1/4 Sawn vs flat sawn for laminates

[Stick Bender]

I was in the shop last night looking at staves to mill for laminates preferring to 1/4 saw but noticed for the most part I would end up with more slats flat sawn ,has any body noticed a huge difference in performance between the two and if so please explain my choices are osage,hickory,BL,maple, ash ?

[Badger]

  I think straight grain has less tendency to twist when drawn. As far as belly slats go I don't think it makes a lot of difference. I have heard 1/4 sawn is a little stiffer and flat sawn a bit more flexible. But I can't say I have noticed a difference.

[Stick Bender]

Thanks Steve ,Dean Torges (RIP) thought pretty much along the same lines as you , it just seems more economical in my case to flat saw but if there was a huge difference I would have 1/4 sawn , & in my case with osage it's hard for me to find a complete pin free peaces for 1/4 sawn !

[Del the cat]

I think 1/4 sawn machines better if you are using any sort of taper grinder/planer (recent experience making Yew belly lams for Xbow prod)
Del

[Stick Bender]

Thanks Del I thought about that to ,but I usaly run the conveyer so slow and take off so little each pass & run 80 grit instead of 50 that you could shave & make dinner before it comes out the other side the last ones I got with in 2/1000s I'm trying to tighten it up but that's the best so far if I plane or joint I usaly run at a skew and it seems to make no differences but never tried yew or any other soft wood !

[Del the cat]

Blimey, that shows how impatient I am. I was just dragging the sled through my planer/thicknesser in a matter of seconds! Mind I was just going by guesswork and eye, not any real tolerance. I guess the planer would be good to get to rough dimension and then a final pass through a sander/grinder... but that's only good if you have a big shop and a money pot for machinery.
BTW, do you need to stick down the lams when they go through? My planer is a bit vicious and so I stick 'em down with double sided tape... but then I have to get the damn stuff off afterwards 
All these labour saving machines, make a heck of a lot of work
Del

[Stick Bender]

Man you just said a lot of isues I have been having I just did some horn lams  and had to use the double back tape it is a pain in the orff! but with wood I don't have to use the tape just hold the butt end then as it's coming out the other side put pressure on the lam with the thin lams I usually just joint flat thicker & rip on the band saw and drum grind the ones I'm going to do this morning I'm doing BBH 3/8 th parallel lams I'm just jointing and using the thickness planner I have a sled with sand paper that grips good also I'm going over to the wood working shop tomorrow they sell a double back tape designed for wood turnings that is supposed to be strong hold and easy to get off I will let you know ! I only have a flat and 0.005 sleds I want to pick up or make a 0.002 !

[Del the cat]

I made an adjustable sled out of some U channel aluminium, but it still has some flex in it  I may screw a rib along underneath the top section.
https://bowyersdiary.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/improved-taper-sled-and-thicknesser.html
I did think about incorporating a spring loaded roller into the machine, or maybe turning the top of the sled into a vacuum bed somehow...  ... but simple is generally best
Del

[Greenriverwoodcraft]

I make a lot of hickory backed flatbows and I find that flat sawn wood works as well as quartered for both backing and belly, but you have to be much more careful when picking out the flat sawn because growth ring location matters a lot more.  That being said a peice of flat sawn might only produce a couple of good bows and the rest is wast wood or in my case glued up for cutting boards and the like, but quartersawn wood you can usually use the entire board.  I like quarter sawn maple and oak, white or red for belly wood.

[Stick Bender]

Thanks Green river but I'm using air dried staves in stead of boards ,Del I ran a test relating to your coment Drum sander vs thickness planer the thickness planer won hands down for tighter tolerance on thick parallel lams and quicker to ,but the lams come out like glass smooth will have to ruff up before glue that's a cool grinder you have there !

[Stick Bender]

Thickness planer

[Stick Bender]

Flat sawn

[Stick Bender]

Another view

[Badger]

      I had an old 6" planer I wasn't using so I took the motor and cutters out and converted it to a thickness sander with an over head drum sander. I use a piece of 1/4" thick steel u channel for the base and I made my taper sleds out of 1/4" thick plate glass glued together with spacers inbetween to set my tapers. Works very well.

[Stick Bender]

I think the narrower grinders are better because with really wide drum or cutter heads you have to find a sweet spot where it's the tightest tolerance I'm really not trying to get to crazy with the tolerance thing I'm just trying to see if I can get the bow with little tiller and right weight off the form !