Saws and sanders.

[Brett Leinmiller]

I'd like to know what saw and sander make and models have given you the best service.

I see a thickness sander is going to be nesseccarry. Do the 2 drum models hold an advantage for us?

A band saw. I'll want one for cutting out risers and such. Do you use a bandsaw for resawing as well? I have a very nice table saw but over time that added kerf  is going to waste a lot of laminates.

So the better brands and makes and other machines you find nesseccarry to your shop? Thank you for your input.

[Roy from Pa]

Grizzly tools are nice. Their 14" band saw is sweet. I have the 12" drum sander, single drum is fine.
 http://www.grizzly.com/featured/woodworking-machines

[kennym]

Listen to the old one......
   

I have several Griz tools, no complaints.

[Brett Leinmiller]

I worked at an aircraft cabinetry company for several years and when thinning very thin pieces in the Time saver , we used a backer board to protect the conveyor belt. 3M contact or double sided tape was used to hold the lam to the backer board and acetone used as a release agent.

Do you use similar methods? A tapered jig would seem an ideal way to run full length tapered lame through a drum sander. Am I on the right track here. Thank you

[Roy from Pa]

Yes you are Brett.

A "real old boy" from Linneus, Mo, made me up a few sets of tapered lams in various thickness tapers like you just mentioned. I don't use any tape, I just hold the in feed end until I can grab the out feed end.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrndKbkip_0&list=UUBMjR2l-xfFufcLpkUpYYBQ

[kennym]

If you have a sled with a surface sanded with 40 or 50 grit, and decent hold down rollers, you won't need to use any adhesive on it.

Really thin veneers , you will need to stalk the final few thousandths. I can go down to .020 pretty easily, but with figured wood and less than that, the sander may eat em!

[Brett Leinmiller]

Great. I always worried that the acetone might later effect the finish but it obviously didn't as these were going in private jets, and even Air Force One from time to time. Certainly if it had created a problem we would have known it.

I sure miss that millroom. Every machine you could imagine there for us to use. My favorite was a self feed resaw bandsaw over 8 feet tall! Very cool tool!!!

[Roy from Pa]

Brett, that's the old boy I mentioned above..  

[Brett Leinmiller]

Thank you for the great input. In lookin at the different sanders available I see the open end drum sanders. I can see these being a bit more versatile for a woodworker who does more than bows. Do they have any disadvantage over the closed end Sanders for our application?

[bornofmud]

I think the thing that makes people nervous about them is distortions from the open side of the sander (having the arm slightly bend).  More versatile, yes, though unnecessary for most of us.  If you'd use it, definitely worth looking into though.  The baby drum sander is a solid tool though, took awhile for grizzly to fix the issue with the conveyor belt gear stripping (used to be made out of nylon), but since they have I'd easily say it's one of the best sanders for the price range.

I have a baby drum, 14" g0555 bandsaw, and the 6x80 edge sander with a wrap around table, can easily do any task needed for bow making.

Oh, also, you don't need 3m or double sided tape for lams, but you do for tip wedges if you end up making them for your bows.  The pieces are too small to have enough friction to stay on the sled, little tape or a dot of CA does the trick.

[Roy from Pa]

X'2 on what mud said.

[Brett Leinmiller]

Thanks bornofmud, that looks like a great machine. I see the 1140 Model tilts flat. Have any of you used this one?

[Cootling]

I would check out the woodworking forums and feedback from buyers.

I'd like to have a Supermax.  I've been looking them over at a local dealer and they seem like really nice machines.

One thing to keep in mind on an open-ended sander is that laminations are not very wide.  Variation in thickness across the width of a sander (say, 19") translates to much tighter tolerance across the width of a lamination (say, 2").   Can't imagine a high-quality open-end sander wouldn't be plenty precise.

[BigJim]

In the beginning I used a small performax drum sander and it worked well enough but slow.

I currently use a griz widebelt and it is a real work horse albeit a bit expensive for a hobbyist (about $6000 with shipping).
There 14" ultimate bandsaw is a goodun but not so for resaw...use a trimaster 3 blade if you are going to cut fiberglass..expensive at first, but I have cut out over 200 bows to include the risers before having to replace.

Sled is a must for tapers, but I personally wouldn't waste my time or money making a full length taper (72"). There is absolutely no advantage to it and it will run up shipping costs for materials and time for making them. Butt jointing two using CA and a angled overlap is the way to go.
I don't ever use a sled when doing veneers down to  .015 (some woods won't go this thin without disintegrating). This will also depend on the quality of your sander.
No need for sandpaper on the sled and no need to glue them down...I would keep the acetone away from my wood from an adhesion standpoint.

Good luck, BIgJIm

[Brett Leinmiller]

Thanks guys. BigJim, you say not to use the 14 inch ultimate for resaw. What are you using to resaw?

[NYArrow]

I'd be curious to here the reply to this too, as I have been keeping an eye out on the grizzly bandsaws just for this purpose.

[BigJim]

I use a Laguna bandsaw for sawing veneers. A bit extreme for a hobbyist, but has become a big part of my building and veneer/core sales.

The griz are fine for every thing else and the bigger saws might be fine for cutting veneers too.

The 14's are too sloppy for veneer cutting in my opinion. The could probably be modified.
BIgJIm

[Buemaker]

If butting the thick ends of two tapers won't it be a "sharp" angle downhill from the" mountain top" for the lam that goes on top of that? I guess it could be rounded off somewhat?
Bue--.

[BigJim]

No, and it is not necessary to round off. Consider howmany curves there are in a laminated bow. For the glass to form over a small variance like a few thousands is not a problem. .002-3-4-or 5 is hardly a sharp angle.

Very few bowyers fool with full length tapers..just not worth the extra expense and labor.

[Buemaker]

A good one?
 http://www.supermaxtools.com/products-sanders/wood-supermax-19-38-drum-sander/