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Woody - SS II may not be necessary for rosewood with the bending method you use, but I'll continue to use it because
- it makes the bending on my hot pipe easier and gives smoother curves especially in the tight bends that my guitar bodies have in the upper bout and the tip of the cutaway.
- since the bending is faster, it means less time on the hot pipe which reduces the chances of scorching or leaving marks that have to be sanded out later.
- I don't need to to thin the side in the cutaway area. Saves a step and the side ends up more rigid in that area based on the cube rule you mentioned above.

Thanks for pointing out the possibility of migration of the resins on something like cocobolo with sapwood. That hadn't occurred to me. Good to be aware of.

Speaking of resin migration, this is what a paper towel layer looks like after overnight pressing rosewood sides that were sprayed with SS II and blotted dry before pressing between paper towels. Maybe this is part of the reason I haven't seen blotching. The two thin orange/brown stripes are from SS II-treated cocobolo binding pieces. Without the SS II, it tended to buckle in tight bends and it wanted to twist. With SS II, it bent on the hot pipe "like butta".

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter