Veneer forms: raw leaves, backed sheets, spliced faces and what each needs in your shop

The form is how the veneer arrives: as raw leaves straight off the slicer, as backed sheets ready for contact cement, as spliced faces ready for the press or as edgebanding. It decides what equipment you need, how much splicing you do yourself and which supplier in the chain you should be buying from. Name the form on the RFQ next to the species and the cut.

Form	What it is	Typical make-up	Typical sizes	Equipment you need	Who sells it
Raw leaves	Sliced or peeled leaves in flitch order	About 0.5 to 0.6 mm face, unbacked	Leaves as cut, often 8 to 10 ft	Jointer, splicer, press	Slicers, flitch dealers
Thick sawn or sliced	Leaves 1 mm and up	1 to 3 mm	As cut	Press, hand work	Specialty mills
Paper backed sheet	Face bonded to a paper backer	Face on 10, 20 or 30 mil paper	4 x 8 ft, 4 x 10 ft	Contact cement or a press	Backers, distributors
2-ply wood backed sheet	Face bonded cross-grain to a second veneer	Face plus a wood back	4 x 8 ft, 4 x 10 ft	Contact cement or a press	Backers, distributors
PSA sheet	Backed face with a peel and stick adhesive	Paper or wood back plus adhesive film	2 x 8 ft, 4 x 8 ft	Roller, clean substrate	Distributors
Spliced face or layon	Leaves spliced to panel size	Raw leaves, glue line or thread spliced	4 x 8 ft, 4 x 10 ft, custom	Press	Face splicers
Reconstituted veneer	Leaves sliced from a re-glued block	About 0.5 to 0.6 mm	Leaves up to about 10 ft	As raw leaves	Recon makers
Edgebanding	Strips on a roll	Preglued or unglued, fleece or paper backed	Rolls of 250 to 500 ft	Edgebander or iron	Edgebanding makers

Typical figures, confirm sizes and minimums with each supplier. The veneer sheet sizes and bundles page explains why no standard fixes them.

Three questions that pick the form

1. Do you have a press? Without one, choose paper backed, 2-ply wood backed or PSA sheets. With one, raw leaves or spliced faces cost less per square foot of face.
2. Do you splice? If not, buy spliced faces or layons, or backed sheets that are already spliced to size.
3. Is the part flat or curved? Paper backed sheets bend around columns and radius fronts; 2-ply wood backed sheets stay flatter on flat panels; raw leaves on a vacuum press handle 3D shapes.

How the backers differ

Backers keep a thin face from splitting and make it easier to glue. Paper backers bend more and hide less; wood backers are stiffer and hide substrate flaws better. The veneer backers and adhesives page covers the adhesive in each backer and the formaldehyde question, and the post on balanced panel construction covers why a panel needs a back veneer.