Cutting the First Strips

Set up of the band saw with a 1/2" wide 3tpi blade and cut a few strips. I'm using the band saw instead of the table saw to help keep the waste down to a minimum. I cut a few strips because I wanted to temporarly attach some strips to the bow mock-up that I built over the weekend to see what modifications I need to make so the bow form looks good.

This photo shows the fence and blade installed, the wide blade helps keep the cut is true and the blade is not too radical.The strips will not require too much sanding due to the blade marks.

I made a table on the infeed and out feed sides so cutting the strips can be a one man operation. I will still need help when cutting the 16 ft. boards. The shorter boards are not a problem for one person to handle.

Cutting the first strips. The strips are coming off at a uniform thinkness, there is no noticable blade creep.

The re-designed bow form with a couple of test strips temporarly attached so I can see how the lines will look. I did not taper this template since I knew I would be making some modifications to the lines. I will reshape the deck side of the form to be more straight and will cut forms 0.5 and 1.0 to allow a smooth transition.

I plan on making the curve of the bow more gentle and the deck up towards the front end a little more flat.