Author Topic: Is this too much taper  (Read 1865 times)

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Offline Nasr

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Is this too much taper
« on: August 18, 2019, 04:16:55 pm »
 i made these laminates on my planer and i am trying to figure out the right amount of taper. I have never made tapered laminates and i don't have a clue on how much taper i should put in. These two pieces are 33.5" and go from 5/16 thick to 1/8 thick from one end to the other.

Offline Hamish

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2019, 06:00:34 pm »
It depends upon your actual goal. Do you want to glue up some lams, and a backing, and hopefully get a perfectly tillered bow?

Do you want to glue up a blank that is ready to floor tiller?

The first approach is usually employed by fibre glass bowmakers, though some all wood bowyers do the same method successfully.
They usually develop the right combination by trial an error. I don't have much experience with that side of things. From memory I think they use a taper of 0.001" , 0.002",0.003" /inch.

You could try a 1/8" backing,  core 3/16", and use your lams as the belly.

Keep in mind you may need to add a power lam or riser to thicker up the handle area, depending upon the style of bow you are after.

Offline Nasr

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2019, 06:36:36 pm »
It depends upon your actual goal. Do you want to glue up some lams, and a backing, and hopefully get a perfectly tillered bow?

Do you want to glue up a blank that is ready to floor tiller?

The first approach is usually employed by fibre glass bowmakers, though some all wood bowyers do the same method successfully.
They usually develop the right combination by trial an error. I don't have much experience with that side of things. From memory I think they use a taper of 0.001" , 0.002",0.003" /inch.

You could try a 1/8" backing,  core 3/16", and use your lams as the belly.

Keep in mind you may need to add a power lam or riser to thicker up the handle area, depending upon the style of bow you are after.


I wanted to taper the lams so when i add a R/D profile the bend would gradually increase as it gets towards the tips. everytime i do it without a taper the side profile doesnt turn out smooth and tends to bend more towards the handle.

Offline Woodely

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2019, 06:40:44 pm »
I hade a few,  but I would make that tapered lam shorter like say  20" or so if they are going to be the core lams.
"Doing bad work is an exercise in futility, but honestly making mistakes is trying your best."

Offline Badger

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2019, 09:27:15 pm »
Most of the time I just taper them by hand on the Belt Sander but if I do run them through their planer I usually use a wedge at the tips about 12 in Long add a power wedge at the handle

bownarra

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2019, 12:29:48 am »
Go to a glass bow makers site like Big Jims Bow Company and order some 0.001 and 0.002 tapers. these will be perfectly accurate. You can then use them as a sled or put them on top of a parallel sled and replicate them either through a planer (not recommended) or a drum sander.

Offline Nasr

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2019, 01:11:47 am »
Go to a glass bow makers site like Big Jims Bow Company and order some 0.001 and 0.002 tapers. these will be perfectly accurate. You can then use them as a sled or put them on top of a parallel sled and replicate them either through a planer (not recommended) or a drum sander.

Why do you not recommend a planer I planed these using a planer and a jig and they came out pretty accurate. My issue is not knowing how much of a taper I want for my use which is to get even bend and reflex on RD bows. With .001 I am not liking the way they bend haven’t tried .002. I will try these out and let let you guys know how it goes. These are tapered at .005 iper inch I believe I can be wrong as I rounded the number for ease.

I am not trying to pre tiller the bow with these land btw it’s solely for the even bend when reflexing.

Offline Del the cat

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    • Derek Hutchison Native Wood Self Bows
Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2019, 02:10:14 am »
They are ok IMO.
For ELBs I go by a rough out taper of between 1.6 to 2mm for every 6" of length.
Your taper works out to be about 0.8mm for every 6"
Del
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Offline Woodely

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2019, 02:30:06 pm »
Most of the time I just taper them by hand on the Belt Sander but if I do run them through their planer I usually use a wedge at the tips about 12 in Long add a power wedge at the handle
+2  except I dont use a planer cause I don't gat one.
"Doing bad work is an exercise in futility, but honestly making mistakes is trying your best."

Offline Stick Bender

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Re: Is this too much taper
« Reply #9 on: August 19, 2019, 03:03:54 pm »
Wood bows usually require more taper then glass bows some wood D/R guys start at .006 ,every design is different and may take some experimenting I don't use a planner but do use a drum sander but I would highly recommend getting a sled or sleds of different taper rates and you can grind different combos as well as parallels to obtain the stack thickness you need  all designs take a little experimenting or SWAG ! Also a good set of calipers help to ,it just depends on how accurate you want to get !
If you fear failure you will never Try !