Backyard Birds – Part 10

My dad has a huge supply of veneer in the basement that he’s accumulated over the decades. There’s enough variety in the existing veneer that I can usually find whatever I need. However, sometimes, I need to make my own veneer.

This involves taking a board, cutting a thin slice of it on the bandsaw, and sanding that thin slice to the thickness that I want on the drum sander.

For my cabinet, I wanted a yellow wood for the sunflowers on the windowsill. There are many woods that I would describe as blonde, and some of those would have looked fine. However, my dad suggested that I use a wood called pau amarello, or yellowheart, which is a legitimately yellow color.

It’s hard to get a photograph that accurately reflects the color, and the photograph above makes it look much whiter than it is. In reality, it’s close to the color Pastel Yellow, hex code #FFFAA0.

There was no pau amarello veneer in the basement, but there was a small board that could be used to make veneer.

The board was so thin that I was worried about cutting it on the bandsaw. I cut wood on the bandsaw all the time, but cutting a thin slice off of an already thin board is a bit dangerous. My dad suggested that I make a featherboard to cut the pau amarello.

A featherboard is a simple gadget that keeps even pressure on a piece of wood as you send it through a saw, while still being flexible enough so that the wood doesn’t get pinched. It allows you to keep your fingers farther away from the saw blade. You can buy them, but they’re also very easy to make.