table saws and laminated bows

[BrianfromTulsa]

has anyone ever roughed out a fiberglass laminated bow with a table or skill saw?  They sure are hard on bandsaw blades.

If so, what blade did you use?

[R.W.]

Haven't tried to rough out a lam bow on the table saw, but with a jig it should be fairly accurate, and safe to do.
One of the blades spec-ed for non-ferrous metals should work well, and last very well. But any carbide blade should work well, and last fairly well.
I wouldn't use my best Forrest or Freud blade for this though!  

[Orion]

I've rough cut bow blanks (out of the heat box with the excess glass chipped off) on a table saw with a carbide blade.  Works OK, but the glass even dulls those blaces.  I cut the tapers on a band saw though.  Craig Ekin at Howard Hill told me he cuts the limb tapers with a table saw, freehanding it.  Uses a very high quality blade, of course, and he gets a lot of practice.  Judging by the bows he's built for me, he's really good at it.

[tjdeerslayer37]

quite a few rough them out with a table saw. i havent tried it yet.

[ethan]

A belt sander with a very aggressive belt, say 40 or 60 grit works great and very quick.  Just be careful and stay off your finished line a bit.

[Jacko]

I know a bloke that made up a jig and uses a table mounted router to rough out his bows

regards Jacko

[Cupcake]

I have thought about using the table saw but have not yet.

What about a carbide tipped bandsaw blade?  They are about $25 at the Tool Depot.  I have one I use for re-sawing and it sure is sharp.  The regular bandsaw blade is trashed after one bow.  There are some hecka expensive bandsaw blades for exotic material that might be great but a $150 experiment is not attractive.

The glass wears a sanding belt down pretty fast but $3 is cheap.  That is a lot of glass dust to deal with though.

I would sure like to see the router jig.

[arraflipper]

After laying out the shape I freehand cut on a table saw with a carbide blade then finish on belt sander.  A good carbide blade will last a long time in a table saw.

Carbide bandsaw blades cost way to much and it is to slow cutting that way.  I save mine for cutting out risers.

Jim

[snapper1d]

I do the same as arraflipper.I have found it to be the easiest and quickest.Lots of excess glass removed and a whole lot less glass dust.I can do a bunch on one blade.I also use a thin kerf 7 1/4" blade on my saw.It cuts better and is a whole lot cheaper.