turning them on the lathe works great.

your shop teacher aughta beable to figure that out! mine gave me some real simple basic instruction/saftey info...and told me the best way to learn was to do it...practiced on some scrap...first 2 pots i made turned out fine. now i need a lathe since i dont have shop class anymore!!

lots of places online sale the soundboards and surface material... i like Custom Sawing great company IMO.

they have a design template or outline on their site as well i believe...

it was easy to do though if you know how to turn a bowl. same idea but gotta watch the dimensions etc...

only real thing is the ledge for the surface...other than that its all personal really...and dont go TOO thin on the bottom.