Acoustic Guitar Construction

I've got plenty of veneer! And I learned something....so it's all good.

Okay - it appears to be the vacuum pump itself that is on the blink. I think the warranty will cover it.

BUT - for now, I don't have a pump, so I'm going to try one of these two methods, unless someone can point out a serious flaw in the approach. The first pic is overkill, and I would build a lighter-duty and simpler approach. The second pic appeals to my minimalist sense. (i.e., perhaps, 'lazy')

An ideas?

I liked Ken's Idea of a dish and sandbags. That way you can laminate the radius into the plate.

I don't have any sandbags, and if I did I wouldn't be able to confirm that they would provide equal pressure on all part of the lams.

I think a flat lam process gives me the best chance with the tools I've got at hand - at the very least, I will have a back like we all work with, and will clamp into the dish as usual when bracing time arrives.

I'm always open to ideas, though!

How about making a 'test shot' of vacuum-bagging a veneer sandwich in the dish and confirming that the results were either valid or not, and proceeding after determining your own set of facts?

I've no doubt that vacuum-bagging the dish will work, but the vacuum pump issue is still not solved.

Sorry I didn't recall your mention of the sick vacuum pump. Does make a difference.