Bowed Front Buffet

Finally completed and just needs a final coat of wax, then it will be delivered.

Walnut ... solids and shop made veneers; plywood panels on ends and back
Bending ply for the bowed drawer front and doors, veneered with shop made walnut, solid wood edged
Regular ply for the straight drawer fronts and doors ... all solid wood edged and veneer inside and out
bottom shelves are veneered and solid wood edged plywood as well
Top is solid walnut edge banded, ply wood center with shop made walnut veneer on top
Bottom curves are bent lamination ... I tried steam bending and had no luck ... wood is too dry starting out .. <7%
Dovetail side drawers and doweled center bowed drawer all with sliding dovetail drawer slides, center mounted
SOSS invisible hinges, polished chrome hardware, stainless steel collars on bottom of legs
Transtint dye, shellac sealer and General Finishes semi-gloss topcoat ... many coats
Lots of fun and learned some new techniques for sure.

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Thanks for looking. It should make for a nice compliment to the table I did a while back.
 
well done robert, hope you signed it.. someone will be looking for it in years to come.. on a side note, what was the best part of the build for you? what would you change?
 
Larry, for sure it is signed and dated.
Best part: The bowed drawer front and doors as I have never done this before. Veneered such that the grain runs from top to bottom and all cut out of one big bowed piece.
Change: Would have really liked the bottom curves to be steam bent as this looks a little better than a bent lamination. I have since read that if I soaked the wood in water with some fabric softener for a week or more I might have been able to bend it in the steam box. No way a steam box can get wood at <7% moisture soft enough to bend ... I tried several times, with long steam times.
 
Beautiful piece of work, Robert!

Have you considered using bending ply finished with veneer for curved pieces? I've done that quite a bit, creating a bending form my shape and vacuum pressing it.
 
Bill,

I was not aware that bending ply was even available with veneer. Even so, I would guess the external veneer is not near the 0.060" veneer I shop made and put on ... so if it gets nicked, I can fix it.
I did use a bending form and vacuum press it .. two layers of 3/8" bending ply, 3 layers of oak veneer (~0.010") one on each side of the bending ply. Then shop veneer on on the external side and some OK walnut veneer I picked up on the inside. Overall, three times in the vacuum press, first for the core, second for the inside surfaces, third for the external surfaces. In between the first and second presses, I cut cut the core to size and solid wood edged all four edges. Then veneered the internal surfaces, then the external. I hope this helps explain. If not clear, I can dig up some pics, maybe. Thanks for the insight.
 
... I was not aware that bending ply was even available with veneer. Even so, I would guess the external veneer is not near the 0.060" veneer I shop made and put on ... so if it gets nicked, I can fix it.
I did use a bending form and vacuum press it .. two layers of 3/8" bending ply, 3 layers of oak veneer (~0.010") one on each side of the bending ply. Then shop veneer on on the external side and some OK walnut veneer I picked up on the inside. Overall, three times in the vacuum press, first for the core, second for the inside surfaces, third for the external surfaces. In between the first and second presses, I cut cut the core to size and solid wood edged all four edges. Then veneered the internal surfaces, then the external. I hope this helps explain. If not clear, I can dig up some pics, maybe. Thanks for the insight.

I've never seen bending ply with veneer, either. I have a stock of commercial solid wood veneers that I use for most of that type of project. In some cases, I resaw my own veneer from wood used on a project.
 
This is my favorite piece, so you may have seen postings before... hopefully it will add to the discussion of bent wood and veneers.

The aprons are 2 layers of 3/8 inch bending ply with one layer of show veneer on the outside. It was built in sections (4?) so I could use a smaller form in the vacuum bag. The edge of bending ply is ugly, so I made a paste of walnut sanding dust and carpenter glue, and filled the edge of the apron so it would feel smooth to someone sitting at the table. I joined the sections by leaving the end with one layer of ply to overlap the adjacent section, and attached the apron to the table with pocket screws.

The base is a 12x12 inch column of 3/4 inch plywood with the decorative curves applied. Each decorative side was 2 layers of 1/8 inch bending ply and one layer of show veneer, on a form, so four trips through the vacuum bag. I then mitered the four curved sides on the bandsaw, and glued them together with small corner blocks along the joint, but the primary strength is being screwed to the column at the top and bottom.

The feet were 2 layers of 1/8 inch bending ply and one layer of show veneer, but I left them on the form (made 4 forms) in case somebody stepped hard on it. There are 8 screw adjustable feet, two on each foot.

The show veneer is the standard commercial veneer (.026" as I recall). I did not use a backer veneer since it was already on a plywood base.

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