Trying to wrap my head around laminations

[Autumnarcher]

I've commited to finally jumping into building my first bow, getting a few things in order in the shop, and  reading as much as I can on here. Laminations seem to be one thing Im having a hard time understanding.

Looking at several of my longbows, all from same bowyer whos no longer in the business, the limbs taper down towards roughly mid limb, then get thicker towards the tip end. Thinner mid limb.

I cannot figure out how you would do that. I love the performance of the bows, they shoot quick, very smooth and quiet. 

Also in my reading on here , I see power lams, super lams etc mentioned. Not sure what the differences between all of them are.

Im looking to build first form soon, probably next month. While Im not going to get too fancy with first build or two, I would like to tinker with the limb lams somewhat going forward.

Kenny M I will be getting ahold of you after holidays regarding form plans and templates.  I just gotta do this.

[ztontonz]

Hi, the kind of lamination you are referring to is the one called superlam. In my opinion it adds complexity for a first bow?
I don’t have a lot of experience with superlam but I had posted pictures of how I did my jig.

[Forwardhandle]

Nobody ever makes one bow so your first is always a learning exsperience for that mater so is your 50th  Kennym ,highly recommend him as he can talk you threw your first build ,ordering pre maid materials lams etc can get you threw all the learning curve of your first bow and you can move on from there ,Kenny's D/R modified bow makes a great first bow and easy enough to make , hope that helped , I'm not advertising for Kenny but he is a bow making addict & very good at explaining bow making from a hands on perspective !

[OkKeith]

The FIRST rule of Bow Making Club is... talk to Kenny!

OkKeith

[monterey]

Are your longbows old style such as Hill bows or the more modern reflex deflex style?  Kenny is a very good source of information.

BTW, I grew up in Ontonagon.  I want to be there for the all OHS reunion but it probably won't happen due to family health issues.

[Autumnarcher]

My bows are all R/D longbows. I will def be in touch with Kenny after the holidays, first to get stuff to build a form then go from there.  I will probably not get too involved with anything other than parallel and straight tapers to get started, then go from there.

Monterey, we moved to Ontonagon 2-1/2 yrs ago, we love it here. Get my fill of bear huntin, a lil trapping, and lots of fishing. Do not miss the LP rat race one bit. Winters are perfect time for building bows.

[Forwardhandle]

You will love the D/R modified I made a ton of bows but the D/R modified is the one I take to the stand the most its just a darn smooth shooter great hunting bow !

[Mad Max]

First thing Google Thickness Sander.
Kenny can help you get started with the tapered lams, after you build more and more  bows and want to get more involved , you can make your own.
A sled is a board that a Bowyer has sanded to be thinner on one end than it is on the other end.
Examples are .001, .002, .003 sleds.
So if you lay a parallel lam on top of this sled and run it threw a thickness sander multiple times it will be tapered.



Some bows don't need a tip  wedge or power lam.
Tip wedge on the left (string nock)
Power lam over Riser.
If  your riser block is not long enough you can use a power lam over the riser to make it longer or maybe to make the limb bend a little different farther out of the riser.
Super lam is made by a Bowyer making a sled with different tapers built in to include the tip wedge and powerlam.
So if you lay a parallel lam on top of a superlam sled and run it through a thickness sander you will have a superlam.
I'm sure I mised something so you guy's help me out.

[Bvas]

I think ya did a fine job explaining Maxi

[Mad Max]

Yeah
Need picture to splane it.

[kennym]

Think you guys covered it!!

[Autumnarcher]

Yep, that cleared a few questions up for me, thanks a bunch guys.