13 Types of Oak Wood Veneer You Probably Never Heard of

Before we talk about anything about oak wood veneer.

You have to know what exactly meaning it is.

Oak wood veneer is a thin slice of natural oak wood.  There are flat cut grain, quarter sliced grain, and rift cut oak veneer sheets.

The thickness you can get from 0.2mm to 2mm as sliced oak veneer sheets.

Besides, you can get saw cut oak veneer sheets from 3mm to 5mm thick.

Along with natural oak veneer, there is reconstituted oak veneer, also known as engineered oak veneer or man-made oak veneer.

These oak veneers are pressed onto plywood, MDF, or particleboard to make furniture and door panels.

In this way, it gives the appearance of entire solid oak wood with fewer costs.

All the wood veneer sheets are thin-sliced from natural wood logs.

But there are 4 main different wood veneer slicers.

Such as horizontal veneer slicer, half rotary slicer, vertical veneer slicer, veneer rotary peeling.

When it comes to oak veneer, the main cutting methods are horizontal veneer slicer, half rotary slicer, and vertical veneer slicer.

Each different cutting makes different types of oak veneer sheets.

1.  Horizontal veneer slicer

This horizontal veneer slicer is mainly used for thin oak veneer sheets.

So that when you want thin oak veneer sheets in 0.2mm or super thin, the wood veneer factory has to use this machine to cut.

Besides, Italy Angelo Cremona horizontal slicer is used to cut 0.5mm and thick reconstituted veneer sheets.

2.  Half rotary slicer

If you want more big wide crown grain veneer, half rotary slicing is a better option than horizontal flat slicing.

For oak veneer sheets, half rotary slicer makes rift cut oak veneer without heavy flake.

3.  Vertical veneer slicer

This vertical sliver machine is common for flat cut crown grain wood veneer sheets. And most sliced veneers are thick than 0.4mm.

Even some 1mm and 2mm oak veneer sheets and walnut veneer sheets both are available.

Well, if you are looking for oak wood veneers, you should have realized that there are many different colors and grains of oak veneer.

So I am trying to tell you as many oak veneers as we know.

In some instances, that is very difficult to choose a suitable type of oak veneer for your woodworking.

In this guide, let me explain 13 types of oak veneer sheets and rolls.

1.   0.5mm and 0.55mm natural oak veneer

Usually, when we talk about oak veneer, which means 0.5mm or 0.55mm thick natural oak veneer sheets.

The common wood species include American red oak veneer, American white oak veneer, and European oak veneer.

Then each type of wood can be cut to crown grains or rift cut quarter grains.

Most wood veneer companies produce and trade with 0.5mm, 0.55mm, and 0.6mm thickness veneers as standard.

Grading them according to the grains, knots, color variation, open defects, mineral streaks, wrinkles, split, knife marks, cross marks, blue spots, and so on.

How to buy natural wood veneers?

The most important is the confirmation of quality grade with wood veneer suppliers.

In China veneer markets, almost every wood veneer slicing factories have their own standard to grading the veneers.

As a result, when some suppliers quote you the same quality AA grade red oak veneers or white oak veneers, the prices will be much different.

If you can go to visit their stocks, you also will see the different AA grade oak veneers.

Previously, you have to go to suppliers` warehouses to see the real wood veneer stocks, then you can discuss the prices face to face.

Personally, I think this is the best way to buy natural wood veneer from China.

Moreover, the net thickness of wood veneers also is one big problem you should know.

As for oak, walnut, ash, Sapele, maple, cherry, rosewood, Zebrano, anigre wood species, the net thickness of 0.5mm veneers is about 0.45mm more or less in Chinese markets.

2.   Reconstituted oak veneer

Reconstituted oak veneer is also known as engineered oak veneer, recon veneer, composite veneer, artificial veneer, precomposed veneer, or man-made oak veneer.

You can read the article The Ultimate Buying Guide for Reconstituted Veneer to understand the reconstituted veneer.

Why you should use reconstituted oak veneer?

Because of that has a consistent color and grain from sheet to sheet.

You do not need to worry about natural oak veneer defects and length waste.

No matter recon white oak, recon red oak but also grey oak veneer, dark oak veneer, and platinum oak veneer sheets are available.

Besides, you can order any color and thickness for your woodworking projects.

3.   Supper thin oak veneer

In the production of oak veneered panels.

Most Chinese factories press 0.12mm or 0.2mm ultra thin oak veneer sheets on plywood, MDF, chipboard, blockboard.

And many interior wood door factories also use paper thin oak veneers as door skin.

Not dry oak veneer, they use wet thin oak veneer sheets.

So that we do not suggest you choose this thin wet oak veneer if you have no experience of it.

As you know, in Chinese veneer markets, the ultra thin veneer is about 0.15mm for the most popular wood species.

For example, natural American red oak veneer, white oak veneer, walnut veneer, cherry veneer, Burma teak, ebony, rosewood, Sapele.

