Help with Laminating

[ElkSlayer]

We are thinking of making a takedown riser, laminating a few exotic woods and forming the riser, Any one have any experience in this type of work?

any help in this matter will be gladly read over an over...also want to do a rifle stock something in Cocobolo / bubinga

Have an Idea on how to make this happen but we are looking for any info we can get, so come on folks lets here some Ideas

Thanks from Elkslayer & elkslayer4x5

[MLN1963]

I'm not sure what exactly you are asking about. Laminating the wood is easy enough. I've seen my dad do it for things he's made. It was nothing more than having wood strips the thickness you like with a semi-smooth finish and gluing and clamping them together. Sometimes on the inner, hidden pieces you might screw or dowel them for added strength in the shearing department. If you want multi-colored you have to stain the different strips first and then glue them together. It's been 30 years since I lived at home but that is what I seem to remember.

[ElkSlayer]

yea thats what I know too ... but been forever since I was in wood shop... we are making a Recrve t/d and a gun stock or 3..
want to know if any one has done it per the bow riser. Have found some good info just looking for more ..
whats a good glue? how much clamp perssure? were not making a cutting board here...lol

[MLN1963]

Clamp= tight! Squeeze out the excess!

Titebond wood glue is what Dad uses. They have a lot of info on the site.

[alex]

Laminating wood for a riser is relatively easy i think. The hard part are the limbs. Thus said i've never laminated wood for a riser, just a set of limbs (total disaster) and some knife handles (the result is excellent i'm proud to say )
You need some good glue - epoxy is the best choice, and good clamps. And flat surface of the wood A tip i can give is that if you work with a "fresh" wood you must put a thin layer of glue first, wait till it soaks into the wood and then put enough/a lot of glue for the main job. I have worked for the knife handles with some pieces of varnished wood and they were glued easier then the regular wood, but i used superglue instead of epoxy for these parts. If you don't have proper or enough clamps you can use a vice. Tighten the pieces as much as you can and feel it's reasonable. About the gun stock - i don't remember to have seen one of laminated wood. With all that vibration and recoil you must be very precise and accurate when you make it. Good luck and please keep us informed about your projects (with pictures of course)!

[elkslayer4x5]

Have'nt posted much in the last few days, as I've been busy reading build along threads on POA, getting a basic idea of what we will need as far as tools, books we'll need to read, and the general procedure, the last two days on limbs alone. This is the kind of work that we're talking about. This is a Blacktail takedown, made about an hours drive from here.

[elkslayer4x5]

Laminating wood for a riser is relatively easy i think. The hard part are the limbs. Thus said i've never laminated wood for a riser, just a set of limbs (total disaster) and some knife handles (the result is excellent i'm proud to say )
You need some good glue - epoxy is the best choice, and good clamps. And flat surface of the wood A tip i can give is that if you work with a "fresh" wood you must put a thin layer of glue first, wait till it soaks into the wood and then put enough/a lot of glue for the main job. I have worked for the knife handles with some pieces of varnished wood and they were glued easier then the regular wood, but i used superglue instead of epoxy for these parts. If you don't have proper or enough clamps you can use a vice. Tighten the pieces as much as you can and feel it's reasonable. About the gun stock - i don't remember to have seen one of laminated wood. With all that vibration and recoil you must be very precise and accurate when you make it. Good luck and please keep us informed about your projects (with pictures of course)!

Never seen a laminated gun stock? Here's three, not much recoil in either of the top two, a .17HMR and the Thumbhole stocked rifle is a .204 Ruger, but the bottom rifle is chambered in .338 Win Mag, Lots of recoil and vibration. Notice that the laminated pieces are oriented vertically, we want a horizontal orientation for the bow riser. See my post above.

[alex]

I imagined something else when i've read "laminated gun stock". The ones in the pictures can be made at home, but it'll be hard i think. I believe the manufacturer has used hot press to make them. At home you can glue and clamp the pieces one by one and wait for each layer. That's just my guess, you must ask a far more experienced craftsman for the proper technique.
About the riser - the one in the picture is a complex task. I'd start with a more simple one and when i see how the work goes move to the fancy cool-looking riser. I have no idea how the bowyer has made these curves. They require to be a master of the bandsaw and compressing (if that's the right word).

[Ehunter]

My grandfather used to make laminated stocks for some of his guns. Not sure how you'd get the curves shown on that bow riser, but I'm betting that would be a "hot press" situation as well. Special molds to assure adhesion. For a standard laminated riser or gunstock, it's basically nothing more than glueing sheets of wood together with epoxy, clamping them as tight as possible without damaging the fibers,(good to use an extra sheet/block on the outside of each side for protection), then cutting to a rough shape with a bandsaw when it's dry. Then the handwork begins. It would make the most sense that the riser would have the layers in the same way as a gunstock, but you would hold the riser vertically, not horizontally. That way you'd be looking at the layers when shooting the bow, and some would show on the sides as well. Should be the strongest oriented that way. Footnote, make sure the wood you use is seasoned wood. Fresh wood can warp the entire thing, even if it's just one layer.

[MLN1963]

I don't think epoxy glue is required, if it works, sands and stains the way you want then it might be worth it. I bet all those old bows in people's garages don't have epoxy glue holding them together.