Cattrack Materials: Aluminum, Steel or Wood

[WhitePine]

I'm looking for people to give some pros and cons of each material. I've seen in your threads that each of these materials are used for cat tracks. I'm interested in consolidating a list of pros and cons of each.

Here are some of the things I know already:

Aluminum
Pros:
Light weight (For a metal)

Cons:
Expensive
Conduct heat too well, needs insulation between cat track and bladder


Steel
Pros
Cheaper than aluminum
Stronger, distributes force more evenly

Cons
Heavy
Conduct heat too well, needs insulation between cat track and bladder

Wood
Pros
Cheap
Lightweight
Great insulator

Cons
Bends too easily, uneven force distribution


After getting some quotes on aluminum, wood is looking mighty tempting. Does it work well enough?[/b]

[gerryrig]

I use a wood cat track and it works just fine for me. I tested deflection between aluminum and wood and the wood seemed stronger. Maybe a thicker walled aluminum wood be better but like you said, expensive. I used maple ripped to 3/4 x 3/4 strung on 3/16 cable with a 1/4" nut between each piece for a spacer.

[WhitePine]

Interesting. How well do you think 3/4" thick 5-ply wood would hold up? I have a bunch lying around. Or do you think a hardwood like your maple rig is necessary?

[chrismp]

aluminum being a heat sink is not a pro imho! you need a lot more heat on the top plus your bladders heat up.

we're using a wooden cat track as well. works perfectly fine! i wouldn't recommend the plywood though. hardwoods are much more dimensionally stable.

[Richuk]

Great press!!!

There are some amazing skis being made with a wooden cat track.

If you are using ambient cure epoxy, then wood. If not, is the issue a matter of how the choice of material affects the cure cycle? You might want to choose AL over steel, depending on how you are cooling your press and the ambient temperature of your workshop.

If your using plastic sidewalls, you might be a little concerned about the choice of wood v's placement of the hose - maybe. Not sure about uneven force distribution with wood. Choose a wood that is good in compression, put it through a few heat cycles and cut. I suspect steamed beech, with a good set of close growth rings would be good, it's already processed, you just need to cut it.

[vinman]

i used broken hockey sticks for my cat track. They are all the same size per the rules in hockey 1.5 x 3/4. The work just fine. I need to re-do mine because I did not have a drill press so things aren't perfectly lined up and the cable I used has broken in one spot. But I will likely do the same thing just with a drill press for better accuracy and alignment of the sticks. I might flat sand them after cabling them as well.

The biggest pro for this style cat track was it was FREE.

[rsotak]

I'm using a wood cat track and it has worked well with both skis and a snowboard. We are also using 0.030" aluminum for the top and bottom of the cassette to help distribute the load even further.

[nrgboards]

I got wood!!

[twizzstyle]

Mine is aluminum.

I'd put the "great heat sink" under the con category. It soaks up, and bleeds off way too much of the heat, and if I'm heating from the top (I only have one blanket) I really have to nurse the temperature up slowly, or the blanket can get way too hot. If i'm on the bottom without the cattrack, I can go straight to my final temp without issue.

[gerryrig]

If you go with wood use a stable hardwood. Maple or oak, pine wood be too soft.

I put my skis in a hot box after initial cure so I don't have the heat blanket issues.

How do you like the rickity old saw horses the press is sitting on? My brother finally through them away after twenty years of service.

The press is very portable and inexpensive to make. About a hundred dollars worth of wood. The steel came from the company scrap pile.