Why is matching and layon production so important?

One of the major features of Gunns veneers is the variety of visual effects which can be achieved when the individual veneers leaves are joined together to form layons.

Book Matching: The most commonly used method of matching Australian species. The veneer leaves are folded out as if opening the pages of a book so that one veneer leaf is a mirror image of the next.
	Slip Matching: The veneer leaves are simply laid side by side so that the figure pattern is repeated. Veneers need to be reasonably straight grained, otherwise an unbalanced appearance may be created.
Reverse Slip Matching: The veneer leaves are laid as for slip-matched, except that every alternate leaf is reversed (turned end for end). This technique is used to 'balance' the crowns in veneered panels so that all the crowns do not appear at one end of the sheet and is usually used in table tops and other horizontal applications requiring a uniform appearance.

Tight & Loose Faced Veneer

It should be noted that in the production of book-matched veneers, every second leaf is turned over. This results in alternative tight and loose faces of the veneer making up the layon.
This may cause differential in absorption of the finishing material and result in a 'picket fence' effect in the finished product. One way to overcome this problem is to produce layons with all tight faces on the one side; ie. use a slip-matched method to form the layons.
However, many customers do not specify slip-matched veneer as any marked feature on the veneer tends to look unbalanced on the layon and, consequently, the majority of veneered board sold in Australia is book-matched.

 

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