Hey guys, I have a question that’s been drivin me nuts, I’ve built about 6 boards so far, all eps. Typically I either use no stringer at all, or have to splice 2 pieces of balsa together to follow the rocker of my boards and get the length. All I can find is 48" balsa. I’m tired of this, so where can I find stringers or stringer material? It doesn’t have to be balsa, I’ll take anything, I looked at Sintra foam board, is this ok? Can I epoxy over it? And if any of you have stringers to sell, PLEASE, PLEASE, let me know, thanks…
1/8" PVC sheet foam works and is fairly cheap (about 30 bucks for a 4’X8’ sheet). Another alternative is Greenlight in PA. They do custom bamboo stringers. Not real inexpensive, but they do good work.
Last month when I was there, Surfsource in Jacksonville had a bunch of basswood stringers in the rafters of their side room.
The Greenlight bamboo are nice. I just used the PVC but a 4’x8’ sheet cost me $64 at a sign making supply store. Home Depot and Loews carry luan, that is probably the cheapest you will get; about $20 for a sheet
FYI Greenlight no longer sells stringers by themselves…just in their blanks.
Another good alternative may be to call around to specialty wood suppliers in your area and ask if they have 3 or 4 milimeter “bender board” plywood. They usually have two kinds. One with the grain running with the length (usually 9 foot max) and one with the grain running across the width (4’) of the sheet. Use the one with the grain running with the length. A huge number of EPS short boards here on the West Coast use this type of wood product. (Note: Most all of it comes from Italy.) The flex is good at the 3 or 4mm thickness and still really helps cut down on breakage compared to basswood at the same approximate thickness (1/8" Exact).
PVC (and this is my own personal opinion, so…) sucks as stringer material. It is a fine material to keep a visible centerline while shaping. Plus it’s tough on your fine cut tools. After that it is virtually useless as far as a flex.
SS
Quote:
Another good alternative may be to call around to specialty wood suppliers in your area and ask if they have 3 or 4 milimeter “bender board” plywood. They usually have two kinds. One with the grain running with the length (usually 9 foot max) and one with the grain running across the width (4’) of the sheet. Use the one with the grain running with the length. A huge number of EPS short boards here on the West Coast use this type of wood product. (Note: Most all of it comes from Italy.) The flex is good at the 3 or 4mm thickness and still really helps cut down on breakage compared to basswood at the same approximate thickness (1/8" Exact).
PVC (and this is my own personal opinion, so…) sucks as stringer material. It is a fine material to keep a visible centerline while shaping. Plus it’s tough on your fine cut tools. After that it is virtually useless as far as a flex.
SS
Personally, I’ve had good feedback on my boards with PVC stringers, only going 1/8" on 'em. You’re right, it’s really tough on tools. I’d prefer wood, but there’s so much waste in milling to thickness. I like the bender board idea, need to try that one.
Aloha phza36,
Hardwood dealers sell clear all heart redwood, cedar, basswood, mahogany, etc. Have them resawn on a bandsaw into stringers. You didn’t state what kind / length boards yur making, but a 6 1/2" wide board will be enough width for the rocker on a 10-3 Walker Foam blank.
Guy just brought me a 1"x8" Tongue and groove redwood board from Home Depot which I resawed into two 1/4"+ stringers and glued to the outside of a 2" balsa to make a 2 1/2" double T-band stringer. I’ll cut the single basswood stringer out of the blank and glue in the new large stringer. Old-school bitchin look.
Stringer wood is available everywhere. Make sure it’s dry/clear, etc…not construction grade wet lumber.
Enjoy the ride!
Richard
having a dimensional surface planer is coo
after the resawn bandsaw
but a drum sander that acts on the dimensioning plan is cooler
whatever the bandsaw muffs the
dim sander canreduce an assortment of sins.
if’n none of these ,planer or sander ,are availiable
yep you san reduce the saw marks w/no great loss.
although the consistancy can go a little wild
it’ll work…in a pinch reswing the lumber with a good
rippind hand saw
is a possibility…
bass is easy to work
spruce is springy,and cedar looks cool ,as in high contrast
Ambrose , Am I the COOLEST, or what? Wood_Ogre
Richard, Have been to your web many times. I see that you resaw with a laguna band saw. What kind of band are you using ? I am switching from a 3 inch stellite because they have just gotton to expensive. Right now I am using a 3/4 inch timberwolf but I am looking for differen’t possibilities. Am wondering about the Laguna bands. Will probably settle on a 1 inch carbide as my working band. Would like to hear your thoughts ? I am running a tweeked Hitachi CB 75 with a 5 hp motor and a sunhill AF 17 power feeder. Aloha , Wood_Ogre.
