Electric sander for tillering?

[bluegill]

Is it a good idea to use an electric sander for tillering? If not, what other tool is best?

[Coo-wah-chobee]

                      Some foks use electric sanders for tillerin'. You have ta be really experienced and even then EXTREMELY careful. You can tiller with a rasp, course then fine er a sharp scraper and sandpaper, er any combination of these er other hand tools. It will give ya a slow look at whats happenin' ta the wood. Speed is not important here. One mistake with a power tool (electric sander) and yer in a world of trouble with the bow wood ( hinges,etc.) So, after long winded answer Imo no, its not a good idea ta tiller with a electric sander...........................bob

[Hillbilly]

What Bob said. I've used a belt sander a time or two to rough out a stave to the floor tiller stage, but it's too risky to fool with after you get it bending much, unless your goal is to make 20# bows. After I get the wood bending good, a scraper is about all I use.

[George Tsoukalas]

You could but you probably shouldn't until you gain some experience. There's some buildalongs on my site. Jawge

[DCM]

I use the heck out of sanders, palm sander saves me a ton of time, as does a belt sander but not for tillering.

[Justin Snyder]

What Bob said. I've used a belt sander a time or two to rough out a stave to the floor tiller stage, but it's too risky to fool with after you get it bending much, unless your goal is to make 20# bows. After I get the wood bending good, a scraper is about all I use.

What Hillbilly meant to say is, unless your goal is to make a 50# bow, but you wont be unhappy when it winds up 20#. The old saying is that a lot of work can be destroyed with a few minutes of inattentiveness, or a couple of seconds if using power tools.  Justin

[mullet]

  I've got all kind's of sanders.I use my 12" disc for hoggin' down some wood and shaping the profile while it is still thick.Like everybody said ,if you use it tillering,one slip and it's a kids bow.I will use my rasp and then come back with a hand held disc sander with 600 grit  to knockdown the rough edges.

[Badger]

When I first started I used a belt sander for tillering and roughing, I ruined a lot of bows. Now I use mostly just scrapers a spokeshave, drawknife and rasp. I wished I would have learned how to use them at the begaining, A lot more enjoyable and relaxing making a bow. I still use the belt sander for smoothing off edges and hogging out my handles but seems I use it less and less all the time. Steve

[NOMADIC PIRATE]

Yep, can't really see any advantage in using one on tillering stages

[Robinwho]

Now that Am getting older, I use a sander , it surely helps with my arms.
I even use a grinder with a coarse grit sanding disk to start the tillering I don't use it as am approaching the desired tiller.

[Pappy]

I use a belt sander for tips and palm sander for the back the rest is in order Bandsaw, draw knife [if chacing a ring] farrier rasp Nic.49/50 and scraper for tillering and a little fine sand paper to finish up.
I have to be careful with the belt sander even with the tips.
   Pappy

[duffontap]

Gilman Keasey (sp?) used to tiller his Yew longbows with a industrial pneumatic sander in about 20 minutes.  From what I can gather, he was using ultra-clean Yew staves and billets most of the time.  I think a palm sander on on low speed could save you a lot of time sanding washboards and grain tear-out around knots.  That would be expecially true for Vine Maple, Cascara, and other species that don't tool as cleanly. 

That being said, after I'm done with the bandsaw, I'm a hand tool purist/snob.  Good hand tools like sharp scrapers and nicholson rasps are a joy to work with and connect you with your bow in a special way that a noisy vibration sander just couldn't. 

Also--don't overlook the rubber sanding block.  It's a GREAT tool. 

              J. D. Duff

[backgardenbowyer]

I've just tillered a primitive holmegaard style bow out of wych elm using a simple disc sander on the end of my power drill.  Saved a lot of time and although the bow came out about 5lbs lighter than I was aiming for I'm not sure I'd have done any better with a rasp.  It's certainly really good for roughing out.

I took to using the tool the first time I tried ipe - that stuff is 'ard as the 'obs of 'ell, and only the sanding disc seemed to shift it.

[Gordon]

Had a guy attend one of our bowyer meetings last year. He made a lot of noise about how he could take a a piece of vine maple from rough dimensions to final tiller in about 15 minutes. When all was ready he gathered the group around the belt sander and proceeded to grind away. In 15 minutes he produced a 20 lbs bow with a bad hinge. He quietly slipped out shortly after and we never heard from him again.

[Coo-wah-chobee]

....................................... Sharp edged tools work well on ipe. Ifn ya gonna use a electric sander MAKE SURE ya use a good quality mask. Ipe dust is extremely toxic and bad fer ya lung tissue.................bob