I am looking a building my press and there are a couple of I-Beams for sale near by that are 89" x 6" x 6.25" (226.06cm x 15.24cm x 15.87cm) are these big enough to build an I-Beam Press?
Cheers
James
Two Main Beams For I-Beam Ski Press
Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp
James,
I ran a quick calc for you but i made a few assumptions due to the amount of information you provided. I am assuming that is a W6X20 beam but you will need to determine flange and web thicknesses to truly determine what beams those are. I also asummed that you are using the full 89" length of beam. You would be pressing with 50 PSI and a 6" area of hose is pressing against your beam. Using these assumptions the beam is fine in shear and bending strength even if the beam is 36 ksi steel. The deflection would be approximatly .154" at the center of the span. The connections of the beams are the critical part of building a press so please be carefull if you do not know how to run the numbers because failure can be extremely dangerous.
I ran a quick calc for you but i made a few assumptions due to the amount of information you provided. I am assuming that is a W6X20 beam but you will need to determine flange and web thicknesses to truly determine what beams those are. I also asummed that you are using the full 89" length of beam. You would be pressing with 50 PSI and a 6" area of hose is pressing against your beam. Using these assumptions the beam is fine in shear and bending strength even if the beam is 36 ksi steel. The deflection would be approximatly .154" at the center of the span. The connections of the beams are the critical part of building a press so please be carefull if you do not know how to run the numbers because failure can be extremely dangerous.
I don't use an I-beam press i use a press that is supported in several spots along the span to reduce deflection. Similar to the press just built by COsurfer. See the Forum "A new press is born" under the log your ski building progress.
I think W6X20 beams would work as an i-beam press if you can live with the deflection. if not you could always throw a support in the center of the span and reduce the deflection to .009".
Good luck, sounds like you have a good start.
I think W6X20 beams would work as an i-beam press if you can live with the deflection. if not you could always throw a support in the center of the span and reduce the deflection to .009".
Good luck, sounds like you have a good start.
My press is 240cm long. With a usable space probably of about 235cm.
I am building skis and wish I had a little more length.
If those i beams are 226cm long and you then need to place a piece of ibeam crosswise to separate top and bottom layers you might end up with a relatively short internal length on your press. Maybe OK for snowboards but prob not for longer skis.
One thing I forgot to take into account when building my press was that the air connectors on your hoses interfere with how long a ski you can press and even the molds end up taking up a lot of space length wise.
My first pair were only a 171cm tip to tail length but the molds add probably another 10-15cm of length within the press. I have templates for a 185cm ski which I think will just fit, but going up to a 190 or more may be a bit of a push! Just a few additional thoughts aside from the strength questions.
I am building skis and wish I had a little more length.
If those i beams are 226cm long and you then need to place a piece of ibeam crosswise to separate top and bottom layers you might end up with a relatively short internal length on your press. Maybe OK for snowboards but prob not for longer skis.
One thing I forgot to take into account when building my press was that the air connectors on your hoses interfere with how long a ski you can press and even the molds end up taking up a lot of space length wise.
My first pair were only a 171cm tip to tail length but the molds add probably another 10-15cm of length within the press. I have templates for a 185cm ski which I think will just fit, but going up to a 190 or more may be a bit of a push! Just a few additional thoughts aside from the strength questions.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
press design
Hi guys.
My press I'm building is made out of 360UB50.7 which is 360mm deep, 171mm wide with flange thickness 12mm and web (centre) 7mm roughly.
I have cut mine to 2500mm length and I reacon I should be able to press a 2100mm ski if I wanted to, can't see the need for it but 2500mm was a nice round number. There is a gap approx 2300 end to end that I can squeeze the profiles into.
I've used 8.8 grade 24mm bolts, 32 in total, again maybe slightly overkill but I don't want any bolts and steel flying around. Used a rotor broach cutter mag drill and saved a ton of time and effort and a very accurate job done.
Take your time marking out the steel - my rule is measure 3 times then cut / drill ok, you don't want to mess it up.
Still in progress I'll post some pics of the final press and I hope my first skis in 6-8 weeks I hope.
cheers
Rich[/img]
My press I'm building is made out of 360UB50.7 which is 360mm deep, 171mm wide with flange thickness 12mm and web (centre) 7mm roughly.
I have cut mine to 2500mm length and I reacon I should be able to press a 2100mm ski if I wanted to, can't see the need for it but 2500mm was a nice round number. There is a gap approx 2300 end to end that I can squeeze the profiles into.
I've used 8.8 grade 24mm bolts, 32 in total, again maybe slightly overkill but I don't want any bolts and steel flying around. Used a rotor broach cutter mag drill and saved a ton of time and effort and a very accurate job done.
Take your time marking out the steel - my rule is measure 3 times then cut / drill ok, you don't want to mess it up.
