I've been building skis in my workshop for a while now, doing what I can to streamline the production of quality components, while still putting a lot of handwork (too much) into how each pair goes together. My current process is to build up a small stockpile of components and then run through the b...

I'm sure the OP figured this out by now, but a couple of things to add. Flame treating with the wrong fuel/air mix can be worse than not flame treating your UHMW, at all. Delam city - learned it the hard way. I don't see that introducing air pockets while curing under pressure, because it should be ...

I think of "pop" in terms of reactivity - how quickly does it feel like - relative to other skis - does it feel like the flex rebounds. Poppier skis feel more energetic to me, because they return the energy in a shorter timeframe. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that CF is associ...

I feel your pain. I wish I had a guaranteed solution for you. I happen to have a bunch of sacrificial skis - failed prototypes - that I run through to make sure I've removed all the grit trapped in the pores of my Grindrite stone. I end up doing this so often that I've considered making edgeless, sk...

I have used porous paper medical tape (3M Micropore Surgical Tape from Amazon) for this purpose with great success. I mainly use it when I'm prototyping something new, but I apply a few pieces of it to the underside of the core+tipfill joint with a tiny dab of superglue to make sure it doesn't move....