Veneering is the method of covering an inferior wood with a surface of a very superior kind, so that the parts of the article of furniture thus manufactured which meet the eye appear to the same advantage as if the whole work were of the best description. If this be well performed, it is very durable, looks well to the last, and is attainable at an expense considerably less than a similar article would cost if manufactured of the same wood throughout, but of an inferior quality.

The principal requisite to ensure success in veneering, is to select well-seasoned wood for the ground, and to use the best and strongest glue.

Veneers are worked either by a veneering hammer or by cauls. In veneering by the hammer, the ground should be warmed by the fire, and the outside of the veneer wetted with warm water or thin glue, with a sponge, and the side to be laid covered with a coat of thin glue and warmed at the fire; the veneer should be quickly laid on the ground and worked with the hammer, backwards and forwards, till neither air or glue will come out. Veneering with the hammer is preferable when the veneers are straight and even, but as that is seldom the case, work is generally done with a caul.

A caul is made of solid wood, shaped to the surface to be veneered; it should be well heated, then oiled and greased; it is screwed down upon the veneer, and the heat and pressure sends out the glue, causing the veneer to bed close to the ground. The veneers should be of an even thickness when worked by a caul, otherwise the glue will collect, and the work is liable to blister; it should not dry too quickly.