I laminate full width. The last two have been a cedar middle, and fir outer. I run the laminations through the planer before glueing it up, to get the loom depth I want - 1-1/4", or 1-5/8". Then I bandsaw the blade shape out of the full-width blank, just like you would a 2x4. It does leave quite a bit of depth to remove on the blades, and I either do that with a hand plane, or verrrry carefully with the bandsaw. My bandsaw isnt all that accurate, so I prefer the plane.

Youre right, if you laminate the other way its hard to keep the bandsaw cutting straight. Just cut outside the line, and bring it down with a plane or a sanding belt. Also, it's harder to keep the bandsaw straight if the grain runs parallel to the blade; if it's flat-grain it cuts straighter. I like the flat grain for it's flex, but I do think it might tend to break a little sooner.

: ... I invested in a chunk of steel angle-iron to laminate

: Don, I am carving a storm paddle for the spare and used a pine 2x2 for the
: center then laminated cedar and ash that were only 1/2" thick on to
: it centered on the shaft for the paddle blades.

: It seemed to be a lot harder to cut the blank to shape and the blade edges
: are coming out a bit thinner than I would have liked.

: I'm thinking that next time I'll use full width strips to laminate onto the
: 2x2 and maybe try to run it through a planer so that I have a nice flat
: piece for cutting on the bandsaw. Is this what you are doing?

: I guess to reword the question, are all of your strips the same depth when
: you laminate or do you use smaller stock for the blade and just deal with
: the stability problems cutting out the blade shape on the saw.