Lams With Pedestal Sander?

[pebowbender]

Anyone ever clamp a gate to an oscillating pedestal sander to grind parallel laminations? I have been an aviation machinist for a prominent airline, this seems to be a good idea in theory. Clamp a gate, take SMALL passes and bump the gate in a few thousandths at a time. The squareness to the table looks near perfect using my machinist square. Just wondering if anyone has tried yet?

[SSGN_Doc]

I've seen lam grinders made from pneumatic drum sanders and even small adjustable tables used under table top belt sanders.

Here is a look at a belt sander used to grind lams on Sam Harpers site.

  http://poorfolkbows.com/glass3.htm

So it seems something could be rigged to work with what you've got.

[Teagus]

Sign me up, I'm in. I posted about my need of a thickness sander. A lot of tradgangers responded with good feedback about purchased and home made. If this could work, I would be happy to make trim strips for risers and tip overlays.
Here is some pics of my sanders. The small one may not have enough power. The homemade pneumatic might work if pumped up.
 
 

I built the homemade sander myself. This could be a no brainer.

[pebowbender]

I purchased mine from Harbor Freight yesterday on sale for 99.99. Can't wait to give it a go. My first attempt will be to true my riser block. I made a straight cut with the band saw for the accent strips. I'll try the gate thing and report back. My only concern is keeping everything square and that doesn't "seem" like it is going to be a problem. I've been wanting to slice some lams like in the link from SSGN_Doc.

[Scott F]

Page,

I made one for my belt sander, based on Sam Harper's thickness sander mentioned above.  It WORKS.

Good score on the spindle sander, I wish that I had one.  The key in my opinion of grinding good laminations is a constant speed as you move your lam past the source of grinding.  A spindle sander moves in two directions therefore it may actually work better than mine.  Try it out with some 1/8" slats of oak or poplar from your local hareware store and let us all know if it works!

I suggest that you build something that uses a threaded rod to adjust your thickness as opposed to simply clamping a board next to your spindle, it is awesome to witness how well that it can be adjusted as you grind lams.

Scott

[Teagus]

It seems the rubber cores deform when nut is tightened. The small sander had way more deformity than the large sander. I was ok with the larger sander due to it's oscillation.
The problem is smooth feed. I now have ripple-wood. I used pieces of the packing strips Elmont sends out that I have been saving. Lots of dust.

 

 

Mike

[pebowbender]

I tried it and it works!!!! I was able to take .002" per pass and still have an excellent surface finish and it remained square/even thickness.
Scott F, It didn't take long to see that speed of feed is of utmost importance. I'm very pleased with the outcome.

[Scott F]

Glad that it worked out...now get on with your bow!

[Teagus]

Page,
 Got any pics of your rig? I haven't given up yet. Think my test fence was not tight enough. When I get back to work Monday, I will talk to the boys in the model shop about a fixture I have in mind.

Mike W.

[Scott F]

I've got a motor unit from a "Boune House" that my kids used to play on.  The "house" portion of the toy had too many holes in it so I just threw it away, but the fan's motor unit may be perfect for me to disassemble and put a chuck on the end to make a spindle sander.  It won't go up and down, but it will spin for sure!  Not sure of the RPMs but I'll build it and see how it goes.  I'd like to use a hole saw and make a 4" spindle for it.  If it works I'll post pics.