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 Post subject: Burr wood veneer help
PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2017 7:09 am 
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Cocobolo
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Hi

Just received some burr wood through post and am a little lost on how to treat/use it

Its to use on headstock backstrap so will need to flatten it and bend it up a bit

Trouble is its about 1mm thick, wavy as hell and feels really brittle and is starting to cracking in places

Is this normal and how do I treat and flatten it?
Thanks
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PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2017 7:42 am 
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This is what SuperSoft is made for.
Pretty normal for burr veneer, especially older stuff.

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PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2017 7:59 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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To flatten burl veneers you can wet them with water. Mist them with a spray bottle until they soften enough to flatten without cracking. After wetting them place them between a couple of sheets of blotter paper and press them between two flat boards to dry. If you use epoxy to apply the burl it should "wet out" the veneer enough to bend it for a backstrap. Epoxy will also fill the voids burl often has.
Burls are essentially end grain, so they won't add much strength as a back strap. Using a plain light colored veneer under them can add some strength and add a nice contrasting line between the neck wood and burl.


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PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2017 11:45 am 
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Cocobolo
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Clay S. wrote:
To flatten burl veneers you can wet them with water. Mist them with a spray bottle until they soften enough to flatten without cracking. After wetting them place them between a couple of sheets of blotter paper and press them between two flat boards to dry. If you use epoxy to apply the burl it should "wet out" the veneer enough to bend it for a backstrap. Epoxy will also fill the voids burl often has.
Burls are essentially end grain, so they won't add much strength as a back strap. Using a plain light colored veneer under them can add some strength and add a nice contrasting line between the neck wood and burl.

Thanks clay

Have got some fibre sheets to put under it so should add strength.

I'm interested in the bit about epoxy, do you use epoxy finishing to glue it on or epoxy glue

Thanks



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PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2017 9:24 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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I've used either - 5 minute epoxy works , West system wets it out a little better. The slow set epoxy glue might be a better choice if you don't have West system or some other laminating resin, but 5 minute epoxy will work O.K.



These users thanked the author Clay S. for the post: cablepuller1 (Sun May 14, 2017 1:28 am)
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PostPosted: Sun May 14, 2017 7:07 pm 
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I've used the pressing between two flat boards method (lots of clamps!) Clay mentioned for some myrtle, walnut and madrona burls. Instead of using super soft (saving that for sides) or plain water, I used a mix of glycerin, ethanol and water (there are recipes with varying percentages around, I used 3 water:2 glycerin:0.5 ethanol iirc)). Worked a charm.

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