Well we wrapped the press in 3 20,000lb straps and pressed a pair of skis at 40lbs after dry testing it the day before using just the bolts, uncomfortable amount of deflection then. Well the press failed not only in how much it bends but the lack of support it gave the mold caused the mold to concav...

Well I re-drilled all the holes last night to 3/8 and put grade 8 bolts in. I do realize that they are designed for tensile forces primarily but I don't think in this application there is nearly enough force being generated to shear them especially since each bolt is running through 4 holes.

Here: http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad312/underdogski/Ski%20Construction/1.jpg http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad312/underdogski/Ski%20Construction/2.jpg http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad312/underdogski/Ski%20Construction/3.jpg http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad312/underdogski/Ski%20C...

It was a double pillow pillow drop and my skis caught right after the first pillow and I double ejected over the second one. I have the whole sequence it's pretty funny.

I figure I should finally post up a little journal of my skibuilding progress. This is my first pair of skis and I have been very fortunate to have an extremely talented woodworker and dogsled maker lend me his time/experience and tools to this project. I have only been skiing for about 3years now a...

I think the steel bent like that because since the pins had freedom of movement the steel slipped on them as it was pulling. Bolts should fix that movement and be stronger. I really like your idea of just cutting the mold in the middle to make it shorter. Here's the best picture of the complete fram...

Yeah we winged it, slowly applied pressure. This is about what I was thinking we would do pressure wise before we started and I don't want to go too much past it if at all. You do make a good point about the length on the top mold, I think it may be possible to re-cut it so its a bit shorter and mat...

Hi, so tonight we tried to do the first dry run on my ski press and we ran into a few issues. The pins we had holding the side bars in bent under pressure approximately 40lbs psi. Since the pins were 1/4inch cold roll steel I'm thinking re-drill the holes in the frame to 3/8 and use bolts instead. h...

Hi, so tonight we tried to do the first dry run on my ski press and we ran into a few issues. The pins we had holding the side bars in bent under pressure approximately 40lbs psi. Since the pins were 1/4inch cold roll steel I'm thinking re-drill the holes in the frame to 3/8 and use bolts instead. h...

Nice Work! I'm very interested in seeing how these turn out.

Oh, thanks a bunch. That was exactly what I was looking for but couldn't find for some reason.

Hi I'm pretty new to this, In the process of building my first pair of skis, I have looked around quite a bit to find more information about cat tracks but I still don't understand why people are adding them to their presses, what advantage do they offer?