G'day to yall,
I have been trying out different veneers and currently have a bunch of eucalyptus here even though it is thin it is very fragile.I was wondering if steaming or wetting the veneers is something that any of you guys have experience with and could I get any advice on the subject.
Cheers Nez.

I have never wet the wood i use. But if you apply low amounts of pressure at first and ease into molding the deck it shouldnt break at the dips (if thats what you're worring about). At least try it and if it chips or breaks try sanding it so see if you can fix it.

Is it doing this after you take it out of dye?

The eucalyptus is a very different consistency to any of the other veneers that I have here.It is not smooth and paper like,its almost like a carefully meshed together tapestry of chips although that is not what it is(extremely brittle) .When I took it out of the mold it was still a nice shape but small cracks had appeared where the mold had manipulated the veneers.I am sure that I could still make a deck out of it and with sanding I might find that they are only surface cracks.I know that when building a boat and even skateboard decks that steaming helps to shape the wood,I was just curious if any of the crew on here had ever had to do it.I am very much a novice at FB making and am definitely in an experimental stage.Any advice that I have been given in this forum has always been good so I thought I would throw this out there.
Nez.

Maybe a mellower shapped mold would help some??

pictures maybe?

Okay,how do I post an image?

My advice: don't use eucalyptus. its fragile, has terrible grain, and is just generally not suited for fingerboards.

Get yourself some maple and try that out

I am thinking that is good advice,as I am an Aussie I am try to find good Aussie woods to use.My first 2 are Maple and they turned out quite good except for minor teething problems,which was to be expected.Trial and error has pretty much let me know at this stage to never buy eucalyptus again.I have tried to post some photos but they dont seem to be working any advice in that category would be gratefully accepted too.
Nez.

but I was able to make it my avatar,hopefully you guys might be able to enlarge it.
Nez.

Your mold looks really defined , the veneer can't handle the sharp turns I guess.
I see what you mean by steaming it , but I think that's too much for fingerboards.
also try some different veneer. if you want to keep the same mold shape

make it so you have 5 plys ok, and 2 weak veneer (eucalyptus) and mabie one other stronger one..

and do it in this order:

weak
strong
weak
strong
weak

and for the week veneer make it so the grain is going with the wood so that its kind of stipey all the way down the deck

and for all the strong wood make the grain go the other way so the grain is going off the edges of the deck and you have lots of small stripes, hope this made sence :S

I think that I understand,what you are saying is weak sideways and strong longways.If I am wrong please let me know and once again thanks for the advice.
Nez.

you got it! ^ make sure you variate though so long/side/long/side/long, makes the deck strong both ways and not just long ways