Production process
From log to veneer producing wood veneer is a process which has existed for centuries and requires a lot of skill. Originally the logs were sawn into thin boards, but today virtually all veneers are peeled or sliced from logs.
There are many ways to process a log into veneer which in turn determins the grain effect of the veneer.
A distinction can be made between peeled veneers which are for example used for the core of plywood, and for which the texture plays no role, and decorative veneer of which the sequence and the figure of the leaves has aethetic importance. This last type of veneer is either sliced or peeled in such a way that the sequence in the leaves is preserved.
The marking of the veneer us highly determined by the direction of cutting. The figure can vary from a wider to narrow flame (crown) or calmly lined (quarters).
There is a choice of more than 100 wood species.
Methods of slicing
Flat cutting
The half log is clamped with the heart side to the slicing table. In the first part the veneers have a wider vivid crown. More to the centre of the log the crown becomes narrower and by the end of the log a certain quantity of quarters are produced.
Quarter cutting
The quarter log is fixed in such a way that the knife makes the maximum squared angle possible to the annual rings. The veneer has a striped figure.
False quarter cutting
For this method of slicing the quarter log is fixed in such a way that the veneer gets a lined figure with a half crown in the side. Depending on the method of splicing the faces can have a quartered or a crown figure.
Peeling
When peeling decorative veneers, a groove is cut in the log which runs parallel to the grain. This will give a sequence sheet on every full rotation of the log. Examples are species like Birch, various burls, pommeles etc.
Rift cutting
Quarter segments of a log are clamped on a so called stay-log in the peeling machine. This method can optimize the widths of veneers and reduces (Oak) the amount of fakes in the veneer.
