Veneer Tools for Kitchen Cabinet Refacing

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The veneer tools on this page will make your do it yourself kitchen cabinet refacing job a lot easier to accomplish with less frustration and redoing.

For instance you could use a rolling pin or a mayonaise jar instead of a veneer roller, but it would be more difficult to get into tight places or to get the necessary pressure to properly seat the veneer to last for the next 50 years or so.

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Veneer and Tools

The Veneer that I recommend for use with the veneering tools below for your do it yourself kitchen cabinet refacing project is good cabinet grade solid wood veneer with a paper backing and a peel and stick back.

Dimensional veneer is available, but if you've never used it before it can frustrate you horribly until you learn how to use it well.

The peel and stick is as easy to use as self stick shelf paper, actually easier on lots of kitchen cabinets, because you're working with outside surfaces on the cupboard stiles and unframed doors.

Kitchen Cabinet
Moldings

Kitchen Cabinet
Refacing

Veneer Roller

These veneer rollers will enable you to use a lot of pressure over small areas. It's very important to press the veneer down over the whole area.

The smaller one will work well, but the larger one is a little easier to use because it covers more area per roll and it's easier to keep it flat without tipping onto the edge of the roller, which could leave a long indented mark.

Always start in the center and roll in all directions to roll out any air bubbles and press the veneer down.

Smoothing Blade

The veneer smoothing blade will cover a large area per sweep and can make short work of pressing veneer down. Always work in the direction of the grain.

Start at the center of the surface you're working on and with a good healthy amount of pressure, using both hands, slide the blade up or down in the direction of the grain pressing the veneer and smooshing any air bubbles out, then lift it and use the same process repeatedly until the whole surface is done. Then from top to bottom or bottom to top, whichever is most comfortable for you, make full sweeps from bottom or top to the other end, always in the direction of the grain.

Veneer Saw

The veneer saw is a handy tool for cutting veneer pieces just a little larger than you need them, but to a manageable size for working with. Use a straight edge to guide you when you use the veneer saw.

Veneer can also be cut with a metal straight edge and a razor knife or very carefully with sharp scissors.

If you use a razor knife use light pressure and make several passes to insure that you get a good even cut. Scissors can be difficult to manage when you're cutting large sheets of veneer as they tend to curve off to Mables room very easily.

Edge band Iron

The Edge Band Iron is an easy to use tool to iron on edge band which covers the edges of the kitchen cabinet doors.

You can use your regular iron that you use to iron clothes for this operation too.

If you do use your iron it's best to use a piece of plain white paper over the edge band as it's pretty easy to get some glue burned on the iron and the burned on glue can be fairly difficult to clean off.

Always be sure to use plain white paper, because if you use paper with print on it you may transfer the print to the edge band veneer.

Edge Trimmer

Edge trimmer is a tool that can save a lot of work and is priced reasonably for it's value. You can also use a very hard block and sandpaper to trim edges too by sanding at an angle to the edge where the veneer overlaps the edge. You have to sand very carefully because sometimes you can get splintering when sanding off an end overlap.

The double edge trimmer is real easy to use, you just squeeze it together and slowly move along the edge to be trimmed. This saves a lot of time if you're reveneering both the outside and inside of cabinet doors and when you veneer shelves for a bookcase or other project where both sides will show.

For trimming just one edge or rounding corners the corner and edge trimmer corner edge trimmer

is a really quick and easy tool to use.

These tools will make your kitchen cabinet refacing project a lot easier and quicker. You'll notice that the absolutely necessary tools are very reasonably priced and even the tools to make life easier aren't very expensive when you consider the cost of new kitchen cabinets.

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Door and Drawer Reference

You can save thousands of dollars and have kitchen cabinets that look like they were just freshly installed right from the showroom floor.

Another fun part of the whole kitchen cabinet veneer operation is that you can Do It Yourself. Although none of us tend to brag about our accomplishments it sure is a lot of fun to take friends out to the kitchen to share the enjoyment of your 'new' kitchen cabinets.

These veneer tools may cost a little, but in the long run they'll save you a lot of frustration and figured in the cost of materials for kitchen cabinet refacing they'll help you save thousands of dollars.