Decorative Veneer is a thin covering of slices of wood that are typically pasted on top of another wooden member. The beauty of the wooden furniture or wood-work comes from the rich grains of wood. This makes the wood with rich grain expensive. The technology of Veneers prepares thin slices of wood so that the grains of the wood are obtained. These slices are then pasted on top of less expensive wood blocks which are available in abundance hence achieving the desired finish at low cost.. To make Veneer,  wooden logs of specified species of valuable timbers or rich grain timber in length varying from 2100- 2400 mm are peeled in to thin veneers either by rotary cutters or veneer slicing machines.  

Sunmica is another name for decorative laminates and it is primarily used as a surface finish pasted on top of another wooden or board members. .

To implement a veneer based design in your home, you work with the designer to get the drawing of the furniture item and purchase the required block boards or MDF/HDF or similar wooden members. The veneer is then pasted on top of the wood member. After the veneer based furniture is completed, it is polished to give a desired shine. 

To implement a sunmica or decorative laminate based design in your home, you work with the designer to get the drawing of the furniture item and purchase the required block boards or MDF/HDF or similar wooden members. The sunmica or decorative laminates are then pasted on top of the wood member. You do not need to polish the sunmica based furniture. 

• General day to day maintenance can be done by just using dry or wet cloth to wipe the sunmica surface
• These laminates do not take polish so there is no need to do periodic polish on these.

• Water have bad effects on decorative veneers.

• Some design conscious people say that the Laminate based furniture is not rich looking furniture. 
• As laminates cover the base wood, it is hard to adjudge the quality of wood members used under the laminate/sunmica

Veneered decorative ply wood should be according IS; 1328-1996.

• Decorative veneers are pasted on one or both faces of the wood members when used in paneling work. These are also used in making cup boards, cabinets, furniture and for general interior decoration work on walls in wall-cladding. 
• It is also used in door shutter paneling.                                                                                                                               

• Sun mica finishes/ decorative laminates are used as surface materials on counters, desk tops, cabinets, wardrobes etc. 
• It is also used to provide a neat aesthetic surface on wall paneling too.

The general sizes available are 3’x 6’and 4’x 8’. The maximum size available is 4’x 8’.

Decorative veneer is fixed in the manufacturing unit. Decorative veneers that require to be joined to form a ply shall be edge jointed before assembly.

The Sun mica / laminates are fixed on the supporting base of ply wood, block board, particle board etc by adhesives. The supporting base should be sanded and free from dust, wax, grease etc. After applying proper adhesive the sheet of laminate is spread and hand rolled from centre to edge and remove all air bubbles.  To ensure adequate bond, sufficient pressure should be applied over the entire area of assembly. 

The thickness of Decorative veneers are less than 3mm.

Decorative veneers are finished by doing polishing on the surface. Click on the link to understand Comparison between PU polish and melamine polish for wood or wood veneer

Decorative laminates come pre-finished and do not require any additional  finishing.

Veneers strength is related to the strength of ply wood with which it is glued.