Section8 2011-2012

chrismp · Post by **chrismp** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:36 am

murchonn and me have both painted the whole base with acrylic paint (not the artists paint, but the one you get at the hardware store) and had no bonding issues whatsoever.
i have to admit though that my board has only seen a couple of days on snow...but that'll change soon

btw, i'm using super sap cpm.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:44 am

falls nice idea about creating the stencil. I used a vinyl decal, stuck it on and then poly'ed over it. Then buffed out the top. Here's some pics. Still not 100% happy with the rice paper. Water-slide paper will be my next experiment. The decal lettering is a bit to detailed to try to cut out. But I have a simpler decal I'm thinking of which will work well with that method.

Here's some pics of the skis for a customer. Top sheet is teak.

Decal pics:

Rice paper decal:

Of course I had to make a pair for me too. This ski is the same as above but I used all wood (178cm 130-86-116). A vertically laminated maple core with a poplar veneer above and below. Ptex base w/ edges. Topsheet is teak w/ dark walnut stain. Finished with LPU.

weights: The all wood skis 4lbs 2 oz each, the costumer ski 4lbs 7oz. each

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:39 am

So awesome. They look serious.

vinman · Post by **vinman** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:50 am

Nice looking set. I think I'm going to try a simple screen print on an upcoming pair. I'm also unhappy with rice paper and or tracing paper visibility. I love the teak.

Head Monkey · Post by **Head Monkey** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:44 am

I’ve used water-based acrylic paint screen printed on top of the first few coats of poly. Dries fast, then a few more coats of poly over that and it’s held up great for multiple seasons. Small screens are surprisingly easy to make.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:56 am

Thanks! The customers' ski has a nice flex to it. Probably a little on the soft side, comparable to a typical commercial ski which is what he was looking for. The core is all maple, 3-10-3. I think he'll be happy.

My ski is 3-12-3 all maple, definitively firm. Can't wait to mount bindings on them and really ski the crap out of them. I may make the same ski w/ FG and gorilla glue instead of epoxy, but might use a 3-10-3 core. Been dying to try that combo. It will be a couple, 3 months before I can report on how they performed.

MontuckyMadman · Post by **MontuckyMadman** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:13 am

nice. Its weird you are stuck on a poly glue layup. I don't think it will retain the same mechanical characteristics of epoxy over time. It will hold together but I don't think it will be consistent or sustainable as a long term ski.
Purely speculation and my opinion of course.

chrismp · Post by **chrismp** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:01 am

there were some hints that elan might be using a polyurethane resin in their boards...

Bob Carlson, President of Arbor Snowboards (produced by Elan)

All Arbor Snowboards are made with the Envirobond® glue system; a plant-based, non-petroleum “bio-polyurethane” that is environmentally friendly to produce, use, and dispose of.

taken from here: http://www.snowsports.org/blog/2011/04/ ... -day-2011/

i've talked to a manufacturer of bio based polyurethanes and told him what i needed for my boards. his answer was that they can't think of a product that would be signifacantly more eco friendly than the epoxy i'm using atm (super sap cpm).

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:15 am

MontuckyMadman wrote:nice. Its weird you are stuck on a poly glue layup. I don't think it will retain the same mechanical characteristics of epoxy over time. It will hold together but I don't think it will be consistent or sustainable as a long term ski.
Purely speculation and my opinion of course.

yea, I agree... I have this strange obsession to try it

I'm confident on the bonding. But skeptical on the longevity of the camber. I think over time or if heavily used in a season or 2, the camber might disappear and become softer. I guess that's why I have to try it.

falls · Post by **falls** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:02 pm

thanks mike about the acrylic paints.
desmond, if you're applying the same graphic multiple times (ie. every pair) I reckon Mike is right that a small silk screen will be great for the long term.
The vinyl decal idea is like a cheap disposable silk screen. You are right though that it won't cope that well with small and intricate lettering. a silk screen would do this no worries (provided it wasn't ridiculously small and intricate).

PS skis look great!

twizzstyle · Post by **twizzstyle** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:05 pm

I really like the poplar in the sidewall. The light and dark woods really make a pretty sidewall!

falls · Post by **falls** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:02 pm

I found this bamboo vert lam plywood the other day. It is alternating strips of natural and carbonized (high pressure cooking causes changes in the sugar = browner caramel colour) bamboo.
What I have noticed on my skis where I just have the bamboo core all the way to the sidewall is that when I trim the flash and slant the sidewall if you look really carefully you can see the joins where you have exposed different parts of the vertlam board. I thought if you used this "coco" bamboo you would get a really interesting variation of colours on the sidewalls.

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:38 am

Falls - That's what I did on my skis, but I used cherry, maple and ash to get the different color and grain variations in the sidewall.

Richuk · Post by **Richuk** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:18 pm

SD - this link might give you a few ideas about the type of paper you might wish to use:

http://www.formica.co.uk/publish/site/e ... ition.html

If you end up with something close, but not perfect, then you might consider using a full sheet and fooling the eye that way.

Alternatively, have you thought about sublimation. You just need an A4 heater pad. Melamine and polyurethane HPL's accept the dye (so I am told), not sure about your HPL. Perhaps someone would offer to run a test for you? I would happily send you the prints you need, if you head in this direction

skidesmond · Post by **skidesmond** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:23 pm

I've tried formica before. It looked like granite. It didn't bond. Bonding problem could have been user error. But I never tried it again after that experiment.

Sublimation is too far out of reach for me right now, unless I have it done for me.

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Section8 2011-2012