So I’ve had a problem a couple of times now with glueing on veneers and I’m not sure what’s happening. These were all done before I got my vacuum press.

The problem arises when it’s time to start the finish. After raising the grain and sanding I’ll then put whatever stain I’m using (black mostly) first to help bring out the figure. All of my stain is water-based and I’ll end up with spots where the veneer has bubbled up, basically swelling from the liquid it soaked up I’m assuming. But it bubbles up and is clearly not glued to the body.

My question is, is that due to bad clamping or bad glue spreading? And should glue be spread on both the body and the veneer or is one surface enough?