For a small musical instrument I need a thin sheet of spruce (1.5mm). Normally I’d just buy a guitar or lute top, but for this one I need the highest quality I can get, with very narrow rings. So my idea is to saw down a blank for a violin top (25mm at its thickest point). I need to do this with as little waste as possible, because a good spruce top can cost 100-300€.
Is there a way I can do this with hand tools?
For very thin veneers, very sharp shaves or block planes with months or years of practice or specialized machinery are probably the way to go to minimize waste.
A table saw with a thin kerf blade is probably the most practical approach, if you don’t have months to dedicate to this project. I remember someone doing something similar for a guitar build at a local maker space.