Leaf Skis

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 2:05 pm

First of all I would like to thank skibuilders.com and this forum for all the infos and help without which I would have never been able to make a pair of skis.
This adventure started this summer on the italian alps just under Mont Blanc discussing with some friends in front of a bottle of good Barbera red wine about the possibility of making a pair of freeride skis.
Yesterday we finished the first pair and we where really pleased with the result.
Leaf Skis Mk1 is a powder ski lenght 190 150-125-140 40 meters radius reverse camber.
Here are some pictures and links to Youtube videos with all the steps we went through.

Base cutting out on cnc

Core cutting out and shaping on cnc.
First we started with birch plywood but we ended up a little bit too soft to we changed for a bamboo core 10mm thick

For the edges bending we made a couple of tools

Edges gluing on base sheet with super glue

Laying up

Bagging and pressing
For the first pair we used a vacuum press but for the future we would like to build a pneumatic press

For shaping the camber we used a system similar to 333 one and it worked really well

Out of the press

Cutting out excess material

Sanding the veneer and grooving

Finishing with sealer/base/high resistence pu finish 10 gloss with uv absorber additive

Drying

The final product
LEAF SKIS Mk1

Leaf skis vs Volkl Kuro

rockaukum · Post by **rockaukum** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:28 pm

Skis look like they turned out great.
I have a question on the graphics. It looks like you added them after the pressing. And then there is the pic where you are spraying the PU yet no graphics yet. How did you apply them?
Again, skis look great.
ra

Steevner · Post by **Steevner** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 10:03 pm

I LOVE the look of the veneer topsheets. What kind of wood is it? It reminds me of a wood called ebony black and white.

Don't think you can get ^ that stuff in veneer form tho. If only...

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:17 am

rockaukum wrote:Skis look like they turned out great.
I have a question on the graphics. It looks like you added them after the pressing. And then there is the pic where you are spraying the PU yet no graphics yet. How did you apply them?
Again, skis look great.
ra

Actually you are right.
For this first pair I placed some pre-spaced stickers after spraying the base and after that I sprayed the PU finish in order to protect the stickers.
For the future I would like to improve the process.
The idea is to cut out the graphics in the venner using laser and then put inserts made with a thin layer of aluminium supported with paper or TNT (tissue-not-tissue).
In the area where I live there are different veneer suppliers that can do the job.
The skis look great but I hope they will ride great as well

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:22 am

Steevner wrote:I LOVE the look of the veneer topsheets. What kind of wood is it? It reminds me of a wood called ebony black and white.

Don't think you can get ^ that stuff in veneer form tho. If only...

The solution is much easier and more environmental friendly.
I used multilaminar wood veneer.
In my case is a poplar veneer, stained in dark brown and white, re-pressed together and then sliced again.
Here's the link to the company that makes this sort of material:
http://www.alpi.it/uk/ListaProdotti.asp?IDSC=14

thomasberg · Post by **thomasberg** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:50 pm

How did you go about making those nifty molds? I need something that thin so that I can just pop it into my vacuum bag. I can't figure out how you managed such precise bends on an aluminum? sheet. I searched the forum for another mention of this type of mold but had no luck.

Steevner · Post by **Steevner** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:32 pm

That's a pretty neat way of making veneers. Are they very fragile?

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:48 am

thomasberg wrote:How did you go about making those nifty molds? I need something that thin so that I can just pop it into my vacuum bag. I can't figure out how you managed such precise bends on an aluminum? sheet. I searched the forum for another mention of this type of mold but had no luck.

For bending tip and tail of the aluminium plates I used an old metal plate bender.
It is made of 3 drums and an handle and according to the distance of the 3 drums you obtain different radius.
The aluminium is inside the vacuum bag and for the final camber setting I placed a piece of wood od 5 cm under the tip and 3cm for the tail while at the center I pushed the plates to the table using the "squeezer" you can see in the pictures (sorry I don't know how translate)

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:53 am

Steevner wrote:That's a pretty nifty way of making veneers. Are they very fragile?

Not really fragile.
As fragile as oak veneer.
You can use them with radiuses up to 2mm.
If you have problems you can always support it on the back side with paper or tnt (tissue non tissue)

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:00 am

Here are some pictures regarding base preparetion and tuning

elle · Post by **elle** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:37 am

as I told you last week, great job Luca!

the first time I saw the skis I was really stocked.

Now we have to wait for a big dump near Mt Blanc, or we gonna drink tooooo much Barbera.

ciao

davide · Post by **davide** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:17 pm

At the first look, I tought the topsheet was made with carbon fiber yarns...

You may buy pre-bent, sanded edges if you want to build many pairs, you will save a lot of time.

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 5:44 am

davide wrote:At the first look, I tought the topsheet was made with carbon fiber yarns...

You may buy pre-bent, sanded edges if you want to build many pairs, you will save a lot of time.

Thanks Davide you are right, the steel edges producer I contacted in Austria can give both the sanding and bending services.
At this stage I prefer the non bended ones because we are trying different side cut.
For example yesterday we came out with a new ski slimmer than Mk1.
We even tested a new press mould (still using vacuum) with better performance but that is still very fast to set up.
WE cut out with a CNC a base mould and a top one from the same sheet of 25mm mdf.
The aluminium plate with the plastic bag remains between the two moulds that are squeezed together.
Here are a couple of picture to explain.

And here it is the final result:
130-105-120 35 meters radius 1900mm lenght
Very small regular camber + rocker for the first 70cm

chuck · Post by **chuck** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:21 pm

Looks amazing, I really like the look of that veneer.

What thickness of aluminium are you you using for the base mold?

lucacasty · Post by **lucacasty** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:16 am

chuck wrote:Looks amazing, I really like the look of that veneer.

What thickness of aluminium are you you using for the base mold?

4mm

Ski Builders Forum

Ski Builders Forum

Leaf Skis

Leaf Skis