Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: leehongyi on June 10, 2014, 04:02:03 pm
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It was done by hand plane. Just post it to show the convenience of hand tools. After this step, you can sand it to get the flat more smooth.
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My least favorite part of messing with boo, the planing and thinning and constant battle to keep it totally flat. Nice work.
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One more pic
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That's a very nice plane, did you make it yourself?
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My least favorite part of messing with boo, the planing and thinning and constant battle to keep it totally flat. Nice work.
Yeah, I agree. I got a method I use on my bandsaw now. I do it kinda like reducing a stave or anything similar. First I cut the profile of the bow out of the bamboo using a template, as I cut the profile out of most of my lam bows before gluing (for nowI do anyway, probably isn't the smartest way to do it maybe). Than I angle the bamboo and cut the edges off the sides of the belly of the bamboo, in such a way it leaves a crown on the belly. And than I cut the crown on the belly, and move to the belt sander to clean up. I find it's always smart to cut it on the thicker side to make up for accidents or errors like cutting a bit too deep that need to be removed when sanding flat on the belt sander. Very good job with the plane Leehongyi though! Planing boo by hand must take some major skill with a plane!
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The VERY BEST tool I ever used for making Bamboo Lams is a standing power joiner like this one. I don't own one, ...but a buddy lets me borrow his when I need it. Trying to do this work with a hand plane caused me to recall a few of the more profane expletives I learned, ...and have tried hard to forget, from my time in the Army!
OneBow
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Onebowwonder I'll keep that in mind about the joiner, we have one that probably hasn't been used in decades. Its a good one apparently, I know that sucker weighs more than a few hundred pounds. Be good to put it to some use.
I was also looking into how split white oak baskets are made. The process gives a pretty good starter for a "quarter sawn" backing, that would take little planeing to get it right. Only necessary tools are those to split a young white oak into quarters, a froe, and and a plane.
I would want a jig for establishing a constant thickness for making bamboo or hardwood lams, hand or power tool, a good jig can make the job so much easier.
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For a jig for this I would attach 2 runners as thick as you want your lams to be to a piece of wood far enough wide for the stock that is to be planed to sit, everything planed dead flat. the runners will take the most abuse over time so it would be best to use something durable or replaceable. secure down your stock between the runners, and reduce it down until you make contact with them.
1/8 inch thick aluminum would make good runners secured down to a hardwood board that's been run through a planer/joiner. A belt sander would take rough bamboo down to 1/8 inch in a hurry, but it wouldn't take a whole lot longer with a hand plane.
With a little modification, you could make tapered lams in a similar fashion.
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Onebowwonder I'll keep that in mind about the joiner, we have one that probably hasn't been used in decades. Its a good one apparently, I know that sucker weighs more than a few hundred pounds. Be good to put it to some use.
I was also looking into how split white oak baskets are made. The process gives a pretty good starter for a "quarter sawn" backing, that would take little planeing to get it right. Only necessary tools are those to split a young white oak into quarters, a froe, and and a plane.
I would want a jig for establishing a constant thickness for making bamboo or hardwood lams, hand or power tool, a good jig can make the job so much easier.
we could select bamboo nowadays.
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Good little image there. The next step would be tapping a froe into the end of the log perpendicular to the grain and splitting off a piece a bit thicker than what the backing will end up being, and then plane down to final thickness. You then have a quarter sawn backing using only hand tools.