Anyone here ever grind a 72" double taper?

[Roy from Pa]

Mac do me a favor. When ya meet Kenny, thump him for me:)

[Canadabowyer]

OK, the next question is"WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN DOING THIS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS!!!!!!!.Took a piece of 3/4' MDF 2" wide x 72" and then made a pair of 2" wide .002 tapers and fixed them to the mdf with carpet tape with the thin ends in the middle. Then I put a strip of 100 grit sandpaper on top of the tapers with carpet tape.The sander roller pressing on the lam against the sandpaper keeps the lam from squirting out while grinding.Quick, easy and makes very accurate lams. I am using A-boo stair risers to cut the 72" lam blanks.    Bob

[kennym]

Sounds perfect Bob!!  

[LC]

Sounds great Canadabowyer. Curious how thin do your lams end up being on the thin ends?

[macbow]

Roy, I've met Kenny. That ole farm boy is too tough to thump.
I mind my manners around him.

[Canadabowyer]

LC, the thinnest I have done so far is .038. Thats a .110 x .002 lam. I believe I could go a bit thinner before having problems. Thats using a Performax 10-20 with  36 grit sandpaper.A-boo grinds easy, it might not be as easy with hard wood but I don't have any 72" hardwood blanks to try right now.  Bob

[LC]

Thanks Canadabowyer. Most of my bow weights require a 36" lam .002 taper at the thick end starting at .096 or .094 with the thin end being .034 or .032. I know early on that I had a few blow ups feeding the thin end at those thicknese's so I end up flipping the sled and feeding the thicker in first. I suppose  since I don't actually use a 36" limb I could cut down the 72" sled to a more usuable length. My other problem is I don't have any wood on hand over 40" since I never thought I'd be grinding a full length lam! Oh well live and learn. Thanks

[Sixby]

Bob I feed the thin end in carefully and hold the lam down close to the rollers so it doesn't buckle. then reach around and pinch the lam when it is completely  through to the sled so it does not slip and hold it pinched until the piece is run . You can grind incredibly thin lams this way without breaking them. Until they get thin enouugh to wrap around the drum. then you lost it. LOl;. You can also tape the lam to the sled with two way tape if you wish It will be a couple thousands thinner but will work.


God bless you, Steve

[Canadabowyer]

Thanks Steve, I think the tape idea would work fine.    Bob