Staining Wood Veneers, Matching The Color Of Wood Veneers With Stains, How To Apply Wood Veneer To MDF Sheets

Q. I am attempting to find walnut veneer that matches my coffee table and media console/tv stands. I'm trying to find a veneered MDF sheet with a veneered surface that matches the photo that is attached. Can you supply a veneered MDF sheet? Do you supply walnut veneer that matches my photos?

If you would, please take a look and let me know what you have in stock in terms of walnut veneer that would match the furniture pieces well (factoring in color and wood grain pattern). I'm looking for an MDF sheet with similar looking (color and grain) veneer as the photos. If you offer other wood colors/species that you feel may be a good match (aside from walnut), I am open to suggestions.

A. The photos that you sent look like the veneered surfaces have been stained.

The first photo - I'm not sure what the veneer is, but it has been stained to a very dark color. In my opinion, you could use maple, cherry, or walnut veneer for this - then stain to match the color.

The second photo appears to be a walnut veneer that been stained a medium brown. You should use a walnut veneer for this and stain to match the color.

Matching the grains and colors of any wood species can be difficult, as each tree is different and mother nature is in charge. Furniture manufacturers mitigate this by.......................staining the veneers,  which keeps the color uniform throughout the furniture line.

If you want to match the veneer colors of your photos, you are going to have to experiment with stains, and more than likely, you will have to mix 2 or more stains together to get the color that you want.

re the walnut MDF sheets - this is an item that is probably difficult to find, unless you are lucky enough to have a cabinetmaker supply house in your area that carries it. You aren't going to find this at the common home centers.

If you can't find a cabinet supply house in your area, you might be able to find this in a major metropolitan city. (I can custom make the MDF walnut veneered sheet, but this isn't a cost effective way to go, unless you need a quantity.)

Your other option is to purchase a sheet of MDF, prep the surfaces for veneering, as described in my videos and tutorials, and apply the walnut veneer yourself.

Please note: if you put a veneer on the face side, you should put a similar veneer on the reverse side. This stabilizes the MDF and mitigates warping.

The backer veneer doesn't have to be the same species. It can be a less expensive veneer species, just so long as it is the same type (paper backed veneer or wood backed veneer are usually the "types"). For this, I recommend the wood backed PSA peel and stick veneer.

Be sure to check my videos and tutorials for how to prep the MDF surface for applying the veneer.

You don't have to apply the whole 4x8 sheet of veneer to the 4x8 MDF substrate unless you are utilizing the whole sheet at once. You can apply the veneer to the MDF to the individual sizes/pieces for your project.

Please note - I recommend that the maximum size of the veneered substrate is no larger than about 2' x 8'. Having said that, some of our customers utilize the whole 4 x 8 size, apply it on the MDF substrate - and they have no problems.

If you decide to purchase a sheet of MDF and apply the veneer yourself, just be sure that the MDF is a good quality - meaning that it is flat - it shouldn't be difficult to find a good quality MDF - this might be available at your local home center.

Regards,

Bob Morgan

Veneer Factory Outlet

Wood Veneer Factory Outlet