Cores

For discussions related to the type of materials to build skis/snowboards and where to get them.

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tsherman
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:33 pm

Cores

Post by tsherman »

Hello, I am trying to build my own cores. I bought some poplar planks from the local lumber yard. We laminated 8 planks together using a standard wood glue, and that seemed to work well. But unfortunately, the industrial band saw moves painfully slow. We found someone out here who can use his CNC router table to profile the cores to our specific needs. But after all of this, I feel I need a way to slice off 1/2 inch blanks in a much more timely manner, and preferrably at full width, as opposed to having to glue two halves together at the end. I am almost willing to accept defeat at this point. So what I'm getting at, does anybody have a better way to rip 12 inch wide blanks off the block, or maybe just somebody that is willing to manufacture customized cores in quantity, at our specific thickness? This core issue has been eating a solid 75% of my day, and I just feel that my time is better spent elsewhere in the building process. I truly appreciate any insight, and thank you in advance.
WhitePine
Posts: 141
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 10:27 am

Post by WhitePine »

I feel your pain. I've been thinking about how I'd do this as well. Especially since I don't have a bandsaw. What I was thinking (with some help from people here) is that I would cut the stack just under halfway through with my tablesaw, then flip it over and do it again. That way you are left with just a thin strip of wood at the center of the stack holding the slice together. Then finish with a normal wood saw by hand. The problem is you aren't likely to get an even surface this way, unless you have a jointer or planer to clean it up.

The more tedious option is to rip the planks into 1/2" tall strips prior to gluing and then glue them up. I think you'd need lots of good clamps to keep it straight and lined up as possible.

So any tips would be helpful. For those of you who don't have a planer, or bandsaw, how do you build your cores?

Revolution in Utah, will build cores for you but they require a bulk purchase of like 40 cores or something.
sammer
Posts: 933
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:37 pm
Location: Fernie B.C.
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Post by sammer »

Combine both the above methods.
Use the table saw to cut part way thru flip it cut part way thru again then the band saw will have a lot easier time.
This will be time consuming and you'll have to have a planer or router bridge to clean them up after.
Simpler to cut smaller slabs and glue them together.
I glue 3 or 4 1x4's together, cut them into 16mm strips, book match these, then run thru the planer to clean them up.


sam
You don't even have a legit signature, nothing to reveal who you are and what you do...

Best of luck to you. (uneva)
jellyfish
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 5:05 pm

Post by jellyfish »

Look for someone in your area who has a portable saw mill it's basically a an oversize band saw with a engine on it for an hourly rate they will take slabs as thin as 1/8" off your block if you want for skateboards or whatever thickness you like, I usually buy my lumber from them glue up the blocks and take them back for the thickness I want they can do it very fast last time I got 40 slabs cut for an hours labour at 60$ per hour I helped hand bomb after each cut so he can just do the cutting. I have to glue a 5' 2x10 to the side so he can grab it with the machine and there is no waste, but talk to your local guy they love this stuff it's out of the ordinary for them

Cheers
Jim
rockaukum
Posts: 558
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:23 am
Location: Placerville area

Post by rockaukum »

I use the table saw, cut one side and flip to cut the other side. Clean up one side and use as the base. move to router jig and profile on the top side.
ra
tsherman
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 5:33 pm

Post by tsherman »

I truly appreciate all of the insight on this post. After finding a local lumber company, everything is going pretty much exactly as you described. Again, thank you.
g-ram
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:29 am

Post by g-ram »

great idea with the portable sawmill, I've been flirting with the idea of using my chainsaw mill to do the ripping but there'd be a lot of waste.
gketcham
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:28 pm

Post by gketcham »

How are those of you without a bandsaw/ table saw/ planer making your own cores? I bought my first 2 from snowboardmaterials.com, but they are kind of short. And I still want to build a ski from start to finish.

My thought was ripping into 1.5 inch strips and gluing together. How well does that work. Is there a better way for those of us sans big tools?
gaber6
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:22 pm

Post by gaber6 »

I'm going to try to use my leftover vertically laminated bamboo flooring from my house project for my first set of skis. Good luck with cutting the laminated boards. I have a weak table saw and no planer too, so it'll be slow going.
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