Press Frame Width?

[jacobsen1]

OK, I'm the n00b, and we all know it...

Now that that's out of the way, a dumb question. I've read through the whole "how to" section as best I can (I'll be rereading them araing tonight) and I can't figure out one thing so far... When you build the press frame shown here:

it's made with 4 pieces 2" wide, so that's 8" wide right? That makes it ~203mm...

If that's the case and you make skis with that press I'm guessing that you press one at a time then right? The reason I'm asking, is looking at the shots further along in the "how to" section, I see a semi finished pair here:

and they appear to have been pressed/layed up together?

Also looking at the mold shown here:

it looks to be wide enough to make a pair of skiis, not just one at a time.

Also after reading through the whole "how to" section it appears the guys used a different bigger frame and that the press that they show how to build is a smaller version that's made out of easier to find matterials. Basically my question is:The press diagram shown is for 1 ski at a time press, but the press used in the how to section shows them making skis 2 up right?

Thanks, and sorry for such a stupid/long first post.

Ben

[G-man]

Hi jacobsen1,

I'm sure that the K's will clear this up shortly, but between now and then, I'll give it a lame shot. As far as I can tell, Kelvin, Big Kam, and Little Kam get around alot. They have at least a couple of different shops with different press set-ups in each. The photos found throughout the forum are a collection of shots from these various shops and of the various press set-ups. Some of the presses will only handle one ski at a time, and some of the presses will handle two skis at a time. I think that, generally speaking, a one ski press would need to be in the range of 8 - 12 inches wide, and a two ski press would need to be more like 16 inches wide (two skis @6 " wide at the tips plus room for a little composite overhang).

G-man

[jacobsen1]

Hi jacobsen1,

I'm sure that the K's will clear this up shortly, but between now and then, I'll give it a lame shot. As far as I can tell, Kelvin, Big Kam, and Little Kam get around alot. They have at least a couple of different shops with different press set-ups in each.

G-man

OK, That's sorta what I thought. That and that they show the how to actually make skis on their press, and then afterwards they figured they'd show us how to make the press frame after they had already "punted" to figure out their first.

I'm wondering what would be better, a single or double, but I guess I can make a double and just do one ski at a time while I'm learning (so I only have to lay one up at a time)... I'm pretty sure I can get the press frame matterials from work for free as we just took down an old warehouse full of pallet racks.

Ben

[G-man]

Hey Ben,

If you haven't seen the Kingswood video, I'd recomend that you check check it out. They have a really nice set-up for pressing 2 skis at a time. www.kingswoodskis.com

And yes, learning on one ski at a time sounds like the way to go, but it probably wouldn't be long before you'd be ready/wanting to do two at a time. So, your plan to make a double press sounds like a good approach.

G-man

[jacobsen1]

Sounds good thanks.
I tired to go to that site earlier, but couldn't...
It's loading now though.
Ben

[kelvin]

Sorry for the confusion. The press in the How-to section is based off little Kam's press and it is a single ski press. There are some other pictures that show Big kam's and my press, which is a two ski press. Little Kam's shop in California is the cleaner one, and my garage in Seattle, is the messier one.

Pressing a pair at a time is really nice, but it also adds to the expense and time if you screw up or something goes wrong.

-kelvin

[jacobsen1]

Sorry for the confusion. The press in the How-to section is based off little Kam's press and it is a single ski press. There are some other pictures that show Big kam's and my press, which is a two ski press. Little Kam's shop in California is the cleaner one, and my garage in Seattle, is the messier one.

Pressing a pair at a time is really nice, but it also adds to the expense and time if you screw up or something goes wrong.

-kelvin

Thanks, that's how it looked, I just wanted to be sure... I think it will come down to what I can scrounge for free matterials for the press. It looks like that's where I'll be spending the most $ for my initial setup, but I might be able to get free stuff that could work. I'm aiming for a dual press if possible, and I'll just press singles for my first pair so I can learn w/o messing up a pair.

Thanks again, I can't wait.
Ben

[zachjowi]

since I am just going to start out would it be best if I make the one ski press. does it make a difference only making one at a time? will one ski turn out better than the other?

thanks

[jacobsen1]

since I am just going to start out would it be best if I make the one ski press. does it make a difference only making one at a time? will one ski turn out better than the other?

thanks

I would say if you can afford the matterials and space, make the press and mold big enough for 2 skis. This way you can start doing one ski at a time giving you more time durring layup at first, but once you're used to it you'll be able to switch to laying 2 skis up at a time without rebuilding anything.

