Wood veneer sheets can present a variety of appearances. The single, most obvious factor that effects the appearance is the species of veneer wood. There are however, less obvious ways to provide additional diversity in the veneer appearance. One of these is the way the veneer leaves, or tiles, are arranged to make up the sheet. Veneer leaves are the smaller slices of wood that need to be assembled and spliced together to make up the full sheet of wood veneer. They can be arranged in a variety of ways to make the face of the sheet unique, even within the same species of wood. Simply put, this all has to do with the assembly process chosen for each individual sheet of veneer.

Book-Matched

Book matching is by far, the most common way of matching veneer leaves together to form a full sheet. This is particularly true with plain slice or flat cut veneers. In book matching, every other leaf is turned over to create a mirrored effect with the grain of each two adjoining leaves, just as two adjacent pages in a book. While this method maximizes the yield of the flat cut leaves, it presents a finishing challenge. Since each piece is flipped, the surface of each leaf reflects light differently. This light / dark variance is known as a “barber pole” pattern. This less than desirable effect is typically much more prevalent in certain woods such as white maple. In addition, the two leaves will take stain differently and result in even more color variation. This effect is to be expected in book matching and is not considered a manufacturing defect.  In our next post we will discuss other matching possibilities and how they can enhance the appearance of your wood veneer.

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