Thanks for all the comments folks. A couple of more observations. My panels did darken some on the outer edges after I hit them with the wood hardener. I don't know if the CA darkened them any further or not. I don't think the wood hardener did much for me at all other than, as Simon notes, cause the wood to shrink! After thoroughly soaking with CA, I am hoping the shrinking is done. I soaked before I rejoined and thickness the panels. As noted above, the joined back does seem fairly stable now. But given the comments, I may brush a thinned coat of EM6000 on the outside prior to gluing on braces just to make sure I get all the shrinkage out. I haven't done anything to the sides yet. Starting out, they have a firmer structure than the back panels. Regardless, I will definately hit them with something prior to final thicknessing and bending. I don't know if I want to go through another bottle of CA or whether I'll just thin epoxy as noted by Simon.
I have heard mango makes a decent tonewood, but what spalting does, I don't know. I can understand how it may be less resonant, but I wonder how much that changes after the wood has soaked up a pint of wood hardener and another bottle of thin CA? I had toyed with laminating using mahogany veneer, but sort of dropped the idea after the back stabilized. Perhaps I should rethink that option. I don't have the best setup for doing complicated laminations like the rims. I guess I could always laminate using my bending mold, but I don't have a good inverse mold to clamp the pre-bent laminates. How are you guys going about that?
Don't be holding your breath guys for pictures of a finished guitar anytime soon! Guitar building is a very part-time venture. I have my EIR OM and a Les Paul to spray and setup, and I will be building this spalted mango and a claro walnut at the same time. My goal is to be done before Christmas
BTW, my set came from Allied as well.
Ken