Step One - Read every page and forum post on this site.
Step Two- Bug the hell out of everyone with all kinds of questions (thanks to everyone that contributed to the answers)
Step 3 - The Template
180cm length
tail:waist:tail 110mm:70mm:100mm.
20mm camber
13mm center width
2.5mm tip and tail width
1 Kick@$$ Ride![/img]
Lookin' very nice so far. What material did you use for your template?
Your demensions/parameters look good for a firm snow/groomed snow ski... and one that is pretty quick edge to edge and will turn on a dime. Is that what you have planned? I'd also say that it would perform much better a with a firmer flex, rather than a softer one... with that much camber and side-cut, you'll want to maintain pressure to the tip and tail edges so you can hold those tight turns... kinda depends much on how much you weigh, though.
And yes, because you explored the site so thoroughly in the first place, your questions have obviously been well thought out. Questions that are informed and more specific are way easier and less time consuming to answer than really general one's. Chatting about ski building is always fun, but it can be limited by the reality that only so much time in a day can be devoted to sitting in front of a computer.
Really nice floors and baseboard trim, by the way.
I used some kind of pine from home depot just to be cost effective (not sure which specie... sorry)
It's kind of insane how accurately you nailed what I'm aiming for - a really fast edging alpine ski. And skince most of the skiing I do is on hard pack and (unfortunately) ice, that's exactly what I'm aiming for.
Should have put this up top - getting the core wood today
I'm using maple with poplar in the middle, 2/3 maple 1/3 poplar. I'm 175 and 6'1" so I think it'll be stiff enough. I'm a really powerful (vs. finesse) skier so we'll se how it works. Expect more pics today.
Just got wood for the core and profiler from Dixieline Lumber (I'm in SoCal btw).
for the core: 6' 1x6 maple - 3.5cm/~1.4in on each side of the poplar center 7' 1x6 poplar - 4 cm/~1.6in for the laminate's center (I ordered 6' but they gave me another foot for free! Make a nameplate and put it on my woodworking area door "Ski Building in Progress" : ) )
for the profiler: 6.5' 1x12 pine (cut in half on table saw to 1x6)
Last edited by zack726 on Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wood is gluing overnight (9/21/06) and I'll plane and cut it off of the template tommorow. I'll post pic's of the core after it's shaped.
A word of warnign to future builders: don't use a circular saw to rip the saw . I really wanted to get it cut so I didn't wait to use the table saw and paid the price in lost wood due to much use of jointer.
Core is laminated. Will have pictures shaped (and possibly profiled ) on monday or wednesday.
I used titebond regular wood glue and it worked out fine. I bent the hell out of the wood and it didnt give where it was glued at all (and I'm no weakling - I play football). More force will probably be put on it skiing - but I'm optimistic.
Just profiled one core via planer method. It worked out really well on one side of the core (the shorter of the two - my binding area is off center) and OK on the other, I lost a good 10cm of length from chipping though. However, it wont be a problem as the cores are currently longer than the final product. This method is really easy and worked great otherwise.
My Planer ramp setup:
Two 6.5' pieces of 1x5 pine put on top of each other, I nailed one end together to hold it and it bent fine (as pine isnt very strong) to 30mm at the other end. I will probably lesen the end shim to 25mm however, as it isnt cutting long enough.
The Core is Poplar in the Middle, then Maple, then a tiny bit of poplar (was more but was trimmed off).
Last edited by zack726 on Wed Sep 27, 2006 3:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.
I not sure that I'm reading you correctly, but is sounds like you're planning to do some sort of wood treatment to the core before you press the ski. If that's your plan, I'd highly recommend that you don't do it. You don't want to contaminate the wood with anything that will interfer with the epoxy bonding with it, and I think that most water treatments will really mess up the bondability of the wood. You can treat the wood sidewalls after you press the ski and do the finish work.
. I really wanted to get it cut so I didn't wait to use the table saw and paid the price in lost wood due to much use of jointer.
) on monday or wednesday. 