Soul Skis

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:55 am

I had some free time last week and finished up another successful build. This pair I made for myself and I call the Nuke.

The skis have a 20 meter sidecut with dimensions of 138-115-129. I gave them 36 cm tips with 5 cm rise and 32 cm tails with 2.5 cm rise.

For the cores I used oak under the binding screws, fir in the middle, more fir outside of the oak, poplar outside of the fir, and then bamboo sidewalls. I profiled to 3.2-12.75-3.2 and these guys are stiff. They are about the same stiffness as my Soul Surfers so I think they will charge hard and take whatever I throw at them.

I gave them just a few mm of camber under foot so they should be fairly versatile for hardpack and pow.

The graphics I designed on Photoshop again and the topsheet was printed by Chad at CODA. They are a prone to chipping if you tend to bang your skis together a lot. I have heard that nylon is better than PBT for chip resistance.

I figured out what was going wrong with my thermocouple. The end wires had some adhesive residue gummed up from duct taping it to the aluminum causing it to not read properly. I just cleaned it up and no more error messages on the controller.

I was pleased with my prediction of the amount of camber I would be getting. I set the top blanket at 150 and the bottom at 180 to get just a few mm of camber.

I mounted my bindings 2 cm forward of where I usually design them to be. I tested about 25 different pair of retail skis last month and played around with the binding positions on a lot of them. I came to realize that I like them a little more forward now.

Tomorrow these will touch snow so we'll see how they do. Conditions should be a little bit of everything so it will be an ideal test day.

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:06 am

The bamboo sidewall looks great on those. Very nice

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:26 pm

Thanks. I really like using the bamboo for sidewalls. The router gives it a real clean finish and the bamboo is very consistent. You don't see grain variation like you do with some woods. It also has a decent janka hardness and takes impacts pretty well.

I skied these today and was blown away. They were so incredibly solid and I got to ski them in pow, slush, windbuff, a few bumps, and carved up some groomers. They are the closest thing to a do everything ski that I have built. This pair is going to be skied hard until there is no more ptex or edges left on them.

n.marshall · Post by **n.marshall** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:12 am

Dr. Delam wrote: I mounted my bindings 2 cm forward of where I usually design them to be. I tested about 25 different pair of retail skis last month and played around with the binding positions on a lot of them. I came to realize that I like them a little more forward now.

I have been messing around with this as well. How many cm back from true center are you? Depending on snow conditions, tip/tail width, what you will be using the ski for, and what binding you are putting on the ski are all things that can affect where I want the mount point to be.

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:12 pm

On this particular pair I went back 7.4 cn from center. I calculate it as a percentage of total ski length and have been mounting in the 45-46 % range for boot center, 49% for park skis.

falls · Post by **falls** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:44 pm

Dr. Are you saying 45-46% from the tail, ie. 55% from the tip. That's what my latest design is - narrowest point at 55% of total length.
Are you placing the narrowest part of the sidecut at the same place as boot centre?

The pair of mine I have skied the most are a 186, with boot centre at about 6cm back from true centre. I think I like being a bit forward of the traditional mounting point especially with some tip rocker to keep them up.

falls · Post by **falls** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:45 pm

Dr. Are you saying 45-46% from the tail, ie. 55% from the tip. That's what my latest design is - narrowest point at 55% of total length.
Are you placing the narrowest part of the sidecut at the same place as boot centre?

The pair of mine I have skied the most are a 186, with boot centre at about 6cm back from true centre. I think I like being a bit forward of the traditional mounting point especially with some tip rocker to keep them up.

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:17 am

Yes, I am measuring from the tail here.

I don't always put the narrowest part of the sidecut at the boot midsole but it is usually fairly close. If I want a higher taper angle(tip width vs. tail width), I offset the sidecut more so the narrowest part is back of the boot midsole.

SHIF · Post by **SHIF** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:16 pm

Dr. Delam wrote:... If I want a higher taper angle(tip width vs. tail width), I offset the sidecut more so the narrowest part is back of the boot midsole.

Have you considered using a dual radius side cut to create more taper in the ski design?

A shorter radius from the mid boot forward (~22m) and a longer radius aft (~26m). This narrows the tail about 3 mm on a 186cm ski. The 4FRNT MSP has a shape like this. I plan to build a similar design but wider overall, 133-101-119.

Cheers,
-S

http://www.backcountryfreeskier.com/4fr ... e-ski.html

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:07 pm

I built a couple pair of skis with dual radius sidecuts but I like my single radius designs much better. They feel more predictable and have a larger sweet spot.

If the radii are fairly close it's not that noticeable but I think mine were something like a 10 meter difference. They felt very hooky and quirky and were very sensitive to where I was pressuring the ski.

To simplify things and get a consistent turn radius back, I reverted to single radius sidecuts.

Multiple radius sidecuts definitely work but I know that I can't go wrong with a single.

I skied the Scott Dozer this year, which actually had a zero sidecut portion underfoot and that thing carved awesome. I didn't get to ski it off piste though because it was bone rattling frozen crud.

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:48 am

Tonight I just finished up a touring ski to add to my quiver. I call this one the Soul Searcher and got new Dynafit bindings, Dynafit boots, and some new Black Diamond skins for them.

I went with a length of 180 as opposed to my usual 185 all mountain size. The skis have a 23 m turn radius with dimensions of 129-112-120.

The cores consist of fir, poplar, oak, with bamboo sidewalls and a profile of 3-12.5-3. They are nice and stiff but not too heavy.

I gave the tips 7 cm rise over 34 cm and the tails 4 cm rise over 30 cm.

At first I wanted to go flat camber on these but at the last second I changed my mind. I have only toured on regular camber skis and thought that a flat ski might not skin as well. So I gave them about 2 mm of camber. We'll see how they do.

I stuck to my usual layup of VDS, 22 oz glass top and bottom, CODA graphics, 45 psi, with bottom blanket at 180 and top at 160.

We should have a nice long spring touring season if it ever gets here. It is still snowing in the Sierras and winter is hanging on tough.

Brazen · Post by **Brazen** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:58 pm

Beautiful. Every pair you make seems better than the last.

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:05 pm

Thanks Brazen. I have been enjoying looking at these for hours at a time while skinning up the last few days.

Dr. Delam · Post by **Dr. Delam** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:24 pm

I was able to finish up some cores today for the next build for my wife. I used a strip of fir in the middle, couple strips of oak under the binders, then poplar with bamboo sidewalls. For me, making cores is still the most time consuming part of the build since I make them all individually and not from blocks.

I also got my graphics shipped from Coda. I spent way too much time on these too but I think the wife is pleased.

Snow is forecasted this week in the Sierras too. Bring on winter!

falls · Post by **falls** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:00 am

always love your work dr!
look forward to seeing these finished

Ski Builders Forum

Ski Builders Forum

Soul Skis

Soul Searcher