Most people are looking for paper thin woodgrain veneers for special DIY woodworking, wallpaper, artwork.

Even some of my clients also use them to applying on the metal surface.

In conclusion, thin wood veneers increase the operation rate of wood.

4.   Fleece backed oak veneer

If you want flexible and durable thin oak veneer sheets, fleece backed oak veneer is a good option.

Thin oak veneers are with fleece backing and apply for wrapping profile, door architrave and frame, door skin, and furniture decoration.

Sometimes, people are looking for thin wood veneers with good light transparency. We also suggest the fleece backed veneer.

When it comes to saving total materials costs, people like to use fleece backed wood veneer.

When it comes to conserving our forest resources for future generations, we suggest using them.

5.   Paper backed oak veneer

If you want to lower price panel size oak veneer sheets, you should consider paper backed oak veneer.

For example, the paper backed red oak veneer sheets can be 2500x610mm or full panel size 2500x1220mm.

But the most important is that can save 50% more costs than random sheets of red oak veneers.

6.   Oak veneer rolls

In the production of profile wrapping door frames, architrave. You have to use wood veneer rolls for wrapping.

Besides, for edge sealing of plywood, wood board, MDF, or particleboard, you have to use edge banding veneer rolls.

The most common oak wood species are American red oak veneer rolls and White oak veneer rolls.

They are in huge demand in the production of furniture, wood doors, and wardrobes.

If you are looking for UV prefinished oak veneer rolls, we also can supply top quality at competitive prices.

7.   Matched oak veneer layons

In the production of the interior wood door, wardrobe, and furniture.

Matching veneer layons are the important part.

By matching patterns, the oak veneer can make various wonderful oak veneer layons.

You can choose the common book matched oak veneer, slip matched oak veneer, cross matched oak veneer sheets.

For sure, you can also order the customized diamond matching oak veneer layons, reverse diamond matching oak.

8.   Dyed oak veneer

When you want dark oak, gray oak, or any other colors of oak veneer sheets, the dyed oak veneer is your best option.

Dyed oak veneer gives the interior designers more imagination for the decoration of wall covering, background, and furniture.

The most famous dyed veneer supplier is Tabu from Italy.

Instead, Chinese dyed veneer sheets have competitive prices.

9.   Smoked oak veneer

What you should know, there were Chinese wood veneer suppliers who started the production of Smoked wood veneer in about 2010.

Due to the fumed technology, the Smoked oak veneer sheets were brittle, easy to crack.

With the technological development, the smoked oak veneer sheets are much more durable and flexible now.

And you can choose caramel color smoked oak veneer, dark fumed oak veneer, and deep black color smoked oak veneer.

If you want to reduce the smoked oak veneer costs, think about 0.25mm thin smoked oak veneer sheets or rolls.

10.   Rough sawn cut oak veneer

Since 2019, rough sawn cut grain veneer became popular in Chinese wood veneer markets.

At the same time, Natural veneer and Reconstituted veneer manufacturers started to produce rough cut oak veneer for the new demand market.

Usually, you can choose rough cut white oak, rough cut red oak, even rough cut European oak veneer sheets.

When it comes to reconstituted oak veneer, there are many colors for your woodworking projects.

11.   1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm thick oak veneer

If you want a slice cut veneer, the thickness is less than 2mm oak wood veneer.

For 3mm or 4mm thick oak veneers, they are saw cut.

Most sliced thick oak veneer sheets are for pressing on plywood or MDF to make top quality furniture panels.

Apart from this application, there is a huge demand for thick veneer as an engineered flooring top layer.

12.   Woven oak veneer

We can weave to patterns by using oak veneer strips.

The popular materials are white oak and red oak, the woven oak veneer thickness can be from 0.5mm to 1mm with fleece backed.

The woven veneer is 100% handwork. And can be customized.

13.   End grain oak veneer

The end grain oak veneer is the cross cut oak round discs.

The thickness is about 0.3mm with fleece backed, the diameter is from 400mm to 500mm.

You can see the log’s growth ring.

All our end grain oak veneer is a thin slice cut piece from American white oak logs.

Oak veneer is the best-selling and most famous wood veneer in China’s wood veneer market.

No matter furniture, door, flooring, American red oak and white oak are in huge demand.

Until now, China still is the biggest oak logs and lumbers importer in the world.

If you visit Chinese wood veneer factories, you will find almost every factory produces a big quantity of white oak veneer and red oak veneer.

As you may know, Jiashan is famous for common white oak veneer and red oak veneer with thickness from 0.45mm to 2.0mm.

You can also find European oak veneer, knotty oak veneer sheets, rough sawn cut oak veneer, smoked oak veneer, and dyed oak veneer sheets there.

Besides, Deqing is famous for supper thin oak veneer sheets and rolls.

0.25mm smoked oak veneer and thin dyed oak veneer sheets are available in this China veneer market.

Deqing is also famous for all types of oak wood veneer sheets and rolls.

