Improved Lamination Thicknesser/Taper Jig

[Del the cat]

Dunno if anyone is interested, but I've vastly improved the lamination planer/taper machine which I made from an old power plane.
The taper sled is made from some 2"x 1" x 3/16"thick Aluminium U channel, it still has a little spring, so maybe steel or thicker Ali' would be better, but this version is vastly better than the mk I
The sole of the plane is drilled and screwed to the plywood verticals so it is all nice and rigid. (Well relatively  )
It works pretty well now, as long as you stick the lam's down to the sled with double sided tape.
I've just run a couple of Purple heart lams through it and they have come out nice.
One good thing is it produces chips rather than dust, much easier to clean up.
I'm hoping to do a Boo, Purpleheart, Yew ELB
Del

[leonwood]

That's a clever setup you made! Wish I had the space for stuff like that. Still taper my core lams by hand and purpleheart does take me some time usually.

[Badger]

  Nice one Del, I converted a planer to a lam grinder last year. I use two pieces of 1/4 glass for my sleds, I use wire between the two pieces to establish my tapers

[BowEd]

That's still a pretty sophisticated looking well made tapering set up there Del.Nice!!!!
I always liked laminated bows.I should get into some again.Bamboo backed bows mostly though.Using smooth on glue.I went and bought a hand drawn power planer years ago and used that and it was'nt cheap.It got me close enough to a good tiller when first braced.

[Del the cat]

Cheers guys.
BTW, the adjuster screw ( in that notch on the underside) bears up against a bit of thin steel plate, for smoothness and consistencey.
Del

[Badger]

   I like that sled, looks like it won't bend when feeding.

[willie]

interesting set-up for tapering, making do with simple portable tools. Of course, we are all now  looking forward to seeing the trilams 

[mikekeswick]

Del if you use just a parallel base board with a stop at one end and then place a tapered lam on top it will cut out the need for adjustment and reduce the flex. I can grind you some perfect tapers (key!) and send them down to you if you want. An elb needs 0.009" per running inch if you are interested Pyramids 0.002" and parallel limb bows around 0.004" - 0.006"
Although i'm only set up to do 1 3/4 width max.

[Hamish]

Nice idea Del I  cant work out how it exactly operates though. Is it for full length lams, or billet lams? Does the plane  have a depth stop, or do you do it by eye?
 

[Del the cat]

Nice idea Del I  cant work out how it exactly operates though. Is it for full length lams, or billet lams? Does the plane  have a depth stop, or do you do it by eye?

It's for billet lambs, but will take a 4' length or you can push through any length if its parallel.
The plane has a depth of cut setting, but I just leave that fixed and just do fine repeated cuts slowly raising the platform until I get the thickness I want (by eye mostly). The wooden platform is screwed up or down by the screw which goes up from the notch under the base. The aluminium sections are the taper sled, which are hinged together at one end, the other end can be opened up to what ever taper you want, the lam is then taped to the sled and becomes tapered as it is run under the plane.
Del

[simson]

Del, thanks for posting. This is simple and effective - great, I like inventions like this. I will copy that for sure. Saved your post under favs.

[Del the cat]

Del, thanks for posting. This is simple and effective - great, I like inventions like this. I will copy that for sure. Saved your post under favs.

An honour indeed
Del

[DC]

Do you have any ideas for running bamboo through it? How to back the internodes and how to hold a crowned surface down?

[Aaron H]

Very nice Del, that'll do for sure.  I am interested in how you are going to approach the bamboo as well.

[Del the cat]

Very nice Del, that'll do for sure.  I am interested in how you are going to approach the bamboo as well.

I'll just plane the boo' by hand, because of the undulations where the nodes are. It cuts quick and easy as long as your plane has a good sharp blade . I've done boo backed Yew before, but never a tri-lam.
Del