[klondike98]

Got the old cabinet ready for the first layer of veneer(with horizontal grain) and took off the old black finish on the sides as well. After reading and watching a number of videos on youTube I decided to use the veneering technique of coating both the base and the veneer with some Titebond original, letting it dry and then using an iron to heat them up and bond them together. I used a piece of kraft paper (a brown grocery paper bag) between the veneer and the iron and a rounded piece of hardwood board to burnish and press down the veneer after heating. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted but here's one of the videos I watched to show the technique (clearly not me in the video):

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agvQ0vuvJmE&t=106s]

After going through the procedure here's that first layer on the cabinet before I removed any of the yellow Frog tape or did any trimming. I did brace the face of the cabinet where the grill cut out is so that I could press hard on the veneer without fear of breaking through the grill. It was just a piece of 2x4 and a flat board cut to the right lengths. I had done a dry run on a flat piece of board just to try things out and make sure the yellow Frog tape would come off after the heating process. For the most part it did come of and any residue that remained on the veneer was easily rubbed off with my finger (like the adhesive used to hold credit cards to the letter and piece of paper they send you with a new card). As it turned out the width of the walnut veneer I had would have caused the butt join of two pieces to fall right on the curve so rather than cut out a third piece of walnut I used a 3" wide piece of mahogany I've had in the drawer for years. Since its all underlayment I don't think it will matter.

   

   

Next task will be trimming the edges. I'll leave the grill cut out until I have the next veneer layer bonded on. The final veneer grain will be vertical. I was at the woodworking store getting the veneer and chatted up the clerk who was also a woodworker and interested in my project. I asked him for any hints on doing the grill cut out and showed a picture. His answer, "Its best to use a CNC router to cut it out." I'll run right out and get one! I think it will be drilling, coping saw blade, razors , files and maybe my Dremel tool in router configuration. My worry on the Dremel is it would be so easy to slip and screw up the cutout. Overall I'm happy so far with how its going.