Great to collaborate with an elite car manufacturer on a one-off project. I cannot disclose the project but can share images of how I produced this solid timber dashboard for the instrument panel.

This Instrument Panel was made of two pieces. One, the outer frame; and two, a removable sub-straight which could be used as a former in the bag press. To form and laminate my veneers correctly, I handmade a jig following both contours/profiles of the curves involved. This supported the layers of veneer when under pressure preventing folding and splitting around the substrate; leaving me excess to trim and create tight parallel even gaps for aesthetic purposes as well as movement within temperature changes.

The Mahogany dash is made using six veneers equaling five glue lines between each layer. When in the bag press, I rolled out the veneer layers to remove any possible of blisters or glue build up, leaving a flat surface to clean up without sanding through a layer. I hand trimmed the dash removing any uneven edges, then created a 1mm gap all round.

The veneer choice and stain colour were chosen to match the steering wheel.  I placed the foil decals on after a balancer had been applied, then a polyurethane finish was built up in layers to create a smooth and sealed finish. Once this had been done, I then glued the timber to the substrate using a glue with rubber properties to allow for timber movement, eliminating the possibility of splitting during years of use, and ensuring durability of the product.