My project is started. I submited my senior project prosal for it last Wendsday, and got it approved Friday. I have the plans for my bottom mold all ready to go in TurboCAD. Next I have to do some math to figure out the length of the tip if I make a 20cm radius tip and want it to be 7cm tall. Are there things I should order soon because they can take awhile to arrive? Any suggestions? I've read as much as possible before starting, it also sounds like I should make my frame press a little taller then in the how to guide? I've heard people saying they wish theirs were are a little taller I was thinking of extending the support legs and bolts by 2". Would that be benificial?
-Becker
Becker's Build
Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp
Hi Becker,
Great that you are building skis for your project. I'd say that the most difficult components to get hold of in a timely manner are the edges. I've ordered from both snowboardmaterials.com and from CDW in Ohio, and they both can take a month or more... maybe much more. I'd also suggest that you forego using plastic sidewalls for your first pair, at least, and especially if you have some sort of end of semester deadline to meet. Sidewalls take a ton of time to do and they add many production steps where things can go wrong. I now basically agree with many of the other builders on this site with the opinion that sidewalls are only worth dealing with if you plan to sell skis to other people. Even if you do have dreams of selling skis, I suggest you wait until you build at least 2 or 3 pair so that you know more about what you might be getting into before you entertain the prospect of plastic sidewalls.
As far as press height goes, I suggest going taller rather than shorter. It doesn't cost much more to go a little taller, and you can easily slip in a spacer board if you have room left over... you don't want to be struggling to get things into a press that is too short when you have a bunch of epoxy that wants to go off.
Have fun,
G-man
Great that you are building skis for your project. I'd say that the most difficult components to get hold of in a timely manner are the edges. I've ordered from both snowboardmaterials.com and from CDW in Ohio, and they both can take a month or more... maybe much more. I'd also suggest that you forego using plastic sidewalls for your first pair, at least, and especially if you have some sort of end of semester deadline to meet. Sidewalls take a ton of time to do and they add many production steps where things can go wrong. I now basically agree with many of the other builders on this site with the opinion that sidewalls are only worth dealing with if you plan to sell skis to other people. Even if you do have dreams of selling skis, I suggest you wait until you build at least 2 or 3 pair so that you know more about what you might be getting into before you entertain the prospect of plastic sidewalls.
As far as press height goes, I suggest going taller rather than shorter. It doesn't cost much more to go a little taller, and you can easily slip in a spacer board if you have room left over... you don't want to be struggling to get things into a press that is too short when you have a bunch of epoxy that wants to go off.
Have fun,
G-man
For suggestions, I am going to chine in with what G-Man said. Keep your first pair of skis simple to minimize the chances of something going wrong (and even with a simple pair of skis, things will go wrong 
. I would really recommend ordering your base from Durasurf as they are the cheapest. Just ask for leftovers, they have tons of material that was leftover from ski mass producers and they sell it really cheap.
For Epoxy, I really recommend using 2-part epoxy as it is much easier to get the mixing right and a lot less toxic smelling than the resin that only takes a few drops of catalyst to get going.
A couple tips on layup that got me the first time: The first time you mix epoxy, mix a fair amount more than you think you will need. It is much better to have excess epoxy than to have to mix a new batch halfway through a layup when everything is already sticky with epoxy. Also, before you start, do a couple "dry runs" where you practice laying everything together, in the right order, and putting it in the press. This may sound a little ridiculous, but I guarantee that in your first "dry run" you will realize that you forgot some essential step.
Other than that, have fun, and wear your safety glasses.
. I would really recommend ordering your base from Durasurf as they are the cheapest. Just ask for leftovers, they have tons of material that was leftover from ski mass producers and they sell it really cheap.For Epoxy, I really recommend using 2-part epoxy as it is much easier to get the mixing right and a lot less toxic smelling than the resin that only takes a few drops of catalyst to get going.
A couple tips on layup that got me the first time: The first time you mix epoxy, mix a fair amount more than you think you will need. It is much better to have excess epoxy than to have to mix a new batch halfway through a layup when everything is already sticky with epoxy. Also, before you start, do a couple "dry runs" where you practice laying everything together, in the right order, and putting it in the press. This may sound a little ridiculous, but I guarantee that in your first "dry run" you will realize that you forgot some essential step.
Other than that, have fun, and wear your safety glasses.
My actual deadline is something like April 24th, however, I would really like to get them finished by March 12th so I can take them on a ski trip. I can't belive shipping for edges is almost 20$. I already have my chemical gloves, resperator and goggles from previous projects I was planning on using.
http://www.qcminds.com/emv-0049.htm for my epoxy resin
and
http://www.qcminds.com/eca-313.htm for my hardener
should that work? I don't know whether there are certain combinations of epoxy or hardener that work better or worse together but I am planning on building a heated press and those said they worked well with heat and were both used extensivly on skis. Thank you very much for all the suggestions and I will keep them in mind. one of my plans is to build a smaller test with scrap materials and press it before I actually lay up the ski and press it. Hopefully that can eliminate some problems.
I was planning on using.http://www.qcminds.com/emv-0049.htm for my epoxy resin
and
http://www.qcminds.com/eca-313.htm for my hardener
should that work? I don't know whether there are certain combinations of epoxy or hardener that work better or worse together but I am planning on building a heated press and those said they worked well with heat and were both used extensivly on skis. Thank you very much for all the suggestions and I will keep them in mind. one of my plans is to build a smaller test with scrap materials and press it before I actually lay up the ski and press it. Hopefully that can eliminate some problems.
I have a problem. I pressed one ski last night and now I have two problems at the tip and tail, on one side the base extends over the end of the core by about a 1/8th inch. On the other end of the ski it looks like the base and core didnt fully bond together, are these skis screwed? http://www.flickr.com/photos/7390782@N08/ hopefully some rivits can take care of it 
Becker wrote:
G-man
No more than the first pair that most of the rest of us have built. I'd say, do what ever you have to do to get them to hold together for a little while and ski the crap out of them. There's a lot to be learned from your first pair, even if they aren't quite perfect.are these skis screwed?
G-man