SOLD: Michaels Enterprises Inc. (MEI) heat blanket $325.00 + Shipping Never used! Description: M-2103 14"x80" 120 Volt 1800 Watts 3 ft cord w/ tab exiting center on 14" side (end of blanket) I was planning on setting up to press a two two at once, but ran out of time and money. Email ...

DD,
You could implement a passive particle damping system like this
http://www.unr.edu/features/09-10/snow-science/.
The design team claims a ~65% reduction in tip acceleration in the first mode.

If you are making a 172 cm long board, that means your base length, as in when you cut out and before it goes into the press, will be 172 cm. The only thing that is going to be separating this base layer from the heat blanket will be the aluminum on your mold and maybe a cassette if you are using on...

I do the same as Head Monkey in that I use 3M spray adhesive. I spray a heavy coat through in two generous passes. I don't have mold release either - instead I use 3M painters masking plastic (2 meter roll) with the writing side facing away from the ski. I spray the aluminum sheet on the top of the ...

Killer setup!

Those skis turned out great! Great write up too.

there is a how to section http://www.skibuilders.com/howto/ I suggest reading it start to finish. See the index on the left hand side of the page above. The first section you will come to after the how to intro page is required tools. Don't forget to read the section on safety!!! http://www.skibuild...

shopvac / ra,

Carpet tape looks like a good idea.

Ever had any bonding/delam issues with it though?

Can the epoxy penetrate through carpet tape to the core and tip spacer?

Ive used super glue with a couple of short lines of fiberglass taken from a scrap piece of triax'. Ive also seen a friend, Dr Delam, use biax drywall tape (I think that's what it was). Personally, I think its easier to just place them during layup. Then after you lay up the top sheet, double check t...

Doing a multi-radius sidecut like doughboyshredder's design, and having a more balanced tip/tail makes sense. I am curious as to how "parabolic sidecuts" are designed, as in focus and vertex placement, and how they compare to a triple radius sidecuts (tip-underfoot-tail) and single radius ...

I once made an 18/23 m dual radius ski (front/back) with the transition directly under foot. And the results were . . . not good. The exact dimensions were 131-97-120 sidecut, 178.8cm long. ~5mm camber (each) with a stiff core, 13.5 mm under foot to 2.5 mm tip/tail, made out of vertical laminate bam...

Is your Biax +/-45 or 0/90?

That's a good idea to make an adjustable ribbed mold. To keep the ribs from transferring marks to the ski, try laying a piece of MDF flat over the top (like plywood sheathing on floor joists). if you are going to have ribbed tip and tail radius molds, and cant get the mdf to bend to the tip/tail rad...

If you are using a uni-axial layer you will want to have either a +/- theta biax on that same side or another triax layer for torsional stiffness.

I would be careful if you are spraying an adhesive on the fibers in ski applications - you could jeopardize the fiber to matrix bond strength.

I built mine with (4) 7' long scrap I-beams that I got for free. The top (2) beams are W16x36's and the bottom (2) are W18x40 somethings (forgot the exact weight). I did the deflection calcs on them once and I think bottom came out to have less than 1/16th of an inch of deflection in the center for ...