Granted I'm as new here as you are so what do I know, but that's my plan of attack.

As for the skis being different, the way they turn has more to do with the matterials and design specs than anything else so they should come out of the same mold being VERY similar except for the defects that each ski will have (slightly different, regardless of how many you pressed at once).

Good Luck, my wife has me finishing about 5 other house projects before I'm "allowed" to start with my DIY ski project, so for now I'm just in the planning stages. I need to get all my info together and get some skis and molds drawn up in CAD first though so that's what I'm working on now. That and "Data mining" the 4 buyers guides that came this week to see what I want to build in general, and for my first pair...

I want to built volkl Mantras and gotamas, fatypus, and probably try to duplicate my K2 PEs as my first pair so I have a benchmark when I start...


Good Luck!
Ben

[zachjowi]

since I am just going to start out would it be best if I make the one ski press. does it make a difference only making one at a time? will one ski turn out better than the other?

thanks

I would say if you can afford the matterials and space, make the press and mold big enough for 2 skis. This way you can start doing one ski at a time giving you more time durring layup at first, but once you're used to it you'll be able to switch to laying 2 skis up at a time without rebuilding anything.

Granted I'm as new here as you are so what do I know, but that's my plan of attack.

As for the skis being different, the way they turn has more to do with the matterials and design specs than anything else so they should come out of the same mold being VERY similar except for the defects that each ski will have (slightly different, regardless of how many you pressed at once).

Good Luck, my wife has me finishing about 5 other house projects before I'm "allowed" to start with my DIY ski project, so for now I'm just in the planning stages. I need to get all my info together and get some skis and molds drawn up in CAD first though so that's what I'm working on now. That and "Data mining" the 4 buyers guides that came this week to see what I want to build in general, and for my first pair...

I want to built volkl Mantras and gotamas, fatypus, and probably try to duplicate my K2 PEs as my first pair so I have a benchmark when I start...


Good Luck!Ben

thanks

I have no idea about what I want to build as far as skis. How should I know? look through the guides find a high rated pair then steal their specs?

is an internal press size of 6.5" tall x 8"wide x 78" long ok?

[jacobsen1]

I have no idea about what I want to build as far as skis. How should I know? look through the guides find a high rated pair then steal their specs?

is an internal press size of 6.5" tall x 8"wide x 78" long ok?

Well you can make whatever you want ski wise... I'm on the fence myself, but the idea behind picking your skis should be based on a few things. What do you ski on and own now? What would you go try if you were going to buy new skis? Do you have any crazy whacky concepts not out on the market right now? The best bet is to recreate something you own or at least have access to right now, as that will make it very easy to "copy" the ski and see what changes when you press it and as you make the cores and everything. This way you will know if they are different than what you planned and you can also compair how they ski to what you already own... If they do come out looking exactally the same as your current ride you'll know your design and pressing techniques are spot on and then it's just skiing on them to see how they ski differently than what you copied... IE Flex turn in, turn radius and all that good stuff...

For me, I ski on K2 PEs @179cm and Rossignol Scratches @ 180cm and they have very similar dimensions. I'm going to duplicate the PEs as best I can to see if I can make an exact copy and if I don't why they aren't the same... From there once I figure out how I can get what I want out of my mold, then I'm going to try making skis that I am not familiar with (IE haven't skied on) by copying their specs and trying that out...

So I'm going to make as close a replica as I can to what I already own for testing purposes, once I'm comfortable with that, then I'm going to expirament with making skis I'd like to own...

As for the press size, those numbers are from the press frame design here, so they should be fine for a one ski press. Find what matterials you're going to be using for this, because if you're getting whatever you can find, the dimensions of the matterials will dictate the press size a bit. But if you buy everything new, then you can easily end up at that size. Personally I'm using old pallet shelf steel beams, so I can't get to those exact dimensions... I'm going to go a bit wider so that I can press 2 up once I learn how to do this...

Ben

[zachjowi]

how wide would my press need to be to make snowboards? I am looking towards in the future after making skis.

thanks