Wood Laminations

[Michael Scott USMC]

Well to start this off I'd like to say hello to everyone!  I have been lurking on this site for several months now and I've made several traditional bows off of the build-alongs you have all created.  I am about to venture into the world of laminated bows (I'm buying a kit off of Bingham's) and I was wondering if any of you had any insight as far as creating your own wood laminations.  I just love doing this so much that I think I would like to eventually try to make some money doing it by eliminating the middle man aspect of having to buy laminations from someone else.  What is involved in the process?  Is it possible to take a straight grained piece of wood and take it to the band saw to make a lamination?  What do you all think?

[LittleBen]

Bandsaw is the logical first step, but in order to get to a precise thickness, you'll need to thickness sand the laminations quite accurately.

If you have a drum sander, you're alot closer, then you just need a decent sled to run the laminations on, and a tapered lam to use as a template to make more tapered laminations. (place the template lamination onto the sled, then place the workpiece onto the tapererd lamination).

If you dont have a drum sander, you can make a lamination grinder for not too much money if you're handy, but don't expect professional quality lams your first time out. For the price of laminations, I dont know if its worth it.

I built a lamination grinder and make my own lams for wood bows, but they're not perfect. Since I'm tillering the thickness anyway, it doesn't matter too much to me if they're perfect, but for a glass bow you don't have the same luxury.

[Roy from Pa]

X 2 what Ben said.

[Bowjunkie]

I concur with LittleBen. You can rough saw them on the bandsaw, but need to grind them for adequate accuracy.

I use a Delta thickness sander and an adjustable aluminum sled. It is adjustable from parallel to any degree of taper you could imagine. It grinds lams in pairs and they're right on the money... as accurate, or more so, than the lams I've recieved from 'the pros'.. I can do any length lam, single or double taper, and it also works excellent for grinding lams for tri-lams, as well as pretapering the belly wood on backed bows... or grinding backing strips. It has increased the quality of my bows, my efficiency, has given me more construction method options, it's downright fun, and it's nice to do more of the work myself.

[Michael Scott USMC]

I'm assuming that straight grain is really important as it is with normal board bows?  If so, where do you go to get quality wood?  All there is around here is Home Depot and Lowes so you know how that goes.  Thanks for your detailed responses!

[Bowjunkie]

Actually no, it's not as important to use wood whose growth rings don't run off the board. In fact, I often purposely cut the tree or board so that I strongly violate the 'grain' (growth rings) as this makes for a prettier lam under clear glass. Fiberglass allows that as an option.

I often cut the tree, dry the wood and saw lams out myself. But I have also bought lumber on ****, on CraigsList, from local retailers, woodworker supply stores, local sawmills, boat builder suppliers, etc.

[paoliguy]

I have had some success getting lams down to size with a planer. Just go slow and remove very little per pass.

[jsweka]

How many bows do you plan on building?  If you're a professional builder, it's worth grinding your own lams.  If you just build a couple a year, buy them.  I don't build that many bows and I have made my own lams, but I've come to realize that for all the more bows I build each year, the time involved, and amount of wood that I wasted, it's worth it to me to just order lams from Kenny M.

[LittleBen]

I second what John just said, it's not at all worth the time and money, unless you just love making sawdust or something.

[Bowjunkie]

It ain't about making sawdust of course, it's about making bows. It's also about self-reliance and the associated sense of accomplishment... just like any other aspect of crafting our own gear. The more we do ourselves, the greater the rewards. And I think it's up to the individual to decide whether it's worth the time and money.

My lam grinding setup while not cheap, didn't cost as much as some of my other shop tools that I don't use nearly as often.

I ain't buying the time thing anyhow... if I get the desire to make a laminated bow, I can grind the lams and glue it up before lunch. I'll never wait weeks or months for lams again.

[Michael Scott USMC]

I just want to eventually be completely self reliant  and not to have to depend on anyone else for anything.  Like Bowjunkie said, it's just about doing everything by yourself for the sense of accomplishment!  And I plan on making lots of bows as I progress, I already have four or five people that want me to build them one, which is why I see the possibility of making a business out of it.  You mentioned Kenny M -- I take it he is on these forums?  Is it cheaper through him than binghams?

[Trux Turning]

Look up kennys custom archery... Quality and great service. For making lams you'll need a good saw ( either bandsaw or table saw), some taper sleds and a good drum sander. Nothing wrong with making your own stuff.

[andy nimmons]

KENNY M FIVE TIMES EXCELLENT SERVICE AND QUALITY

[jsweka]

Of course there's nothing wrong with doing it all yourself if that's what you want to do.  But you'll never be completely self-reliant.  Still need to buy glass and glue.

I just didn't find the process of grinding my own lams all that rewarding or enjoyable compared to the rest of the bow building process.  But that's just me.  And given all the more bows I make in a year, I'll buy them from Kenny.

When you deal with Kenny for lams, you certainly don't wait weeks or months.  He always has my lams to me within a few days.

Here's his website   http://www.kennyscustomarchery.com/index.html

[Bowjunkie]

Yeah John, but glass and glue is always the same and I so always have it on hand. Ever since I began making bows I'd cut, select, and season my own wood and send it out to be ground. When I didn't get my own wood back for 5 months one time, that was all the motivation I needed. Besides, a small percentage of my laminated bows wear glass. I use my 'lam grinding' setup a lot more often slats and lams for bamboo or hickory backed bows, wedges for bbo recurves, tri-lams etc. It does such a top shelf job of pretapering on such all-wooden bows that very, very little tillering by hand is actually needed. I use this setup a LOT, so it was a great investment... for me.

I'm sure Kenny does a good job with his products and service, but I'd simply rather do everything possible myself.