Wood Veneers refer to slim wood slices intended to be glued to panels in order to create a pleasing and protective finish to the surface. The final panels are typically used for doors, countertops, cabinets, flooring and other components of furniture and interiors.

Furniture made with veneers incurs less waste and allows designers to create pieces more flexibly than when using solid wood furniture. In fact, the expansion and contraction of solid wood caused by environmental fluctuations, such as temperature and humidity, make it impractical to specify solid wood in some cases.

Whether you choose to select indigenous or imported veneers, the visual appeal of certain veneers along with durability and costs need to be considered. Not only do different species of wood vary in characteristics but the method of 'slicing' will result in varying wood grain characteristics. Grain is a result of cutting through the tree growth rings and different slicing angles on the same tree can result in very different results.

There are 3 main methods of cutting veneers: using a rotary lathe to slice concentric to the tree rings in a continuous roll, using a half round lather to flexibly "custom-carve" the veneers and using a slicing machine to create veneers that look like sawn wood. The Rotary lathe is not well known for its aesthetic end result and usually costs less. The slicing machine and the rotary lathe create better final products while sliced veneers tend to cost less than the rotary lathe veneer.

Apart from these initial characteristics one needs to consider how the panels are going to be finished, such as which stains, dyed will be used. It is recommended to choose a wood veneer supplier early on in the project planning phases in order to accurately source the appropriate resources. Budget, grain, colour, panel sizes and the overall project desired result all affect the final product.

A raw veneer has no backing on in and either "face" can be outwardly exposed. A raw wood veneers that are joined to make larger pieces are referred to as "laid-up veneers". Paper-backed veneers are available in larger pieces because smaller pieces of veneer are joined on a paper substrate. Paper-backed veneers are more flexible and work well on curved surfaces.

Smaller pieces can be excellently joined at the wood veneer suppliers to create larger panels. This results in lower production costs due to using the materials more efficiently but needs to be sourced from a professional manufacture to ensure a uniform final result. Standard panels will usually be provided in consistent sized and colours for large and medium projects. Such panels may already be in stock but should be produced quickly relative to bespoke wood veneers.

Bespoke panels will usually be required for a project where the furniture designer needs absolutely control over where the veneers will be joined, any special shapes as well as other visual end results. Bespoke veneers will incur higher costs and longer production times as well as requiring the designer to learn as much about the properties of different woods species and production techniques.

Merenda UK are Wood Veneer Suppliers with the ability to custom manufacture veneers and edge banding. merenda.com