Ozbow

It is very unlikely that we will be able to purchase hickory boards such as shown in the video clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQEh9hNa9HQ

This cutting method should work with all timbers and it yields vertical grain laminations.

Daryl.

Exactly how I mill my hickory for backs...

But yes, very little chance of getting a board like that over here.

I have a flatsawn board that size, 1.75" thick by 18"(ish) wide by 2m long. I have an extra metre of the same dimensions, only shorter. Monaro Timber in Queanbeyan had about a dozen to choose from, only trouble was a little warping along the 18" edge due to the seasoning method (probably). The grain runs almost end to end and makes good backing laminations of quartergrain.

Good video, though. Always interesting to see how the pro's do it.

What a dream to have a board like that. I almost shrieked in horror when he called the middle bit 'firewood'.

Nezwin, consider this thought-experiment:

Imagine having a propeller. It is twisted along its length, but not warped across its width. This propeller will of course not sit flat on a surface. But at any point along its length, a straight edge should cover the propeller's width where its cross section is parallel to the straight edge. If you put one end of the propeller on this edge, and push the propeller along it, the propeller will rotate along its long axis such that its point of contact remains flat on the straight edge.

So what?

Well, what if you were so set up a fence on the bandsaw to rip backings, but also set up a beveled board, maybe 1.5 inches high, just in front of the blade? In such manner, if the cross section of the board (or, beam, in your case) is a regular rectangle, then it might be possible to rip lams from the edge of the propellerish beam. The lams themselves may end up also a little warped, but at the width they'd be, in conjunction with how thin they'd be, this should be an easy problem to either accommodate or muscle out of it during glue up.

Whatcha think?

yeoman wrote:Well, what if you were so set up a fence on the bandsaw to rip backings, but also set up a beveled board, maybe 1.5 inches high, just in front of the blade? In such manner, if the cross section of the board (or, beam, in your case) is a regular rectangle, then it might be possible to rip lams from the edge of the propellerish beam. The lams themselves may end up also a little warped, but at the width they'd be, in conjunction with how thin they'd be, this should be an easy problem to either accommodate or muscle out of it during glue up.

Whatcha think?

Spot on, and I reckon I'll be getting a lot more lams out of that board just yet - I won't be wasting a single piece! But It's bloody heavy, so squaring it up to the rip fence is awkward. I might cut it in half along the centre (the 'firewood'), will make handling it much easier & more accurate.

Those who are interested in large boards of Hickory like that would be well worth checking out Monaro though, if they can make it there. From memory, a 3m of the dimensions I described was about $170.

Thanks for posting that link Daryl, I also the viewed the others in the series too.

Interesting to see how a production bowyer/company does things. He had a good tablesaw with a long sliding table. I guess it makes it pretty quick to saw up backings but I bet he didn't have a blade less than 1/8" thick, so a lot of potential backings are getting chewed up compared with a good bandsaw.



In the later videos he saws up the lemonwood from a short plank and v splices them , rather than use full length staves. I can see why they do that as the wood is more likely to have the same properties, like sister billets and you won't need to bugger around as much with the tiller balancing the limbs .

Hamish.

Hamish wrote:.....In the later videos he saws up the lemonwood from a short plank and v splices them , rather than use full length staves. I can see why they do that as the wood is more likely to have the same properties, like sister billets and you won't need to bugger around as much with the tiller balancing the limbs.

Hamish,

From my experience Lemonwood is one of the most consistent bow woods that I have used.

Build a bend through the handle bow using verniers to control the limb width and thickness and the bow will be virtually zero tillered at brace height. I have found the same applies to an equal length limbed bow with a rigid handle.

Having said that it may not happen 100% of the time.

Listen to the following video and at about fifteen seconds into the video Pip mentions that at most times they can only buy short billets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMdFH_G3tKo

Fortunately I can obtain Lemonwood boards in excess of four metres in length just a twenty minute drive from home.

Daryl.