I enjoyed reading your blog Pete...and the cabinet is sublime!
I had some burr (burl to you!) Chilean birch which I had to laminate on a mahogany telecaster blank back in the old days when I made these things...and I was petrified of getting it wrong...book-matching....staying put...chipping...almost everything that can go wrong bar warping...(the Tele body being a tad thicker than 1/8" MDF!)
It came out fine....however I did use a huge press owned by my cabinetmaker mate in the village to make sure it stayed stuck! He can get a full table (three leaves separately) under it at once...so my little guitar looked kind of "lost!"
That is a real pain when you notice checking going further than you thought. I bought a number of small pieces of Norfolk bog oak from a lady on FleaBay once...with slight checking...but it extended way further than it looked. But that happy accident you talk of came along and not having used the last piece....I still had it to make some handles at the right time!
I look forward to seeing this progress...padauk is a lovely wood... if not a bit "in your face" at first...it will of course mellow with time...to a more subtle hue!
Which reminds me...I have a large block up in my "exotics store"...aka my son's old bedroom....must dig it out and find a use for it!
Cheers my friend...look forward to seeing the progress.....
Jim
