As the name suggests, in book matching each veneer leaf is folded out with its mirror image, like the centre pages of a book. The two adjoining surfaces are produced from the same piece of wood, so that they have almost exactly the same appearance, but mirrored.

Slip matching involves laying the veneer leaves face up, and side by side. The resulting grain pattern is repeated at the width of each leaf across the layout. That is, the visual effect shows a grain figure repeating, but joints do not show a grain match.

To create this style, veneer leaves are slip matched then every alternate leaf is turned on its end. This balances the points (or ‘crowns’) of the grain. This is often used in boat-shaped tables or other areas where round or curved shapes would otherwise be cutting off the grain in peculiar ways.

Also known as mismatched, in this layout, veneer leaves are placed next to each other in random order and orientation and randomly spliced edge to edge, producing a ‘board-by-board’ effect. This produces a rustic appearance, as though individual boards from a random pile were applied to the product.

This is a way of jointing veneers based on the nature of the growth of the tree from which they’re cut. Four veneer pieces are book matched both from side to side and from top to bottom. Quarter matching is useful in making up larger panels.

Various grain patterns can be ‘joined up’ to form larger visual patterns and solve spatial issues. Burl veneers are often used in this way, with panels continued in a matched sequence until the required panel size is obtained. End matching is another way to solve spatial issues. Where the length of the veneer doesn’t allow its fabrication into the desired height of the panel, it can be matched with vertical butts, as well as horizontal book match joins.

This is a technique that utilises natural grain patterns to create distinct patterns, such as herringbone, ‘v’ matched designs or radiating sunburst-like patterns. This kind of veneer matching pattern requires speciality skills and an eye for detail.