Still in progress I'll post some pics of the final press and I hope my first skis in 6-8 weeks I hope.
cheers
Rich[/img]
MonkeyCAM and SnoCAD - https://github.com/mikemag
Ski binding mounting https://github.com/splitn2/DrillSki
Richard Harcourt | www.splitn2.com | Christchurch New Zealand
rich@splitn2.com | www.facebook.com/splitn2
Ski binding mounting https://github.com/splitn2/DrillSki
Richard Harcourt | www.splitn2.com | Christchurch New Zealand
rich@splitn2.com | www.facebook.com/splitn2
Sounds good Rich, start a Journal post so we can follow your build. Your press sounds similar to mine, except I welded mine. Nothing against bolts or anything, but when you have an arc welder in the shed and would need to rent a mag drill it just made more sense :P
Good luck on the 6-8 weeks! How's the material sourcing and ski design going?
On topic - jnorms I agree with what falls said, think carefully about how you're going to construct your press and what length skis/boards you want to build. I'm using 2500mm (8.2') I beams and I wouldn't want any less for snowboards, skis could even use another foot or so. If you look at Big Kam's press then perhaps you can get away with slightly shorter due to the end design (rather than the Happy Monkey style end supports).
You'll need at least 4 of those I beams as well for 2 skis at once, plus whatever you use for end supports.
Good luck on the 6-8 weeks! How's the material sourcing and ski design going?
On topic - jnorms I agree with what falls said, think carefully about how you're going to construct your press and what length skis/boards you want to build. I'm using 2500mm (8.2') I beams and I wouldn't want any less for snowboards, skis could even use another foot or so. If you look at Big Kam's press then perhaps you can get away with slightly shorter due to the end design (rather than the Happy Monkey style end supports).
You'll need at least 4 of those I beams as well for 2 skis at once, plus whatever you use for end supports.
ah yep, materials was getting to that!
Hi Alex,
I am hoping to get a bit of a consignment bundled up with others down this side of the world if possible???? As you guys are prob too, resin glass/carbon and core materials I'll source locally, edge/stopsheets/base/inserts I'll get offshore. How did you manage to get materials without the nasty freight bill really killing it?
Will def put up progress once the press is fully assembled and the first sticks come out of it, the first three sets of skis are for a special ski-mountaineering hybrid binding/ski I am helping a mate with. Hopefully after that I will have ironed out a few bugs and I can get to work on some boards.
cheers
Rich
I am hoping to get a bit of a consignment bundled up with others down this side of the world if possible???? As you guys are prob too, resin glass/carbon and core materials I'll source locally, edge/stopsheets/base/inserts I'll get offshore. How did you manage to get materials without the nasty freight bill really killing it?
Will def put up progress once the press is fully assembled and the first sticks come out of it, the first three sets of skis are for a special ski-mountaineering hybrid binding/ski I am helping a mate with. Hopefully after that I will have ironed out a few bugs and I can get to work on some boards.
cheers
Rich
MonkeyCAM and SnoCAD - https://github.com/mikemag
Ski binding mounting https://github.com/splitn2/DrillSki
Richard Harcourt | www.splitn2.com | Christchurch New Zealand
rich@splitn2.com | www.facebook.com/splitn2
Ski binding mounting https://github.com/splitn2/DrillSki
Richard Harcourt | www.splitn2.com | Christchurch New Zealand
rich@splitn2.com | www.facebook.com/splitn2
Ski press design
I just designed a press frame and I hope it works well. I can send anyone a PDF, DWG or any other file format you might want. The total cost will be about 1000.00 USD.
let me know your thoughts and if this helps anyone out, cool!
DWL
http://weskigrace.blogspot.com/2010/08/ ... press.html
I am new to all this posting so forgive my ignorance, if you go to my blog you can email me for the files and images..
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let me know your thoughts and if this helps anyone out, cool!
DWL
http://weskigrace.blogspot.com/2010/08/ ... press.html
I am new to all this posting so forgive my ignorance, if you go to my blog you can email me for the files and images..
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Hi Rich,
Sorry missed this last time - to be honest I just copped the freight bill on the chin. I ordered enough for about 10 boards. I'd love to go in on any bulk buys from the US from early next year.
Edges I sourced from skibuilders. Freight cost is high but no other way. I'm using wood veneer for topsheets so they were sourced locally. Bases I sourced through crown plastics factory in china. Inserts from camaxtoolco.com who were very helpful with reasonable prices and fairly cheap freight.
Sorry missed this last time - to be honest I just copped the freight bill on the chin. I ordered enough for about 10 boards. I'd love to go in on any bulk buys from the US from early next year.
Edges I sourced from skibuilders. Freight cost is high but no other way. I'm using wood veneer for topsheets so they were sourced locally. Bases I sourced through crown plastics factory in china. Inserts from camaxtoolco.com who were very helpful with reasonable prices and fairly cheap freight.