Author Topic: Cutting Lam's  (Read 11306 times)

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Offline bowa

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #15 on: January 21, 2014, 03:22:53 am »
I would use a table saw.
Didn't you have a carpenter nearby?

Nine out of ten voices in my head say I'm not crazy. The tenth hums the melody of Tetris.

mikekeswick

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #16 on: January 21, 2014, 05:06:06 am »
I would use a table saw.
Didn't you have a carpenter nearby?
Essential to do the tip that Badger gave you.
I wouldn't trust no carpenter with my lam cutting!
Del it's not just about tpi and blade width.
I guarantee you one phone call to the guy at Tuffsaws, just google them seeing as we can't post links, will answer every question you may have. This guy has been making blades all his life and has now set up his own business. I thought I knew what I was talking about regarding bandsaw blades until I spoke to him! Highly recommended and very, very well priced for what you get. 3 different blades do every job I need doing.

Offline Badger

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #17 on: January 21, 2014, 06:51:29 am »
 Mike, I just checked him out. Great prices!

Offline Del the cat

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #18 on: January 21, 2014, 07:40:30 am »
Cheers Mike :)
I'll look him up.
Del
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Offline Marc St Louis

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #19 on: January 21, 2014, 08:02:48 am »
I just use a square to make sure everything is at 90 degrees, table to blade, table to fence
Home of heat-treating, Corbeil, On.  Canada

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Offline adb

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #20 on: January 21, 2014, 12:01:19 pm »
As this is all just armchair bowmaking at the moment, so it includes making my own thickness sander or adapting my belt sander ;D.
In reality I've got to sort out my Yew staves that aren't suitable for longbows and plan what I actually want to do.
A friend gave me some Hickory backing lams... and I'm sort of thinking flight longbow, Hick' backed Yew.
I got over 300 yards last year... so 350 would be nice :o
I have ideas for crossbow prods too and bows with highly angled levers etc.
Like most of us I expect I have more ideas than time!
I'm trying to avoid wasting timber, hence the question. Next time I order any bandsaw blades I'll get a nice wide one. I'll also examine my belt sander to see if it will lend itself to being bodified to work as a thickness sander.
I've got an old electric planer too, maybe that could be modified as a thicknesser or sander. Once I've worked out how to cut parallel lams I'll have a look at making some tapered ones.
At the moment everyone wants self Yew warbows, which would be fine if I had the wood, but I don't!
I want to spend some time making the bows I want to experiment with. Mostly I'm into self bows, but we just gotta try everything haven't we?  :laugh:
Not much room in my workshop either... and I don't think Mrs Cat :-* will let me bring the woodworking indoors :(
Del

Hey, Del... try hard maple backed yew... it makes some amazing warbows. I've used this combo up to 120#. I have made some with hickory backing, but I was getting more set.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 12:08:59 pm by adb »

Offline Bryce

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #21 on: January 21, 2014, 12:45:10 pm »
I've been ripping through the table saw then running them through the planer.
With bamboo a jointer and belt sander works well to give yah a nice taper
Clatskanie, Oregon

Offline Buckeye Guy

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #22 on: January 21, 2014, 01:21:10 pm »
I would use a table saw.
Didn't you have a carpenter nearby?
Essential to do the tip that Badger gave you.
I wouldn't trust no carpenter with my lam cutting!
Del it's not just about tpi and blade width.
I guarantee you one phone call to the guy at Tuffsaws, just google them seeing as we can't post links, will answer every question you may have. This guy has been making blades all his life and has now set up his own business. I thought I knew what I was talking about regarding bandsaw blades until I spoke to him! Highly recommended and very, very well priced for what you get. 3 different blades do every job I need doing.

I agree Mike it is not just about size and teeth but we have to start were we are at
I did not want to spend an hour typing about band saw setup and blade quality
I think Del as some idea of those things , thanks for a source for good blades

Del show us what you have for a sander maybe we can give you some ideas
There are many ways to skin a cat as you know !  >:D :laugh:
As for armchair bow making there seams to be plenty of that , so don't spend long till you get to making dust .
Have fun
Guy
Guy Dasher
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Primitive Archery Society
Having  fun
To God be the glory !

