Allow me to hijack the discussion ever-so-slightly and point out that imported wood is now a Big Deal, and potentially very dangerous to work with, due to recent expansions of the Lacey act. You may have heard of the case of Gibson Guitar:
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"They...come in with weapons, they seized a half-million dollars worth of property, they shut our factory down, and they have not charged us with anything," says Gibson Guitars CEO Henry Juszkiewicz...
The feds raided Gibson for using an inappropriate tariff code on wood from India, which is a violation of the anti-trafficking statute known as The Lacey Act. At issue is not whether the wood in question was endangered, but whether the wood was the correct level of thickness and finish before being exported from India. "India is wanting to ensure that raw wood is not exported without some labor content from India," says Juskiewicz."
http://reason.com/blog/2012/02/23/the-great-gibson-guitar-ra... (disclaimer: Libertarian news site is a partial source, interpret that partiality as you will. other sources and commentary exist. many of them are probably better, this was just convenient because I remembered it and could google it quickly. you should look up these other sources if you're interested!)
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The cynics suggest that this is all at the behest of the Pacific Northwest domestic timber lobby, using environmental sentiment to dampen competition from overseas. Gibson's case, by that theory, is a deliberate scare tactic designed to create a chilling effect.
And to bring the discussion back to the matter at hand: whatever you're doing, I hope you're aware of all this, and documenting everything you have meticulously, or you could end up screwed. Like, possibly-in-jail screwed. For working with wood veneer. Believe it.
"... point out that imported wood is now a Big Deal, and potentially very dangerous to work with ..."
Shipping timber has consequences. Tall timber, hardwood in particular is the flora equivalent of the Rhino, Elephant and big Cats. Hunted to extinction, chopped up, chipped & poorly used.
"... The woodlands & forests that had once ringed the entire Mediterranean & provided a home for a rich population of animals had now largely gone. They survived only places for which no soldier bothered to fight, where no forester found it possible to haul out timber, & no farmer thought it worthwhile to make a field. ..." David Attenborough, "The First Eden: The destruction of the forests", Pt3, p173.
We care very much about this...we haven't done as much homework as we'd like on this issue but if anyone has more information and would like to help us find responsible suppliers, I'd love to speak to them.
"...Fortunately Australia has a wide range of under-utilised tonewoods, and as the supply of traditional material diminishes these timbers will come into their own as a world standard. Many of the Australian timbers are plantation grown and will yield musical instruments after 80 years, as opposed to the hundreds of years required for traditional woods.
Maton has been developing the use of these timbers for the last 50 years and it would be safe to say that nobody knows Australian tonewoods better than Maton. We are fortunate enough to have the support of many of Australia's most knowledgeable and skilled timber gatherers and continue to try new species on guitars and to learn more about the way these timbers are capable of producing beautiful music. ..."
"... there is no such thing for some of those tropical hardwoods. On the plus side, veneer is very thin... ..."
You may be right. Hard woods are difficult to source but not impossible. I'm thinking of Maton, a guitar manufacturer not far from where I live in Melbourne who source their tonewood with costs of gathering rare timbers in mind ~ http://www.maton.com.au/main/timbers.html
