@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.

Turns out some of you have short attention spans and don’t like all this talk of veneers.
So, just for you, here’s some video of a vacuum pump.

Hmmm… let’s see…

 
Nope. Well, that’s a little disappointing!
 
 

@rocknroller912 The adventure with the cutaway side suggests that the next stage in trying to force sawn veneer into a compound curve, without splitting along the grain, is gong to be using water in some way. Using a second mould…   Read more»

@tv101 We used a two-pack urea resin. I doubt we’d have had time to correct my foolish error otherwise. And yes, left it overnight in the bag.

Next day, the other side was a doddle by comparison.

I decided to try and simplify things by bending and gluing the sides, which only require bending the lamination in one plane – not two. We chose the side with the least curves too:

I had pre-assembled the veneers…   Read more»

Before I continue with this enthralling build, I’ll just clarify that veneer softener is normally used to flatten veneer that is warping and curling. Once applied, the veneers are wrapped in paper towel or similar and then stacked between platens….   Read more»

OFFS! Turns out there’s something called Veneer Softener!
Who knew!
Everybody but me, apparently.
 

I’m still accumulating little bits of advice fro across the internet. Here’s one from Airpress: “When a knife cut veneer (0.6mm) gets wet with glue – it expands. When it expands it buckles and wrinkles. Because of the flexible nature…   Read more»

Yup! A volume knob! I can’t resist it…   Read more»

@tv101 I reckon the critical factor will be how airtight…   Read more»

We’re trying to design assembly techniques that emulate methods Gibson pioneered in the 40s, but without building a factory full of heavy engineering. Here’s the best tour video I’ve seen on the Memphis factory with full details on the veneers…   Read more»

@robin I used Titebond for speed because we were only running tests, but I reckon the combination of Titebond AND spray AND thin (and a little warped) sacrificial veneers all contributed.
 

Conclusion? I can’t afford the time or the wood to do a full set of controlled experiments. There are too many variables: Mould depth The curve of the carve Thickness of veneers Number of layers Variety of glues Taped in…   Read more»

And so I returned with a new mould made with 6 layers of 2mm MDF rather than 5 layers of 3mm MDF – so approx 12mm deep rather than 15mm. We were running out of fancy veneer we could risk…   Read more»

Both pressings were aborted. I now had two slightly bent veneers with cracks. To continue the testing, we took the two cracked veneers and put a leaf of cross-grain poplar in between. Then we glued them up and put the…   Read more»

We tried another piece of joined veneer, this time using the back mould. It happened again.

On the plus side, look how closely the veneer has followed the mould. Even the poorly finished ridge that I didn’t see on…   Read more»

Moulds made. Veneers book-matched and joined. it’s time to get sooking no blawing. But first, a test press.As I’ve only got enough veneer for the actual build, Mr Bailey volunteered a piece of book matched 1.5mm maple. We put it…   Read more»

@tv101
Ah yes… the other minor hiccups.