@jamesbisset  Pleased you are getting somewhere at last, however you still need a foolproof method that works for teaching beginners.Ive thought about this since we chatted last week. I would be inclined to start from the inside veneer, build up…   Read more»

@robin  Ive found that it’s hard to get moisture into wood unless you soak it totally for a while, and even then some oily woods are impervious to moisture. Wood turners use Poly Ethylene Glycol PEG to work with green…   Read more»

With some anxiety, I tackled the front lamination. I was so concerned about the way the back had split that I cut apart the book-matched front face veneer and planed the edges again before joining (again). Just to be sure….   Read more»

Never mind. Let’s get on with the easy stuff. The neck!

By now,  I had made two new moulds for back and front with 4 layers of 3mm MDF: i.e. an arch of around 12mm rather than 15mm as previously. And with gentler curves. So, the back went into the vacuum…   Read more»

@tv101 I’m making this up as I go along. It just seemed like a simple way to persuade the joined veneers not to split along my dodgy glue line. 
As usual, I was wrong.