Zebrawood 00 Venetian Cutaway

[John J]

Starting on my first Venetian cutaway. This will be a 00-14 with an Adirondack top, Ebony fingerboard and Spanish cedar neck (I think). I pre bent the waists last night. Seems to bend fairly easily. Worried about the cutaway bending. I have the mold all set for my bender, with a ram attached.

[John J]

Whew. Cutaway side bent successfully. Very light mist of water (after a mist of super soft II the night before). Pre bent the cutaway a bit first. Wrapped in parchment paper heat blanket and then aluminum slat onto the heated bender. Went slowly and after bending I let it cool down before removing. The other side was a piece of cake. Now to figure the neck block.

[MaineGeezer]

I'll be following this with great interest!

[John J]

As long as I had my bender out I did my bindings. Wenge, no purfling attached. I think the Zebrawood is busy enough by itself. The cutaway side I did use some super soft as a precaution. All went well.

[MaineGeezer]

Super soft? Is that something you can put on the wood to make it bend more easily, or did you somehow get some super soft binding wood?

[John J]

Super soft? Is that something you can put on the wood to make it bend more easily, or did you somehow get some super soft binding wood?

It's a spray on veneer softener. I got it here : veneersupplies.com

I read that on difficult woods/or bends it can help.

[John J]

Working on the neck block. The cutaway side of the block plus the side must come to half the width of the fretboard at the 14th fret. I curved the block to match the curvature of the side as it joins the block.

[John J]

All glued up.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Good job!

[John J]

Rosette installed and a light shellac coat to protect.