Profiling a glass bow without a bandsaw

[K. Mogensen]

Is there a decent way to profile a glass laminated bow without a band saw or belt sander? Is it doable with a rasp and sanding block?

Thanks!

[Bvas]

I would shy away from the rasp. I think you would be likely to lift glass splinters. The sanding block would work, but take a long time.

I use a flap disc sanding head on a 4” grinder to get close then finish with a belt and/or a sanding block.

[kennym]

I use an ancient Skil belt / 6" disc . The bearings are out of the idler on the belt so it is a disc sander now.

With 40 grit discs I can grind the limbs out on a bow in 10 to 15 minutes if I take my time.

[Crooked Stic]

Angle grinder with sanding disc. go slow

[arachnid]

Haven't tried it but I think you can also use a sanding disc head on a hand drill. Just clamp the drill to you work bench and you got a poor man's disc sander. I used this setup to shape the handle when I was making wooden bows.

[C. Johnson]

If a guy has a decent vice with soft pads to protect the workpiece from the jaws, he can use a hacksaw to profile cut the glass bow.  I did my first two bows this way back when I was a young guy living in an apartment.

After hacksawing, a guy can use a sanding block with coarse paper to clean it up.  It's really easier than it sounds, just time consuming.

[Dazzad]

C Johnson x2 - it can be done!

 I would add two things - treat yourself to a brand new sawblade before you start.

 Also, whilst a sanding block will get the job done, I use a double handed sanding 'board'. cut a piece of plywood or similar to around 12x4 inches and use double sided tape to mount your coarsest grit over one complete face. Big, broad, controlled, long sweeps of this across/down each cut edge will give you a great result.

[jess stuart]

I clamped a jig saw upside down in a black and decker workmate.  Used that method a time or two to rough out limbs.  Now I bring them close and finish by hand.  A belt sander turned on its side might work too.

[skeaterbait]

I have a Rigid oscillating belt/spindle sander.

[monterey]

I have a Rigid oscillating belt/spindle sander.

I do the same now with a 36g belt to get close then to the mark with a long sorta, but not too, flexible strip of wood for a backer like described above.

I did like Craig with my first bows.  The frame gets in the way so I bent the frame of the hack saw to about a 60 degree angle.  I still have that frame and used it a couple months ago when it was pouring rain in the shop.  It really is just as fast as the Rigid but leaves a rougher edge to clean up.

[Stagmitis]

I do it on my table saw with a dedicated 24 tooth diablo framing blade. Its cheap, quick and gets me close enough to finish with a Belt or oscillating sander.

[Forwardhandle]

I prefer to use my rigid osilating edge sander but a lot of times I have to work in the dead of night and used hand tools on my last bow ,I used a very sharp Grobet 6 rasp ,files and a Japanese razor saw sanding sticks to do the limbs & riser that Grobet rasp is more like a aggressive cut file and I worked at it like said above , it was quicker and easer then I thought it would be.

[Shredd]

I do it on my table saw with a dedicated 24 tooth diablo framing blade. Its cheap, quick and gets me close enough to finish with a Belt or oscillating sander.

   x2...   Best way to go in my opinion...  I use a 36 tooth Dewalt blade...  Not crazy about Diablo...

[Kopper1013]

You guys don’t have any trouble with the glass and the table saw? Lifting bad splinters?

[Shredd]

  Not yet...  Knock on wood...  I use a circular saw with a piece of plywood attached to the shoe...  Turn it upside down and you have a mini-table saw...  I cut a heavy 1/16" off the line...

   Hey K. Mogensen what is your situation???  No electric or no tools??  What cutting and sanding tools do you have??

[Wolftrail]

I dont have a bandsaw nor do I have room for one, the belt sander mounted sideways is what I use for most of my work.

[Stagmitis]

Kopper I have done dozens upon dozens that way and never lifter a splinter. I just know it works. The only drawback even with filtration is that it can be messy...But considering how how quick it is and how long the cheap diablo blades last offsets the inconvenience .

Shredd I tried a higher tooth blade and it didnt cut as clean or as fast as the Diablo... Maybe its the blade speed on my saw? Dunno

[Tim Finley]

I've done well over 3000 bows on my table saw using a thin carbide kerf blade with no off set . Im still on the same blade it don't look too good but still works . You can get really close to your lines so there's not much sanding mostly to just take out the saw marks .

[K. Mogensen]

  Not yet...  Knock on wood...  I use a circular saw with a piece of plywood attached to the shoe...  Turn it upside down and you have a mini-table saw...  I cut a heavy 1/16" off the line...

   Hey K. Mogensen what is your situation???  No electric or no tools??  What cutting and sanding tools do you have??

Shredd,

The situation I'm in is complicated. I have access to tools, but they belong to my dad and he's a bit weird about anyone messing with blades and changing how his tools are setup. He actually has a band saw and a table saw, but if the glass is going to ruin his band saw blade, I wanted to see if there was another option.

I may have a belt sander, which I'm thinking might be the way to go.

I'm also still trying to weigh out investing the time to get everything setup to build the bow that I want, or whether I want to just see if I can get 7Lakes to do what I'm looking for since then I could just get the bow already profiled and tillered.

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone.

[Crooked Stic]

Get a bi metal blade and change it out to cut your limbs then put his back on.