For example, recon oak veneer, fleece backed oak veneer, paper backed oak veneer, oak veneer edge banding and wrapping, etc.

We made a summary of 10 points checklist before you buy wood veneers in a PDF file.

No matter senior procurement or green hand you are, we suggest that you can read the below details.

Those tips can help you save time choosing the right wood veneers fast.

I think some tips will keep you far away from a bad experience when buying wood veneers from China.

You can also choose a professional and reliable good partner according to this wood veneer buying guide.

 1.  OAK WOOD SPECIES

First of all, you have to know what oak wood species you need for your woodworking projects.

If you have no idea about that, you can ask our sales representative for suggestions.

The common oak wood species include as below:

American oak wood species: White oak, Red oak

European oak wood species: Europan oak

Asian oak wood species: Chinese oak

2.  NATURAL OAK VENEER OR RECONSTITUTED OAK VENEER

There are two genera of oak wood veneers, one is natural oak veneer, another is reconstituted oak veneer,

which also known as engineered oak veneer, precomposed oak veneer.

You need to know what is the best choice for you.

If you have no idea about that, you can ask our sales representative for suggestions.

3.  OAK VENEER GRAINS

Generally, the veneer slicing methods decide wood veneer grains.

Such as cathedral grain ( plain cut / flat cut), straight-line grain ( quarter cut / rift cut), rotary cut grains, rough sawn cut grains, cross-cut grains, and other special grains.

You have to know which grains are better for your projects.

4.  THICKNESS AND TOLERANCE

The oak veneer thickness is one of the main factors that affect prices.

The most common thickness you can find 0.6mm, 0.55mm, 0.5mm from American and European suppliers.

But in China, we can produce much more thin oak veneers from 0.1mm to 0.6mm.

Besides, you have to make clear the tolerance of thickness.

For example, the net thickness of 0.5mm standard veneers in China is only 0.4mm to 0.43mm for natural oak veneer now.

For reconstituted oak veneer thickness, the thickness tolerance is +/- 0.02mm as standard.

But some of my clients always have problems with thickness when they buy reconstituted oak veneer from China.

That is the main reason why some wood veneer importers have a bad experience.

5.   WIDTH

For natural oak veneer sheets, the standard width is a minimum 90mm and up. The crown cut grain veneer leaf width will be 100mm and up, most are 150mm and up.

For reconstituted veneers, the standard width is 640mm and 1250mm, some special designs are 320mm wide.

But all wood veneers can be spliced to large width sheets.

6.  LENGTH

Apparently, there is no standard length for natural wood veneers.

Most of the clients like 2500mm and up, because they need to press on plywood, MDF, or particle board.

Besides, some furniture manufacturers need a random length from 1000mm to 3400mm.

As you know, the standard length of reconstituted veneers is 2500mm. But some special projects need the veneer sheet length up to 3 meters and more.

So we provide a service of super ultra 640mm wide veneers finger-joint to a custom length or rolls.

7.  QUALITY GRADE

This is also one of the main factors that affect prices.

The quality grade also affects the final projects of surface oak wood grains’ appearance.

Such as knots, figured grains, discoloration, and other defects.

You have to request details for what defects that you can not accept.

Because every natural oak veneer slicing companies have their own grading standards.

Maybe when you talk about AAA grade, they provide only AA grade.

What you should know, but the reconstituted veneer is free of defects.

8.  BACKED

As earlier mentioned, there are two types of backed veneer support materials, kraft paper, and fleece ( non- woven fabric ).

Each type of support material also has several quality grades according to grammage.

You can give the request details to the oak veneer supplier before placing orders.

9.  VENEER MATCHING

You need to know the matching method if you buy spliced oak veneer sheets.

There are six types of veneer matching, Book matching, Herringbone matching, Slip matching, Diamond matching, Random matching, and Special matching.

Many carpenters use the matched oak veneer layons for decoration of furniture or wall covering.

10.  PRICE

When you request a quotation, some suppliers offer you EXW prices, some offer you FOB prices.

Some offer you CFR/CNF prices, some even quote you DDU prices.

Which price is best for you?

I am afraid that you have to calculate it exactly by yourself, then compare all quotations.

Usually, we do not suggest our clients work with incoterms EXW if they have no very professional and reliable agent/broker in China.

If you have a very professional and reliable forwarder/broker locally, then you can ask all your wood veneers suppliers to quote FOB/CNF prices.

In this way, you do not have to consider the paperwork costs, inland freight costs, or ocean shipping costs.

From 2020, COVID makes it is difficult to travel worldwide.

But we still suggest you should come and visit your suppliers in China when it possible.

Hopefully, this buying guide has answered your basic questions about oak veneers.

Right now, you know what oak veneer is, the benefits, how it is done.

And what is the difference between a natural oak veneer and an engineered oak veneer.

You should have understood almost everything you need to buy the oak veneers for your needs.

If you still have questions or advice about this topic, please feel free to contact us anytime, we will be glad to help you.