veneer vs. laminates, whats the difference?

massappeal85 · « **on:** 23 Jan 2003, 01:35 am »

Is one different then the other? Can you finish laminates? Aaaaaaaaand which do you prefer?

nathanm · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Jan 2003, 01:48 am »

Veneer is actual wood cut into very thin sheets whereas laminate is a synthetic material of various resins covering what is basically a printed 'photograph' of the texture. Also known as Formica. With laminates there are thousands of different colors to choose. You can't finish them, the surface is designed to avoid staining and scratching. Well, glossier ones can be scratched more easily.

As far as wood textures go, the look of the real thing is hard to beat. Laminates are much more sturdy and resistant to abuse. With veneer you would go through the normal finishing process you'd do with any wood; staining, varnishing etc. Laminates require heat to bend into extreme angles. There are post-forming grades, but I've never had experience with them myself.

massappeal85 · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Jan 2003, 08:49 pm »

Sweet, thanks. How thick is laminate? Is it hard to cut, or hard to route with a jasper circle jig?

Night Wolf · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 02:34 am »

on cheaper spekaers, usualy black ones, when the spekaer really isn't wood, and it has the texture of wood, that is the laminate, it is a plastic, like nathanm mentioned, venner is just very thin sheets of actual wood over the case of the spekaer, and therfor you treat the outside of it (like finishing it etc...) just as you would with wood

I wouldn't think it is hard to cut (the laminate) as it seems just like a flexible plastic, I never knew is was like formica though, and I never had use of using either on something like DIY spekaers (although I have restored my spekaers which have a wood venner)

Haoleb · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 03:27 am »

Its not like formica. formica is much thicker and more brittle. Laminates can look very much like real wood. like the cherry laminate on my speakers. Laminate i believe is easily cut with a rasor blade,router whatever.

nathanm · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 06:00 am »

Well, Formica is a brand name actually. I guess the laminate term is used interchangably. Basically one is real wood and the other is a synthetic material.

Laminates are rather difficult to cut. But there are special tools which make a clean job of it. When you apply it you make the piece bigger than what you need and you use a flush trim router bit to cut off the excess, so you don't have to be too neat with the first cutout. I haven't worked with the wood stuff so I can't say how that is. I did get a free sheet of veneer when I bought a piece of birch plywood for a desk project I was working on. I am guessing it is thicker than what most people put on speakers. This stuff was about 1\16th in. thick or so. Maybe it was something different.

bubba966 · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 06:27 am »

Veneer is wood sliced off a log. Can be paper backed or w/no backing.

Laminate is paper impregnated with a resin. Usually called plastic laminate or just P Lam. Comes in standard grade & vertical grade (AKA "post forming" laminate). Vertical grade is half the thickness of standard grade. It's been a while since I learned all of this in college, but I believe the thickness of standard grade was 1/16th of an inch & vertical grade was 1/32nd of an inch.

Formica is just a brand name for lam. And if I recall properly it's actually pre-lamed partical board, not something you can buy to cover material. Though I could be wrong about that as they might make a laminate line with their name on it (it's been seven years since I went to college & I've been exposed to too many solvents since then to remember it all properly as I haven't done any cabinet work since then).

Laminate is easy to cut. You score it with something sharp then break it like you would a tile. It can also be cut with a fine tooth bandsaw, tablesaw, router, etc. It's pretty easy to work with as long as you're using water based contact cement. Don't mess with the solvent based stuff, there's no advantage to it. Watch yourself when filing the edges though, it's very easy to slice your hands up on the lam when you're filing it.

Veneer is easier to apply when paper backed, though you need to be careful when sanding it so as to not sand through the veneer.

Laminate is already finished. You can get it in various finishes & many, many different colors, designs & patterns. I suppose you could wax the high gloss stuff if you like, but that's about all you'd do to it.

If you want a real wood look, you pretty much need to go with veneer. Laminate just doesn't look like real wood, and certainly doesn't feel like it. But laminate will be a much more durable finish, especially standard grade lam. Laminate will take up to 350F temperatures without much damage.