Liberty sidewall puzzler

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mattman
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Liberty sidewall puzzler

Post by mattman »

Ok, so one of our customers ended up breaking a Liberty Genome and donated it to research. What really caught my eye when I cut it open is an elastomer layer that runs the full perimeter of the ski along the top of the sidewall. It is easy to push a fingernail into (60 to 70A durometer I would guess). It seems to be about .040" thick (much more than VDS) and when the ski delamed, the fiberglass sheared before separating from the elastomer or elastomer-from-UHMW. I dont think I have ever seen this in a video before. Any ideas on how this is incorporated into the manufacturing process?

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MontuckyMadman
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Post by MontuckyMadman »

Urethane
????
I think you can get 1mm vds from haberkron
sammer wrote: I'm still a tang on top guy.
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mattman
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Post by mattman »

MM, I agree - its definitely urethane. But do you think they just epoxy a strip of cured urethane onto the sidewall during the layup? The fact that it ends perfectly in line with the sidewall makes me think that that it is somehow pre-applied to the sidewall strips. If it were during wet layup, wouldn't they just use their much thinner (and cheaper) VDS?
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MontuckyMadman
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Post by MontuckyMadman »

U think the vds is cheaper than urethane of the same thickness?
Arnt those made at neversummer?
Could be whole sheets of sidewalls prelammed and machined separate to thickness minus the rabbet.
Wow
Pita
That uhmw is a nightmare.
Looks like a great idea.
sammer wrote: I'm still a tang on top guy.
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mattman
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Post by mattman »

They seem like they would be a Never Summer ski - but no, it says Made in China. I was saying that thin VDS is probably cheaper than the thick urethane. Thick VDS is pricey.
Dtrain
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Post by Dtrain »

They call this "durathane". it is a sheet of cured urethane glued to a slab of sidewall block after profiling. Not there to only smooth out the ride, but also help with chipping of the topsheet. I was also surprised their skis are make with quadaxial glass.
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MontuckyMadman
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Post by MontuckyMadman »

All pine or poplar core?
sammer wrote: I'm still a tang on top guy.
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falls
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Post by falls »

Bamboo core

Or these days bamboo + poplar or something else.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
Dtrain
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Post by Dtrain »

Polar/bamboo
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skimann20
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Post by skimann20 »

can you post of photo of the core with a straight on view so we can see all the layers of the core?
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falls
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Post by falls »

Image
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
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skimann20
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Post by skimann20 »

I would like to see if they did that top channel and also wanted to see if they rabbet for the edges.
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MontuckyMadman
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Post by MontuckyMadman »

Always rodent rod!!
sammer wrote: I'm still a tang on top guy.
skidesmond
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Post by skidesmond »

Liberty can spell big words like quadaxial and but misspelled helps, heps.
Also the description of the sidewall seems contradictory. Is it ABS or UMHW? Is it dependably or dependable? Made in china for sure :D
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chrismp
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Post by chrismp »

skidesmond wrote:Liberty can spell big words like quadaxial and but misspelled helps, heps.
I believe it's quadraxial ;)
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