Question to you, snowboard builders

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:52 am

Yeah, I finally leaned to the dark side and started making 2 splitboards for my friends who have been begging for that the last 2 years...

Everything is going OK, just had a few problems with my planer being a bit too narrow for the larger board I'm building... And also my press drill is too small to reach the center of the board to drill inserts holes... Anyway that's not the point.

For those boards, as opposed to my skis, I went with almost full length wood core, I just have 20mm around the nose and tail which are TipSpacer material. In the tips my core is 2mm thick and my question is :
"will my press be enough to bend the core against the mold in the tip and tail area ?"
I usually press at 40 PSI and have quite a large contact area between my bladder and cat-track. The radius in tip and tail is not very tight (smallest radius is 308mm). My cassette (.05" aluminum) is gonna be pre-bent (not exactly to shape but almost), my base+edges as well...

Thanks for any input !

doughboyshredder · Post by **doughboyshredder** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:02 pm

Well, it's hard to say. I don't get a good fit in the radius until I am over 60 psi, with full length wood cores.

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:21 pm

I guess I'm gonna try to pre-bend the core a little...

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:38 pm

I agree with DBS as to tip compliance @ 60psi. Pre-bending the cassettes has always given me the blues in layup though. We leave everything flat here.

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:43 pm

Seems like bending a snowboard core is not that easy, I tried to steam it but it makes the glue break... so bending is not an option.
Flat layup won't be possible as well as my cavity is ways too tight (even the bent cassette might be challenging)...

So what are my options now ? I thought about having only tip-spacer material in tip and tail. It's already curved as a result of being stores in a roll, I already do that for my skis and it works great, the thing is I don't know if this solution will work for a snowboard (splitboard actually).
Any idea about that ? If I go that way I was thinking of adding an extra layer of light fibreglass that would overlap the transitions core/tipspacer.
Any help would be much appreciated !

Thanks !

doughboyshredder · Post by **doughboyshredder** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:40 pm

that will work fine. I've had to do that on a few boards. Some people do it on all their boards. IMO, it's not nearly as quality of a product, as it does increase swing weight, and create a weak spot at the most heavily flexed part of the board. You can interlock it though so it's not just a straight line there.

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:55 am

Yeah I would think that too... I'll try some kind of interlock so I have core+tipspacer transitioning over a couple of inches.
I know it's not the best way to build and I also want to go with full wood core (just peripheral tip spacer) for my skis as well in a near future. Thing is My press is just too tight for now and I don't want to spend time modifying my press this winter.
Thanks for your help !

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:15 am

I had no choice so I ended up cutting the tip&tail parts of my core off, leaving 2 tabs for "interlock" :

Everything went great, here is the result after 30 minutes in the press :

(the protective paper is still on)

That was Friday night and after I took it out of the press I had to run to a friend's birthday party.. I arrived late but the board is for him, I'm sure he understood :p Then I left for the WE for some touring in Vermont..
Tonight I remove the flashing and finish the board, that will be the moment of truth !

Richuk · Post by **Richuk** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:03 pm

Quality!!!

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:28 pm

And here is the finished board, just need a couple coats of varnish on the sidewalls + splitboard hardware..

sammer · Post by **sammer** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 8:21 pm

Nice one Ben.
Don't tell me you silk-screened the graphics on that board

Let us know how it tours!

sam

doughboyshredder · Post by **doughboyshredder** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:33 pm

center edge?
How'd they line up?
What wood did you use for sidewalls.
How are you sealing the sidewalls.

Looks good!

ben_mtl · Post by **ben_mtl** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:14 am

Sam -> the graphics come from CODA, super nice guy and the result is just awesome !

DBS -> Yes of course center edge, they line up perfectly, here is the tip : you cut your 2 bases and glue the edges on. Then you take a piece of wood (you should have some left somewhere right ?) 1/4" wide x the height of an edge x the length of the board. Superglue your bases+edges tight on each side of the 1/4" spacer.
Then make your core 1/4" wider than necessary and lay up you board as usual. In my case, as I use maple sidewalls, my core has a 1" strip of maple in the center. Once the 1/4" of extra width in the center will be removed whle splitting the board, I'll still have some nice maple sidewalls. I'm pretty sure you could do the same with plastic sidewalls.

As I said I use maple sidewalls, a couple coats of polyurethane varnish to seal it and I'm good to go. I just re-apply a coat of varnish once a season so it seals any new impact, just to be sure.
I like the look of wooden sidewalls but I'd like to give it a try with ABS or UHMW, just so I can be more lazy on the maintenance :p
Still, I have 2 seasons (40+ days?) on the pair I use for touring, I wouldn't say I am very cautious with them but I don't beat them either (that could be debated though...) and they're holding great, Maple sidewalls are pretty tough... and the Durasurf 4001 base is way more tough than I would have thought, early season conditions here can be destructive !

I'll take more pics of the finished board as soon as my friend receives the Voilé hardware (the board is not for me), you'll have to wait at least a couple weeks though as I'm leaving for a ski trip in France for the next 2 weeks ! yeah !

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Question to you, snowboard builders

Question to you, snowboard builders