The pressing issue of matched aprons

In my last episode, I created the curved front apron out of maple. However, my plan for the carcass of my hall table is for cherry. So in this episode I explain how I made my own veneers and then used three different clamping or pressing techniques to apply the veneers to all four table aprons. I could have made life a lot easier on myself if I had about twice as many clamps as I do, proving once again the axiom that a woodworker can never have too many clamps.

Some of you may have also heard my recent discussion on the Fine Woodworking Shop Talk Live podcast where I mentioned a recent mistake I had made with a vacuum press. While the footage in this video shows the "after" scenario, my first attempt at veneering my side aprons found me struggling with a hole in the vacuum bag. A simple piece of tape fixed the problem, but remind me how important it is to do a dry run of ANY kind of clamping technique before the glue gets involved.


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