Making laminations-question

[Theolithic71]

I'm in for making somewhere between 3 and 6 bows for me and my boys.  I'm a moderately skilled woodworker and hope to save a little cash by sourcing and cutting the wood parts myself, including the laminations.

Sooo,,,,.

For those who have cut their own laminations, what grit do you use for your thickness sander?  

Do you need to ruff up the laminations for glue adhesion?

Has anyone here tried milling laminations with a thickness planer and sled instead of a thickness sander?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[mikkekeswick]

60 grit paper will leave them perfect for gluing.
Don't use a planer thicknesser, these leave a washobard to the surface and actually compress the fibers slightly. I used to use one and had no problems but it is not ideal and if you have the option of using a drum sander there is no choice!

[Roy from Pa]

60 grit here also. I run the lams through twice before adjusting the drum closer to the lams for more wood removal. The 60 grip leaves a good gluing surface.

[Theolithic71]

Ok, so 60 grit.  I saw somewhere that sometimes guys would ruff up the wood with a hacksaw blade.  I'd hate to mill down to the hundred thousanth, then splatter it with a hacksaw blade.  

Thanks guys.

[KenH]

No hacksaws needed for wood-glass composites.

  When you get into wood-horn-sinew bows, the wood and horn are often cut to matching grooves to get good gluing surfaces.

[LittleBen]

I just recently bought a planer and I've been thinking of using it to make lams. Seems accurate enough. Obviously sanding by hand would be required afterwards.

Considering how easy it is to takeoff material with a planer, I would probably use it to get near final dimension and then go to a thickness sander (if I had one that is)

[mikkekeswick]

To use a planer you need the blades to be hair popping sharp and even then they still compress the surface a little - try putting anything with funky grain through one....thin lams....tearout...wasted wood. There are applications where sanding is the only way. If you have the choice a drum sander is the only logical way to make lams.

[Bowjunkie]

I agree with Mike. I have both a planer and a thickness sander and only use the planer to make lumber in the earliest stages of preparation, often the moisture content is still too high. Once the wood is dry and I need it for lams, it goes to the bandsaw, the lams are sliced off slightly oversized, and then into the sander.

[Crooked Stic]

Another for the drum sander and 60 grit.

[beachbowhunter]

I use 80 grit in my drum sander for lams. Works great.

[Theolithic71]

Humor the newbie here for a second...
Supposing the fibers are compressed a bit, would this matter?  If I understand correctly, it's the thickness and not the density that counts??

[Krasus]

No to planing. Your gonna get tear out and unless you have a digital planer you arnt gonna be accurate on thickness. Drum sander is the best way to make lams. It also allows you to safely grind tapers. I use 80 grit on mine. Works great.

[KenH]

Theolithic --  compressed wood wants to expand.  Probably in the middle of your glue-up...

[Theolithic71]

Ooo.  Expansion.  Yes, that would be bad.  Thanks for the info and discussion guys.

[Bivyhunter]

Ted,
I feel your pain not having all the right tools. If you'd like to mail me your lams, I'll sand them to thickness for you @ n/c.

[Theolithic71]

@ StalkerStickbows...Wow!  That's is a very kind offer indeed!!  I'll keep that in mind, but gonna try to get a sander going.

You do some mighty fine work by the way.  Hope to get one of your wolverines some day.  Just love the elegance of your work.

[Crooked Stic]

Nice offer South      

[Theolithic71]

@ StalkerStickbows...Wow! That's is a very kind offer indeed!! I'll keep that in mind, but gonna try to get a sander going.

You do some mighty fine work by the way. Hope to get one of your wolverines some day. Just love the elegance of your work.

[ffdiggs]

I use 60 grit on my drum sander, i tried the planer and lost a good piece of wood to tear out. thats why I bought the sander..

[BO-R]

X2 on the 60 grit...
Stalkerstickbows...Class act!