shows a highboy and a chest of drawers, each of which likely has veneer glued to solid wood drawer fronts.
It would seem necessary to do this, as the drawer fronts on all of these pieces should be half blind dovetails. For strength and appearance, this joint requires solid wood drawer fronts. Highly figured wood makes the drawer front dramatic; but solid wood crotch, burl and swirl are not thought to be stable enough or strong enough for drawer fronts and dovetail joints.
As a general rule, it is expected that solid wood should not be veneered unless the wood types and grain direction are identical and both have relatively straight grain. Normal expansion/contraction wood movement in a solid wood substrate would often be more than strong enough to crack or buckle the veneer, even if applied with a strong, rigid glue.
And of course, balancing of stresses requires in general that both sides of substrates have similar veneer.
Highly figured veneer (crotch, burl, and even swirl) aren't relatively straight grain. Drawer fronts, even with half blind dovetails, need not be more than 3/4" thick (large drawers) or 1/2" thick (spice chest drawers), but 3/4" should be more than thick enough to crack veneer surfaces. A straight grained balancing veneer on the back side of a drawer front wouldn't seem to help a burl or crotch front veneer resist substrate movement.
I'd like to be able to rather confidently include highly figured veneered drawer fronts on furniture, and don't want to make a couple test pieces and wait five years to see if they crack.
Anyone have any observations and/or experience on the topic? Thanks.
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