MIMF

Wood hardner or poly finish will do nothing to strengthen the wood. Use Jon's idea and add carbon fiber bars.

Oh, I thought this was a standard 3-piece back.

Yeah, that has been done about a zillion times. Martin was likely the first.

Not bad for a dude from California.

I have a strong exhaust fan that I use during spraying but a weak fan that I use during the extended cure process. The weak fan does not need to be explosion proof. Any bathroom vent fan would work fine. You just need to move a little air to keep the negative pressure to prevent infiltration into yo...

It is fairly easy to make your own jig. And basically any router will work, however, I advise using a 1/2" router which has better stability and accuracy than a 1/4".

Spalting is another word for rot. But it usually involves wood that has not completely turned to mush. Some folks stabilize spalted wood with an infusion of CA glue or epoxy. I would not advise using it on your first few acoustics.

I tried that on my headboard project years ago. The reheating did allow some re-adhesion but the second application of heat caused additional shrinkage of the veneer which resulted in additional cracks.

Your results are quite normal for that technique. Just so you know, getting started with vacuum veneering does not have to be expensive or difficult. Check out Joe Woodworker dot com.

When building a guitar you can make any size neck you desire. Transplanting necks requires matching scale lengths, and neck joint systems and dimensions. A dovetailed neck off one guitar is unlikely to fit the body of another.

Be careful not to make the situation worse. You don't want to destroy the joint by trying to clean it out. A brace underneath it will prevent most access. I would be tempted to work some glue into the joint and let her rip. The best way to work glue into a tight joint is thin the glue with about 5 t...

Fish glue would probably work, but in my experience, any water based glue is risking cracks or open seams down the road. Uni-Bond or epoxy do not have this problem. On my very first guitar, I glued a burl walnut veneer pick guard to the spruce and the veneer cracked before I got to the finish stage....

Put it in a large plastic bag as Michael explained. You need to get moisture into the guitar. What you have done so far is not wrong, just not effective.

I do not pre-bend the veneer. It is flexible enough to bend cold during the lamination process. I have not found it necessary to install a cross grain layer. It would make it stronger, but I think it disrupts the acoustic properties. But keep in mind I am more of an acoustic builder than electric. Y...

Laminate it with 5 layers of standard veneer with purple heart on the show side. An additional benefit will be a very strong and stable side with no spring back.

I went down this path before. I tried the iron-on technique and could never get it to work satisfactorily due to the issues you are having. So I got a vacuum bag and used urea-formaldehyde glue (Uni-bond 800). This works so much better. No veneer shrinking at all. Very strong panel after glue-up.

You will need some spool clamps to repair the crack, so you might as well make 4 or 5 of those. Then do a dry run and see if the crack will close up without any alignment issues. If so, you can just apply some glue and clamp it up. Then use the magnets to glue in a couple of patches to reinforce the...

Tom, I do the same thing. The thing I don't understand on the "waist last" approach is how you do you align the side. I do mine by placing a masking tape flag at the waist and line it up through the slot in the bender. And bending the waist first locks the side into this position and keeps...

Joel, my opinion on the tilting issue being somewhat moot to bridge pins is that since they are tapered, a tilt is not as relevant. Also, since the string is anchored by the ball pulling against the bottom of the bridge plate, a tilted pin does not gain much. A non-tilted pin is not more likely to p...

Good information John. I will have to give it a try.