I just saw some gorgeous kitchen cabinets-the cabinets were wood, by covered in a brushed aluminum veneer. When I got the price, I was shocked (far beyond my budget). Which makes me wonder-just how hard is veneer work? If I had a cabinetmaker make neew cabinet doors for me, then applied the veneer myself-could I do a professional job? I suppose I’d have to buy some equipment, but it doesn’t should too hard-has anyone ever done this? How did it turn out?
Wood veneer is relatively easy to apply, although you have to be careful. I’ve never seen or done any veneering with aluminum, but it will be expensive and difficult. You’ll have a difficult time cutting the aluminum to size and not denting, bending, or scratching it while applying it. The process of applying it as veneer is relatively simple once you have it cut to size, and it can be removed if you’re off, but that will ruin it. I doubt it would be worth the effort, but since I’ve never tried it, or even seen it, that’s just a guess.
If you were making cabinets out of wood you would likely buy the plywood sheets with the veneer already applied (unless you were doing marquetry). The only veneering you would need to do is to apply banding to the edges. I suspect that you could buy sheets of plywood with a metal veneer and do much the same thing, although I doubt it is something that a casual diyer should attempt. If I were to attempt it, it might be good enough to install on the third try, by which time I would have spent far more on tools & materials than I would have if I had just bought it. YMMV.