Offline dragonman

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #23 on: January 21, 2014, 01:31:33 pm »
Hi Del, I have cut many lams over the last few years...I have tried many ways...my humble opinion is, that unless you have an industrial/big bandsaw, then the table saw is your best option....so long as you have a good quality blade with as many teeth as possible.....If you take the time to set it up right  you can get perfect lams every time, with hardly any cleaning up to do....

it will easily cut 1/16" lams
'expansion and compression'.. the secret of life is to balance these two opposing forces.......

Offline lostarrow

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #24 on: January 21, 2014, 01:41:54 pm »
Badger pretty well nailed it! You could try Youtube for cutting veneers on a bandsaw as well. Sounds like you are well on your way though! less teeth / inch is definitely the way to go. Too many teeth will have small gullets leading to sawdust clogging , overheating , and blade drift. The coarser teeth shouldn't give you a rough cut on rips. If it does ,it is likely because a tooth or two are set (bent for kerf) a little more than the rest .This will usually happen right at the weld. Find it and straighten it a bit if you are worried about it. With a good set up  , even a modest (not crap) saw should give you good results.  Try it on scrap first ,as always. Good luck!

 BTW , the "veneer " blade for the table saw is for cutting veneered plywood, etc. No good fro making veneer. Too many teeth will clog the cut , burn the wood, warp it and your blade etc. etc.You need a good ripping blade with 24 teeth / inch no wobble and a zero clearance plate. A high quality saw is key here though. With this setup on my saw  I can dial in very accurate thicknesses that can be glued up without resurfacing ( it's that smooth) . Constant feed rate and adequate support are necessary components as well.  You can also cut a pair of tapered lams if you need with this set up quite easily.
  I would still say the bandsaw is your best bet!
« Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 01:46:31 pm by lostarrow »

Offline Del the cat

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #25 on: January 21, 2014, 05:46:16 pm »
Quote
I agree Mike it is not just about size and teeth but we have to start were we are at
I did not want to spend an hour typing about band saw setup and blade quality
I think Del as some idea of those things , thanks for a source for good blades

Del show us what you have for a sander maybe we can give you some ideas
There are many ways to skin a cat as you know !  >:D :laugh:
As for armchair bow making there seams to be plenty of that , so don't spend long till you get to making dust .
Have fun
Guy
There's a pic of my sander here, it can be tilted to the vertical position, which may then lend itself to fitting an adjustable plate/table underneath.
http://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/slow-work.html
Del
« Last Edit: January 22, 2014, 05:21:46 am by Del the cat »
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Offline Markus

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #26 on: January 21, 2014, 07:05:51 pm »
The Wood Slicer bandsaw blade from Highland Woodworking is a very good lam cutting blade. Markus.

Offline Blaflair2

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #27 on: January 22, 2014, 12:05:50 am »
I have a link that shows how to build a lam grinder. Am I aloud to post it? Or let me know and I can pm u the link. I'm squiring everything I need ATM. Got the motor and other stuff. Just need a drum.
Nothing ventured nothing gained

Offline bowa

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #28 on: January 22, 2014, 03:02:43 am »
O.k.... I can trust my carpenter, he ist a Bowyer too ;D
But I know a few carpenters (Tischler in German) who i would let cut my lams :-\
Nine out of ten voices in my head say I'm not crazy. The tenth hums the melody of Tetris.

mikekeswick

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Re: Cutting Lam's
« Reply #29 on: January 22, 2014, 05:28:46 am »

I agree Mike it is not just about size and teeth but we have to start were we are at
I did not want to spend an hour typing about band saw setup and blade quality
I think Del as some idea of those things , thanks for a source for good blades

Exactly - so I let Del know that those aren't the only considerations and I gave him an expert contact who will be willing to talk to him at length about ALL the factors involved.
Surely this is better than just giving a quick answer? I'm only trying to help!