veneer experiment

Even fancy veneer is pretty cheap. Because the 'look' of an instrument is really only the very outer layer of wood, while the tone is determined by the whole piece of wood, I decided to see if I could build an instrument with a veneer.

It really worked rather well. I had some nice pomelle sapele veneer around, and some sycamore for the sides and back. I veneered the back when the two halves were joined since the veneer was pretty wide and I could do a 'one piece back'. I veneered the sides when they were flat, using a urea resin glue "Pro-Glue" which, once set, is impervious to heat or water. I then bent the sides as normal (heat blanket) and they bent just fine.

I did an initial 'fill' of the rather open pored sapele with CA glue after the body was assembled, but before any bindings were cut. The CA glue really hardens the surface, greatly decreasing the chances of scraping/sanding through the veneer, and eliminating any chip-out when routing the binding channels. The bindings are done just a little proud of the surface and scraped down to the side.

Looks great! But how does it sound?

Works well for Sailor Brand Ukes. They generally sound better than a great many ukes costing 2 to 3 times as much

Sounds fine. I built a non-venerred one next to it and the sound is almost identical (OK, I made the bracing just slightly different and I think that is the source of any differences). The veneer is very thin, and the urea resin glue dries brittle-hard, so I do not think the veneer has any noticeable effect on the sound.

Dame- you beat me to it! Looks great.

So was this solid veneer (so to speak) or did you use a core of some other wood for back n sides???

Did it all come out at about .065"-.070" thick (which would be 3 layers of veneer at usual veneer thickness)

I wont to do this with brw veneer and cedar core for the back.

This is a single layer of veneer over some solid sycamore sides and back. (I had the sycamore around, it was just off the quarter, so the grain figure was 'flecks' rather than strong medulary lines.) I thickness sanded the sides and back, and then glued on the veneer which I think is about 1/40 inch thick (.025") The total package was about .09" thick. The next time I think I'll glue on the veneer and then do a final thickness sanding on the 'inside'.

Beau - now that CITES has changed the ruling on Brazilian rosewood to "no how, no where" meaning "non-commercial use only, no sales what-so-ever" what are you going to do with a Brazilian rosewood veneered uke?

Keep it myself, or give it to a close friend whose first name is 'My' and last name is 'Wife'

I recently read "Inventing the American Guitar". Great read. Apparently the Germans, English, Spanish, and Americans all veneered their guitars. Most Martins were veneered until about the time of the American Civil War. When C.F. switched to solid rosewood his competitors were still veneering. Most people relate veneers to cheap plywood instruments. After all, if you wanted to make a cheap instrument why would you use quality plywoods? Multi-layered wood has a lot going for it, especially as sides. I have some crazy goncalo alves veneer I can't wait to use as ukes. I don't expect them to suffer for the process.