sammer's skis

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 4:16 am

air bubbles.... I had a thought for the vaccum presses ( I guess it woud work for everyone else too) ...... Would it be worth using a rubber roller to push out any air? ie, Get everything bagged, start the vaccum and press down over the top w/ a roller until you have a full vaccum. Just a thought.

sammer · Post by **sammer** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:29 pm

Thanks for your replys.

des... I've been using a roller of some sorts since I started building.
I've used abs pipe, a nalgene bottle, now I use a fairly heavy J roller.
It works alright as long as there is some epoxy to push the air around.
You have to be slow or the air squirts under your roller and you just push the excess epoxy out leaving small trapped air bubbles.
Not too many, but still annoying.

It was quite a busy weekend!
Got another pair out of the press tonight.

They look pretty good.
I bought an 11.5" wide walnut veneer a while ago had to trim it very close to get 2 skis out of it!
I liked the fact it had the bullseyes down 1 side and curly grain on the other.

I'm sure getting tired of dealing with edges.
The pair from yesterday had a weird bridging issue at the tail
It didn't curve but staightlined.
I guess I didn't bend it enough

The walnut ones today had a tip edge pop out.
I had a real hard time getting the edges to stick to the base.
Not sure if it's the base or the cyanoglue is old.
Might have to buy a new bottle as i still have enough base for 8 pairs.

Will have to wait 'til next set off to cut them out and build another pair.
I'll post more pics then.

sam

Richuk · Post by **Richuk** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:47 pm

Loving the base material Sam - great colour

MontuckyMadman · Post by **MontuckyMadman** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:54 pm

that edge delam is a serious bummer. Pain to fix no?
Like my worst nightmare.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:02 pm

Nice top sheets! Post pics when they all done.

The edges can be fixed if you think it will effect the performance of the ski. I had a tip edge blow like that. I scraped away the epoxy so the edge became loose and was able to pulled the edge back into place w/ clamps. I used 30 minute epoxy for the repair and it held fine. You could do the same for the tail.

sammer · Post by **sammer** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:53 pm

Ya, the edge thing seriously pisses me off.
I was thinking...
On the tip I could probably use the dremel with a thin cut off disc, or a small grinding point, to clean it out and re-glue.
I'm pretty sure I can fix it.

The tail on the other one poses a bit more of a problem as it just didn't follow the curve of the tail.
Once they're cut out I should have a better idea of what I'm up against!

What I'm wondering about is the cracking where the tip pulled out. Something just doesn't look right there.
You can't really see it in person but the flash from the camera really brought it out.
I guess I'll have to wait and see as work right now is consuming all my time.
Damn job!!

The base material is awesome. I called crown last spring and said I wanted lime green. The guy on the phone (got his name somewhere) said "I think I have just the thing".
It almost glows in the dark!

more later

sam

sammer · Post by **sammer** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:50 pm

One nice thing I forgot to mention.
The clear vinyl vacuum material allows you to see everything while the vacuum is on.
You can watch stuff move around as you roll out the air.
You can see the air bubbles under the topsheet.
I guess what I'm saying is, if I'm gonna layout the dough for silicone membrane, I think I'd buy clear or at least translucent.

sam

OAC · Post by **OAC** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:53 pm

Tough...
Personally I'm not found of adding extra heat to the process. I'm, and I think the hardening process also is, perfectly alright with room temperature (20 C) even if it require some added heat to reach atleast that level. And remember that the process is exotermic, it means that the hardening process develop heat by it self.
Also, what is the potlife of your epoxi? Mine have 40 min.! Which give alot of time for the airbubbles(that's generated in the mix) to disappear.
Mix smaller amounts at the time. It keeps the exoterm reaction calmer, not so much heat in the mix.
Another uncomfortable truth is that the wood core contains air! And it(the air) expands when heated and want out.
Check with the epoxy maker's recomendations.
Although i've only made four pairs (8 pressings) yet, I haven't had any problems with airbubbles.

S**t this was a boring comment.

PS. I will also go for the silicone membrane, but right now I have an annoying leak(microscopic, but anyway) in/on my press that I have to take care of first.

sammer · Post by **sammer** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:05 pm

I think the only reason I have air bubble issues is the clear topsheet.
If I was just using glass as a topsheet it wouldn't matter as the air just comes out.
But the p-tex traps quite a bit of air and once its pulled down over the edge of the layup it has nowhere to go.
I usually use a roller to push them from the middle over the tip and tail. (Along with the excess epoxy)

sam

doughboyshredder · Post by **doughboyshredder** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:55 pm

sammer wrote:Ya, the edge thing seriously pisses me off.

I know I've mentioned this before, so I apologize in advance for beating a dead horse, but your edge has to sit where you want it to without glue. If you are using the glue to keep your edge to the shape you want it you will always risk blowouts during pressing.

rockaukum · Post by **rockaukum** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:57 am

Ditto to that. Bend to fit, glue to stay, Press to ski!
ra

sammer · Post by **sammer** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:57 pm

My edges were bent to fit (they always are

)
I'm thinking that I hydraulically pushed it out while rolling out the excess epoxy.
I know that I had a hard time getting them to stay attached when pulling my base off my template (carpet tape) and they popped off again when bending to fit into the mold.
After each time, they popped off, I glued them again.
Waiting for the glue to set before removing the clamps and putting back into the mold.
I'm pretty sure my superglue is just old.
I've been using the same bottle for a couple years now!

They were bent to fit just not glued to stay!

The press to ski will have to wait until I've repaired them!

I'll buy a new bottle before I build again.

I know what you are saying though, I'm always careful to bend my edges perfect (or as close too as humanly possible)

thanks

sam

MontuckyMadman · Post by **MontuckyMadman** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:53 pm

the few times I have had to pull edges off the base and re-attach, it was such a PITA. They were very well bonded. So locktight makes a great superglue. In fact I did some looking the other day and I have like 10 different types of locktight brand adhesives and epoxies.
Not a fan of the gel for bonding edges, I use way to much.
I use less throughout the running length and then every tooth or so in the tip and tail.

doughboyshredder · Post by **doughboyshredder** » Wed Oct 20, 2010 11:02 pm

I use gorilla brand super glue super impact formula. Seems to work great. I use it whenever I cut myself too. Works better than band aids.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 4:32 am

I bought this glue called "The Last Glue" at a local fair (The Big E). I tested it on a broken metal flange on a lawn sprinkler I had. Surprisingly it worked. I tried Super Glue before and it failed. In the demo the guy cut a rubber belt and then glued it back together and I could not pull it apart. Glues all sort of different types of materials. I'm going to test it on edges and p-tex. Let you know it it really works.

Must keep refrigerated when not in use.

Let you know if it really works as advertised.

http://www.thelastglue.com/

Ski Builders Forum

Ski Builders Forum

sammer's skis