Hey Steve, Great to see you did something nice with that steel, I hope its working well for you. Have any pictures of it in use? Harry and I have been on hiatus for awhile, he's in New York and I'm in Seattle, but we just got back to building this month. We haven't been to the forum in awhile (worki...

Well I'm glad someone was able to turn all that nice scrap steel into a well built press!!!

(but I think I did pretty good for having nothing but a drill press and die grinder!)

Though this is indirectly related to structural properties, it could be important to consider in your design. I've never seen anything posted on this site about binding ramp angle (am I wrong). Ramp angle is the angle of inclination underfoot, and there is debate over which is better, a high or a lo...

I know a number of companies use bamboo sidewalls on their skis, so I don't see why you'd have any problems. however, some shop techs have told me that, while the bamboo has no structural problems over time, skis with bamboo sidewalls come in for tuneups with the finish looking kind of nasty (I cann...

Hi, I recently relocated to Seattle from Columbus, Ohio to accompany my girlfriend as she enters grad school at UW. Plus, I get to live in an area with some actual topography, so it works out pretty well. However, at my new apartment in the U District, I don't have anything resembling any of the spa...

I've been thinking for awhile now about a way to built a top mold for a 3D core for a budget price. I have an idea to do a cheap version of a top mold, and even though i already see some problems here, I think it might be a step towards finding a good solution. I should stress here that I've never t...

I found out I have to move out of South Lake Tahoe without my press, due to a number of factors not worth getting into. Anyway, here it is: What's left of it anyhow. Right now, only half of it is functioning, but the other half can be repaired - I just don't have much reason to do it now. It is unpa...

A few weeks ago I finished building a big old press from some big old steel I-beams I bought from a scrap yard in Carson City. They had 2 matching beams @ W11x38 (is this nomenclature correct?... 17' long with 11" flange, 10 " web, weighing about 38 lbs/ft) that they cut in half for me. Th...

Thanks for the advice, guys. It seems we got very luck yesterday. We reached a supplier who had an undeliverable blanket sitting on a shelf that could be shipped same day. Its only 6" wide, so we can only do a ski at a time for now. But, thats a lot better than not having one at all But, if tho...

ben_mtl, For pressing a 3D core, you would need to construct a matching top mold to go in your press - the difficult part, as other have mentioned. Machining an accurate top mold by hand would be near impossible, I'd guess, and CNCing one would be very expensive, unless you had the CAD skills and th...

I've been getting ready to press my first pair of skis, and run into a big problem. My roommate and I just found out our 12" silicon heat blanket order got screwed up. Our supplier requires a 4-6 week lead time, so we are now looking at ANOTHER 4-6 weeks to get one. We would have been ready to ...