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veneer faqs

Our job is to educate our clientele so that they understand what to look for in a quality product - and the fact that we carry it.

e have nearly 120 years of combined experience in the veneer industry. The following Q&As may help you understand veneer and how you can utilize the diversity of our inventory.

Veneer Production
Individual Panel Matching
Book Match Slip Match Balance Match Center Match Butt Match
Veneer Cuts
Rotary Slicing Flat Slicing Quarter Slicing Rift-Cut Slicing Half Round Slicing

individual panel matching

	Book Match Successive veneer leaves in a flitch are turned over like the pages in a book, and edge-glued in this manner. Since the reverse side of one leaf is the mirror image of the succeeding leaf, the result is a series of pairs.
	Slip Match Successive veneer leaves in a flitch are "slipped" one alongside the other and edge-glued in this manner. The result is a series of grain repeats, but no pairs. The danger with this method derives from the fact that grain patterns are, rarely, perfectly straight. Where a particular grain pattern "runs off" the edge of the leaf, a series of leaves with this condition could visually make a panel "lean." In book matching, the pairs balance each other.
	Balance Match All the veneer leaves on the face of a panel are sized to the same width. The number of leaves can be odd or even.
	Center Match The matching process for a panel is started from the imaginary center line. The number of leaves on the face is always even, but the widths are not necessarily the same.
	Butt Match At times, the veneer being used is not long enough to cover the desired panel height. In this case, the veneer leaves may also be flipped end for end, and the ends matched, in addition to the sides being matched. This can be used in combination with any of the preceding.

Standard Veneer Cuts

	Rotary Slicing The log is mounted centrally in the lathe and turned against a razor sharp blade, like unwinding a roll of paper. Since this cut follows the log's annular growth rings, a bold variegated grain marking is produced. Rotary cut veneer is exceptionally wide.
	Flat Slicing The half-log, or flitch, is mounted with the heart side flat against the flitch table of the slicer and the slicing is done parallel to a line through the center of the log. This produces a variegated figure.
	Quarter Slicing The quarter log or flitch is mounted on the flitch table so that the growth rings of the log strike the knife at approximately right angles, producing a series of stripes, straight in some woods, varied in others.
	Rift-Cut Slicing Rift cut veneer is produced in the various species of Oak. Oak has medullary ray cells which radiate from the center of the log like the curved spokes of a wheel. The rift or comb grain effect is obtained by cutting at an angle of about 15% off of the quartered position to avoid the flake figure of the medullary rays.
	Half-Round Slicing A variation of rotary cutting in which segments or flitches of the log are mounted off center in the lathe. This results in a cut slightly across the annular growth rings, and visually shows modified characteristics of both rotary and plain sliced veneers.