I'm refinishing a coffee table and end table set. They're nice, solid oak, but they're about thirty years old or so, so they're finished with a sick, dark brown varnish that completely hides the grain. I've got most of the sides and legs stripped, stained and finished, but I need to do something with the tops.
Each table top has 2" wide solid oak peices around the edges, with thick, heavy fake wood particle board in the middle. It looks nice and is in great shape, but it's dark brown and doesn't match the red oak stain I'm using. I'd like to just remove the particle board and replace it with nice oak plywood stained to match the rest, but unfortunately the table tops are build in such a way that I can't dismantle them without destroying them (and there's no way to remove the particle board w/o dismantling the table top).
The particle board is set 3/16" lower than the edges, so I was thinking of covering it with oak and cherry veneer in some sort of pattern (haven't decided what, yet). I checked Home Depot and Lowe's, but neither store carries any (and only a handfull of the employees even know what veneer is). I called every lumberyard, craft store, and building supply store within a 10 mile radius, and no one has it. I found one site online where I can order it, but they only sell it in 4' x 8' sheets, with a minimum order of 5 sheets. I'm not planning on veneering my whole livingroom, so that place is out.
Does anyone know where I might be able to buy it? Either from an online vendor, of if you know of a certain chain that carries it, that'd be cool too.
Has anyone ever worked with veneer? I'd appreciate any advice and pitfalls to avoid, or any books or websites I can use as a reference. I've never done anything like this before, but I've got a lot of time and a lot of patience, so I think I should be able to figure it out.
Each table top has 2" wide solid oak peices around the edges, with thick, heavy fake wood particle board in the middle. It looks nice and is in great shape, but it's dark brown and doesn't match the red oak stain I'm using. I'd like to just remove the particle board and replace it with nice oak plywood stained to match the rest, but unfortunately the table tops are build in such a way that I can't dismantle them without destroying them (and there's no way to remove the particle board w/o dismantling the table top).
The particle board is set 3/16" lower than the edges, so I was thinking of covering it with oak and cherry veneer in some sort of pattern (haven't decided what, yet). I checked Home Depot and Lowe's, but neither store carries any (and only a handfull of the employees even know what veneer is). I called every lumberyard, craft store, and building supply store within a 10 mile radius, and no one has it. I found one site online where I can order it, but they only sell it in 4' x 8' sheets, with a minimum order of 5 sheets. I'm not planning on veneering my whole livingroom, so that place is out.
Does anyone know where I might be able to buy it? Either from an online vendor, of if you know of a certain chain that carries it, that'd be cool too.
Has anyone ever worked with veneer? I'd appreciate any advice and pitfalls to avoid, or any books or websites I can use as a reference. I've never done anything like this before, but I've got a lot of time and a lot of patience, so I think I should be able to figure it out.