Aloha Wood Ogre,
Yea I’m spoiled with the 5 hp 18"Laguna Resaw Master. I also have a General 15" for small work on which I keep a 1/4" blade. I’ve tried most all blades over the years, but I’m currently using a 3/4" carbide “resaw King” blade (from Laguna)http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaw-blades.htm and really like it. When careful you can get resaw rips that are about equal to 80 grit sanding right off the blade even on 12"+ stock (if you can avoid the little stop and go oops that cause the ridges). Found the 1" and wider blades run hotter and don’t necessarily cut any better when resawing wide boards. I’ve had the same blade on the saw for two years with no problems and still pretty sharp. The previous carbide blade (diff. brand) broke right away, they graciously sent me another one and that one also broke within one day, at which time they didn’t want to be my buddy any more.
I haven’t tried Timber Wolf’s carbide from Suffolk Machinery, but I’ve used their other blades in the past and rate them really high. Prolly can’t go wrong at all with their carbide 1".
Sounds like you and Ambrose have been having fun lumbering lately. I’m going back over to the big isle in two weeks up to the koa mill…sacred place up there!
I’m actually stepping out of the wood shop today and shaping a foam board. Can’t help myself however, so it will be tweeked out with stringers, nose and tailblocks of wood. Nice south / west swell arrived this morning so the session is done and time for work. Too much fun for an old guy!
Have fun and Enjoy the ride!
Richard
PS: Enjoyed your recent posts with pics of the balsa milling. Stay on it!
Quote:
Aloha Wood Ogre,
Yea I’m spoiled with the 5 hp 18"Laguna Resaw Master. I also have a General 15" for small work on which I keep a 1/4" blade. I’ve tried most all blades over the years, but I’m currently using a 3/4" carbide “resaw King” blade (from Laguna)http://www.lagunatools.com/bandsaw-blades.htm and really like it. When careful you can get resaw rips that are about equal to 80 grit sanding right off the blade even on 12"+ stock (if you can avoid the little stop and go oops that cause the ridges). Found the 1" and wider blades run hotter and don’t necessarily cut any better when resawing wide boards. I’ve had the same blade on the saw for two years with no problems and still pretty sharp. The previous carbide blade (diff. brand) broke right away, they graciously sent me another one and that one also broke within one day, at which time they didn’t want to be my buddy any more.
I haven’t tried Timber Wolf’s carbide from Suffolk Machinery, but I’ve used their other blades in the past and rate them really high. Prolly can’t go wrong at all with their carbide 1".
Sounds like you and Ambrose have been having fun lumbering lately. I’m going back over to the big isle in two weeks up to the koa mill…sacred place up there!
I’m actually stepping out of the wood shop today and shaping a foam board. Can’t help myself however, so it will be tweeked out with stringers, nose and tailblocks of wood. Nice south / west swell arrived this morning so the session is done and time for work. Too much fun for an old guy!
Have fun and Enjoy the ride!
Richard
PS: Enjoyed your recent posts with pics of the balsa milling. Stay on it!
Aloha Mr. Richard Mc San – I’ve been using the smaller Laguna 16” bandsaw with the same blade. I believe Carl Olsen, in Santa Cruz, recently bought one as well. The last I had heard, he was stoked on it, and glad that he upped to the 16” from the 14”.
I love it when you guys post here, always good things to learn.
Aloha Epac,
Long time no talk, hope all is good. I’ve been pretty scarce on Sway for the past two years since moving here. Got way too busy with the furniture making thing, but now making sure I spend some time shaping again. Got one going now and an order for a multi-stringaer balsa gun. Just got home from the Depot where I got some new 8’ light tubes for the shaping room (actually a 24’ container where I store my lumber located a few blocks from the beach (ten feet for wood storage and 14’ for shaping bay). A fellow shaper friend and I have containers located side to side with an 8’ space between where we built a 24’ long deck between us. It’s roofed with a zillion coco palm leaves and backs up to a jungle of trees. Looks like a blast back to the 50s…keep looking for Gidget to drive up asking for Moondoggie. Great place to rough shape and sand outside, etc. Also attracts lots of company…constant stream of guys coming by to shoot, smoke stogies, and tell lies while we “work”.
Good for you on the 16" Laguna bandsaw. If you don’t already have em (maybe they come with em nowdays) the newer ceramic guide system by Laguna is reeeely nice.
Enjoy the ride!
Richard