Ok guys, Im just curious if any of you have had this problem.
After two skis, our mold had fallen apart. Its MDF and we were using about 50PSI and 200*F to press the skis.
here are two pictures to show how we constructed the mold (before they were sanded)...
So, in some spots, the wood glue we used to hold all the slats together has failed, but more importantly, the MDF has started to develop cracks down the midle of the slats. So are we using too high of a temperature? Too high of a pressure? A combination?
here are some pictures of the cracks, note one peice (second and third picture) has cracked all the way thorugh the middle down the length of the slat. (sorry for the huge size, i forgot to resize them before i uploaded this this morning before i left for school)
That happened to a few of my tip sections. I just kept going after noticing it, never experienced any problems after 50+ pairs at 70-80 psi at 180 degree.
well this mold actualy fell apart once we took it out after the second ski. it also has some warping.
maybe we should back down the heat a little on the next pair and see what happens.
It is hard to tell where the cracks are in relation to the bottom die. My first question would be is the platrorm on the press completely flat? I also put 3/8" allthread through all the slats on my die (i think 5 total) along with glueing them together. Maybe try that. It also seems that the bottom part is kinda thin (2" or so??) Maybe glue and screw a piece plywood, or OSB to the whole bottom, like 18" X 8' or ? Good luck...KT
Yeah, its only about 2" thick max. as for weather or not its sitting flat, im not sure its my roommates mold, i assume he sanded the bottom so that it would sit flat.
the cracks are down the legnth of the slats that were cut out with the camber profile if that makes any sense. i'd take some more pictures, but my roommate's dad was going to the dump the day it fell apart, so we had him take the mold.
Oh, the bottom isn't even 2" thick... its an inch. And kevin, your mold is 3/4" thick there remember.
So I think thicker molds will help, and what the one guy recommended... threaded rod. Then the MDF can crack all it wants, but won't fall apart! Duh. We should have thought about that before.
I think your middle section will be ok since its not a bunch of laminated MDF, its just an MDF board.
(for the other posters, I am the roommate he refers to )
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