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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.

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.

I'll be following this with great interest!

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.

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?

MaineGeezer wrote: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.

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.

All glued up.

Good job!

Rosette installed and a light shellac coat to protect.