Laminated Veneer Sides.

[Gilbert Fredrickson]

I've been thinking about simultaneously glueing and bending 3 - 0.023 veneers in my side bender. Is this a good idea?

[Eric Knapp]

You might not need to use the bender. I used a veneer like that on the inside of my laminated sides. The outer two layers were much thicker and did go through the bender. Then inner layer of veneer I just used without bending when I did the lamination and it worked just fine.

I use a separate jig for gluing laminated sides than the side bender. I've seen people use a vacuum press with their side bender and it looked like it was a nice solution. I don't have a vacuum pump so I use a clamping jig for the gluing.

-Eric

[Barry Daniels]

You need a lot more clamping force than a side bender will deliver.

Also, having an outer layer of .023" thickness will make sanding and finishing more challenging. I have used an outer show layer from .050", but of course, that had to be pre-bent on my Fox Bender.

[Clay Schaeffer]

I've glued and bent three layers of veneer of that thickness using West system epoxy and a solid block type bending form and a lot of clamps. The epoxy resin "wets out" the veneer enough to make it pliable to bend. I use matched veneers reglued in the same order they were sawn. With clear epoxy glue if I sand through the top layer the matching grain of the layer underneath hides that fact.
I have found that drying out the veneers with heat before laminating and allowing the epoxy to cure for a week before removing from the form gives a nice stabile lamination that will hold it's shape for more than a year.