Veneer on Aluminum?

Question:

Hello, My company makes office furniture. Most of our trim is now painted aluminum extrusions. One of our customers has asked if we could apply wood veneer to them so they would have a wood finish. The FAQ on your web site says veneering can be done on a metal base. Do you have any recomendations or advice for aluminum extrusions?

Answer:

You would have a few options to apply veneer to an aluminum extrusion. The first and simplest method is to use our PSA veneer which has a 3M self adhesive backer applied. This does well on non-porous surfaces and becomes very permanent.

The other option is to use contact cement with a suitable backed veneer. In this case, we would recommend our Bubble Free Veneer which is a 22 mil paperbacked product.

If you are thinking of doing this on a production level, you could invest in a press and possibly use an industrial grade epoxy to adhere the veneer. The reason a press would be required is because epoxy doesn’t achieve an instant bond like the aforementioned adhesives. The press maintains equal surface pressure on the veneer while the glue cures. These are just general ideas. You may need more specifics. I hope this sheds a little light on it for you.

Oakwood Veneer Tech Support