Australian cedar for soundboard?

[Mark McLean]

As far as bending that would be done by hand
I’d be building a j45
It’s obviously big but not as curvy as other body shapes
Thank goodness for body mold’s and spreaders

This is the set I’m thinking of getting when money comes in if it’s still available

https://guitartimbers.com/wp-content/up ... 0.jpg.webp

That set does have nice color and figure. If you are going to use it as a soundboard you will then have an orphaned set of sides. That is not much of a tragedy as nice timber like that can always be useful for something. I once made a bouzouki/mandola style thing with a spare set of guitar sides. One piece made into a three piece back, and the other piece was big enough to go all the way around as a one-piece side.

If that toon piece is a soundboard you want to choose another back and side set of complementary or contrasting color. I would be inclined to go dark, like rosewood. But the earlier example with deep golden Blackwood might be your preference?

[Jules93]

As far as bending that would be done by hand
I’d be building a j45
It’s obviously big but not as curvy as other body shapes
Thank goodness for body mold’s and spreaders

This is the set I’m thinking of getting when money comes in if it’s still available

https://guitartimbers.com/wp-content/up ... 0.jpg.webp

That set does have nice color and figure. If you are going to use it as a soundboard you will then have an orphaned set of sides. That is not much of a tragedy as nice timber like that can always be useful for something. I once made a bouzouki/mandola style thing with a spare set of guitar sides. One piece made into a three piece back, and the other piece was big enough to go all the way around as a one-piece side.

If that toon piece is a soundboard you want to choose another back and side set of complementary or contrasting color. I would be inclined to go dark, like rosewood. But the earlier example with deep golden Blackwood might be your preference?

Using the back as a top I have deffinetly thought about cause to me it looks too good to just be a back
And I deffinetly love the Blackwood back and sides
However I don’t plan on making instruments other than acoustic guitars so could I use the spare sides for more decorative things like rossetes, headplates bindings?

[kiwigeo]

However I don’t plan on making instruments other than acoustic guitars so could I use the spare sides for more decorative things like rossetes, headplates bindings?

Of course you can. You'll probably find that most of the bindings you buy commercially have been ripped from orphaned side sets.

[Jules93]

Well that’s good to know

I must admit I’m amazed of the colour pallet of Australian tonewoods it’s kinda hard to pick out bindings and purflings to match without taking the shine off eachother

[56nortondomy]

If you use Blackwood for b/s, Marri is a nice contrasting binding if Tim still has some, he was starting to run out. Wayne

[Mark McLean]

I must admit I’m amazed of the colour pallet of Australian tonewoods it’s kinda hard to pick out bindings and purflings to match without taking the shine off eachother

Bindings don’t always need to be a contrasting colour. You can trim some binding strips off your sides and use them to do a matching binding - with a subtle black or white or b/w/b purfling strip between them. This can avoid excessive detail that gets distracting, especially for really figured timbers.