My wife got me a birthday gift that was composed of 8 to 10 boards of different exotic woods. Woods like tiger wood, purple hart, yellow heart, etc. The boards are about 24" by 6 wide. However they are only one quarter inch thick. I usually get them thicker, at least three quarters.  I plan to use them like veneer and glue them to a backing board.

Do you think it will make much difference what kind of backing board I use, (soft or hard) as long as the grain stays in the same direction? Should I try to match the wood hardness?  

I don't have a specific project in mind, but I would like to know.

Thanks

Ron, what matters most when veneering any species to a substrate is the stability of the substrate, not so much the hardness of the substrate. We want to mount the veneer to something that does not move.

When building fine furnishings the purists love to use poplar as a secondary species for behind the scenes woodwork such as drawer webbing and frames. And they love to use it for a substrate for veneering. If your looking for a good substrate for your typical project where you just need a great backing to mount the veneer to, you can't beat MDF. Some woodworkers will turn up their nose to this, but it is wonderful.

If your looking to use something you already have in your shop, just keep in mind, we are looking for stability in the substrate.

If your going to use those pieces individually and not join them to others, they are stand alone pieces, you can take more liberty in using anything you want for a substrate since there are no joints to part ways and the pieces are small enough that they won't move so much that they'll crack. But if your going to use those pieces to mount on a substrate and then create say a box out of them, then you want to use something very stable, like MDF.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

So you consider a piece of wood one quarters of an inch thick as veneer?

Yes. I would. Anytime your putting a primary species over a secondary substrate it's a veneer. It needs to be treated as a veneer because the primary is subject to the movement of the piece it is attached to. So stability is still key here when considering applying your 1/4" over a substrate.

When does it stop being a veneer? I would say when your gluing two pieces of wood for joinery purposes instead of appearance.

Ron Altier said:

So you consider a piece of wood one quarters of an inch thick as veneer?

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Disregard, just passing through!