what are the machinery and tools you have to have to start making laminated recurves and longbows,stuff like band saw sanders drill press ect.and money wasnt an object..sorta
I would say:
-14" bandsaw
-Rigid Osc. belt/spindle sander
-Random orbital hand sander
-A router with a pattern bit (to make your form)
-Various files for string grooves and general shaping
-Handheld drill
If money weren't an issue I'd have a 3 hp band saw, a vacuum press, a planer and drum sander, a dust collection system, a spray booth with big compressor and HVLP gun(s), plenty of lumber/stave storage space, a heat box, a patternmaker's vise, and a gizmo.
Now that you've got me thinking about this I won't quit for days... thanks a lot.
Joel
A bandsaw is the main thing, and no matter what bandsaw you get, and the bigger the better, you should get a gulleted carbide grit bandsaw blade( about $ 100-150) to cut sight windows and profile limbs otherwise you will ruin at least one regular blade every time you cut the profile of a bow.
anyone else....going to be dropping some major cash and want to be set and not keep buying more and making the misses upset
Get a dust collector that's twice as big as you think you will need, you will need it one day. If you have the room get an edge sander. A 12" disk sander is handy, and I will second the router with a pattern bit, there in no better way to make forms.
A year ago I'd have agreed with the bandsaw comments. I have two Grizzly's and they are great. I still use the one for resawing lam blanks. The other was for cutting out bows, but I no longer use it for that. All of my shaping is now done on the 80" edge sander. It goes much faster and is less nervous making for me. The sight windows I cut in with wood rasps.
I have a buildalong with a discussion of tool selection (and cost) at:
http://dickwightman.com/archeryactivity/dicksarcheryactivities.html
In the tool discussion box on the buildalong there is also a link to poorfolkbows... Sam, the guy who runs that site, really knows how to keep tooling minimal and simple!
Cruise around on the net and visit lots of buildalongs. You'll get a good idea of what guys are doing. There's a lot of variation.