laminations veneers plastic or wood, whats best/available

[simonbradley]

Hello,
Still working on my horse bow idea. I would like to make the veneers myself but struggling with methods and tools available. I tried to cut 5mm down to about 2mm with a hand planer and router and struggled with both. Various little issues that make it tricky.
I have looked at buying something like this, 2mm veneers but cant find anything for my requirements. I looked at buying a thicknesser but for £300 is a little expensive and loud for so few jobs.
Could pvc, 2mm thick work in place of the wood?
For now I want to learn and experiment, I can not seem to find a manual on bow making specific to the laminated horse bow. There are videos on line which show what I need to do, but they have the parts already.
Do you make veneers, if so what methods do you use?
Would PVC work as a lamination, 2 pieces glued on a former, then glass either side?
Thanks
Simon 

[Shredd]

PVC... 

[simonbradley]

Hello Shredd,

Yes I have seen those and have some pipe but would like to make a wooden bow or try flat sheet PVC.

[Flem]

PVC does not bond well or at all to anything. It has to be chemically dissolved to bond to itself. You should try to glue some scrap pieces to wood or fiberglass or itself and check the results.

You can make a simple inexpensive thicknessing jig. I use this often, for getting lams to exact dimensions after grinding.

[Roy from Pa]

Pretty nice, Flem..

[Flem]

Thanks Roy

 Its slow, but accurate and the side runners can be made parallel, or any desired taper rate.

[Roy from Pa]

 

LIKE:)

 

[onetone]

Nice Flem!  I like hand tools and the ethic that goes with their use.

[Flem]

Thanks Onetone, but I have to say that I am no hand tool angel. I am happy to flip a switch and grind with the best.
It certainly is more pleasant without machines and you can rock out with your tools out.

[simonbradley]

Flem, what sort of thickness can you get with that jig. I tried to make something similar yesterday and failed. I was using a router to plane a channel and the router bit kept dropping slightly. I want to go that way, none power tools expensive/noisy/heavy. I do have an electric hand planer that i was thinking about using, but not too sure about tearing the wood as it gets thinner.

[Flem]

I built it to be able to shim under the bed, so it will accommodate any thickness required for laminations.
The body of the jig is 3 pieces of MDF glued and screwed. The side runners that the plane or sanding blocks ride on, are held in place by the MDF bed. None of the parts are fixed permanently, except the body. I use a variety of shims under the bed, including plywood, aluminum strips and construction paper. The bed has a thin rubber sheet glued on to keep the lams from sliding. The sanding blocks work the best for thin laminations.

[simonbradley]

Thanks Flem! I like the idea of working with hand tools and this is a nice design.
All the best,
Simon