Ski Builders Forum

Say I want to use some 3" wide 0 degree carbon in my layup.
If I use 12" long sections to go the length rather than 1 continuous fiber will I get the snappyness of tension that I desire or does it need to be one continuous piece?
I think it needs to be continuous fiber but could not get this through my co-building friends head.

Ideas?

I don't think you'd the effect you're looking for with segmented sections.

I agree with Vinman. I think you would get a segmented flex pattern. With a full length strand the forces would translate more evenly and smoother.

What they said/what you thought. It will make a difference, but not as much, but the segmented pieces probably do more than you'd think. But I would say there is no reason to intentionally do that, unless you have left over scraps.

I have a giant garbage bag full of CF scraps from a friend's ski company that they didn't need, and for the last few pairs I've done I've just been using those scraps which are on the order of ~18" long or so, I overlapped the segments an inch or so too. Has worked fine for me.

yeah scrap.
I want to use on top only for some of taht snappy rebound on a pow ski that is gonna be real damp.
So overlap will give me some of that effect.
I do not want a segmented flex pattern.
Its 9oz uni and was gonna be about 3 inches wide or so.
I thought it would not in that type of load when the ski decambers more or deflects.
Only way to know is try it.

I have some basalt fiber that I was thinking about using in this manner. I have a friend that wants a really light weight touring/BC ski. I was going to use full length carbon tow and then use the basalt only in areas that need a little beefing up like in the tips or perhaps under the binding so I can go with a slightly thinner core and beef it up some extra fibers.

These are also short enough that I though about using them on a 45 or 60 deg axis to beef up the torsional stiffness on really wide skis.

No experience in this area, but I was going to say go with the overlap. Except I'd overlap more like 50% like this (we'll see if this ASCII representation works):

_____ _____ _____ _____
___ _____ _____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____ _____


I would think 12" lengths with only a 1" overlap would still result in a "hingy" flex. But again, I've never tried putting CF stringers in period so my comments are purely theoretical.

Hey MM, stupid question but you're still using a layer of triax FG right? I wouldn't worry about a segmented flex pattern if you still have the fiberglass, if it was CF only then it might be different.

Right the 12 oz uni glass fibers will round out any segmentation that might be felt.