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Ken, I think the hardboard, maybe 1/4”, would be an improvement. I don’t know why I thought I’d need such thick & heavy cauls. They worked but something lighter and with s little flex might work better.

I built a piece of furniture and just finished it - first time I have done veneering and it was on coopered doors. I am a hand tool type of woodworker,and I found a hand-pump powered vacuum bag. The whole time I was veneering I was thinking - this would be great for guitars:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/47721099272/in/album-72157706524329895/

Click left and right, text below. There are 5-6 pictures in the sequence

I got it from these people, entirely reasonable in price:

https://www.roarockit.com/woodworking-tutorials-categories

For my plates, I use 2 layers of 1/4" plywood overlapped to use up scraps, then every clamp that will fit - cam clamps, F-clamps and a couple of big C-clamps.

Ed