Probably for small dimension items like this you're right. Sealing it on all sides will help to combat splitting, and the 90 degree orientation of the veneer to the substrate will help as well.

More and more I'm doing work using man-made materials, like MDF, MDO, Melamine, etc. Even the best places to get hardwoods are fighting a losing battle to provide decent quality lumber at a reasonable price.

Some of my projects I've had to allow for 40% waste due to lumber that twists, checks and warps after I get it bucked down to near useage size. I used to be able to buy lumber and cut the parts down to within 1/4" width and 1/2" length (cutting off 2+ inches at the ends) - allow it to rest for a couple of days and then do the final machining. Now, I don't dare go any closer than 1/2" on the width to allow for re-jointing the edge to get what was once a straight piece back to straight again.

What's worse is the buggers plane everything down to just over 1/32" large in thickness. I used to be able to count on buying S3S 4/4 lumber and expect to get something close to 7/8" thick. Plenty of meat to allow for twisting and still be able to joint and plane it back flat again. Now, I frequently find the higher priced stuff (Maple, Walnut, Cherry) is just over .800 thick when I take delivery. That leaves me under 1/16" if I want to get .750 as my final thickness. Usually I end up settling for .700 or even as thin as .675 for stuff I indended to be .750.

Too much off thread...

Most of the furniture I build I use water-based lacquers from a place called Target coatings. You can buy it online, and I "think" it's pretty UV stable. I think the place is in MA. Sprays right out of the can with normal tools. I have a SATA HVLP conversion gun I use for big work, but I've also sprayed it with my cheapie Craftsman touchup standard (meaning 90% in the air and 10% on the part) gun with very acceptable results. In warm weather (which we have a lot of down here in Houston), it dries to a sandable state in about 40 minutes. It does tend to yellow very slightly over time, but doesn't seem to progress much. That yellowing adds a warmness to any wood it's applied over. The best part about the stuff, at least as compared to Polyurathane is that it has 100% burn. By that I mean that it's a solvent for itself, so each coat bonds with the previous by slightly softening the previous layer. Touch-ups are a breeze, and there's no required sanding between coats except to remove dust nibs and other foreign particles. Dries hard as a rock after about 72 hours.

To minimize the fuzzing that you can get with water-based top coats, you can slightly dampen the wood with distilled water and allow it to air dry, then sand very gently with 220 grit. You can do this even if you're using an oil-based stain. If you're doing a lot of coats, you can omit the water step because you'll eventually bind all the grain fuzz up in the finish layers.

Keep the good work coming.

One other question - what did you use to adhere the veneer? (poet & don't know it)