Kids Pow skis

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feldybikes
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Kids Pow skis

Post by feldybikes »

When my 10 y.o. says he wants some home built skis, it’s kinda hard to say no. I haven’t built any in years, but gonna make a go of it.

He’s probably 80ish pounds and 4’6”. Thinking 135-140mm or so. The question is how to tune the stiffness. I’m leaning towards 9mm and 16oz triax. Unlike with me, where I could rely on trial and error, I’m not sure he’ll be able to know if I make him crappy skis even if his skiing suffers. Any experience to share?
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falls
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by falls »

None sorry but interested to hear how it turns out.
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ben_mtl
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by ben_mtl »

I'm in the same process for my 7y.o daughter.
I'm building 116cm long skis, 86mm underfoot with 8.5ish meters turn radius.
She's not into powder skiing yet but she wants to... so I build this pair to complement her "store bought" resort skis.

I too am still questioning about the stiffness / thickness.. I only have 22Oz triax on hand, I was planning a 9mm thick poplar core (9mm thick on 200mm long underfoot, then thinning down to 2mm at both ends..
My concern is if I make the core too thin where the bindings will be... it can be an issue. Any idea of screw length for kids bindings ?
A bad day skiing is always better than a good one at work...
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vinman
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by vinman »

Youth binding screws are 7.5mm

I've made a few kid skis. I just made a set 130 cm that are 72 at the waist. I used a 8mm core thinned to the standard 2.2 at the tip. My biggest piece of advice is to measure the mount length of your kid's current ski and be sure to keep the core thick enough near the tail. With a short ski it tapers down pretty quickly. The set I just made was just barely thick enough at the tail. I should have made the mounting zone a bit longer in hind sight.

I use 12 oz 45 deg biax and put a few stands of 12k Carbon in them for longitudinal strength. They came out pretty soft, but hat was what I was going for, to keep them easy to turn.

Also,it is hard to find a youth binding with brakes wider than 85mm but the Atomic FFG works, 85 mm brake, DIN up to 7, and accepts youth and adult boot soles.
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ben_mtl
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by ben_mtl »

Good point on the length of the thicker bindings area !

You make me reconsider my choice, I might go with an 8mm max thickness, especially considering I only have 22 Oz triax... better be softer than too stiff ! If only my snowboard inserts were M5 instead of M6 I could use some on such thin skis !

Regarding the bindings brake width, I've already bent the brakes on my own bindings so they fit 130mm wide skis.. I might do the same for mini-me :)
A bad day skiing is always better than a good one at work...
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vinman
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by vinman »

Just order some 12 oz biax and add some
Carbon tow
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sammer
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by sammer »

I've made a few pair of kid skis.
Use base material for tip spacer, might have to sand and flame treat.
I've gone as thin as 7mm core, used 19oz triax. If you put in an extra layer for binding mount you won't drill thru with kid sized drill bit.
Anything wider than 85mm is a problem with kid bindings.

My kid's 15 now and still skis on a pair I built him years ago like snoblades.
He's broken a sidewall and bent the edges hitting rails. I pried them apart, used pliers to straighten edges, poured in some epoxy and clamped.
He bought some proper snoblades this year as we are worried he'll break a kid binding. Din 7ish Maxed out

sam
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ben_mtl
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by ben_mtl »

Should have come here earlier :-p
I made the core 8.5mm thick (where the bindings are), down to 2mm at the tips. No tipspacer, just PU all around. i was worried about the screws.. shouldn't have been
I was hoping to be OK with my 22Oz Triax and a core ways thinner than usual (for my own skis) but the skis ended up too stiff.. good for snowblades I guess :-D
They look great though ! My daughter is gonna be stoked anyway and I don't think those are gonna be of any use anytime soon since snow is missing the party !
I bought used bindings and bent the brakes, perfect fit !

Here are the finished skis.


I already started designing V2 and I'll make the switch between planks when no-one's watching :-)
With 7.5mm thick core (the fiberglass + topsheet thickness should make it OK for binding screws length) it should be good, my daughter is soo light !! I had the bindings installed at a local shop the adjusted the DIN to 1.5 !!!!
The depth of a kid binding screw is 7mm, at least that's written on the drill bit.
I'm gonna try and source a piece of lighter fiberglass fabric.
Let's say this pair was the first step of a trial and error process :-) my first adult skis were far from perfect back then.. took me a few steps to find the receipe that works for me.

Vinman -> you're not that far from where I leave, any chance you'd let go some fiberglass ?
A bad day skiing is always better than a good one at work...
sammer
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by sammer »

Looking good Ben!

If you use base material for tip tail spacer you can machine your cores down to 1.3mm at the tip and tails.
Lighter glass will make a slight flex difference, but will help make the ski lighter.
Measure your bindings and make your mount area flat at 7ishmm just a little bigger than the binding screw area, then taper down to 1.2-1.3.
This is about a soft as you can get.

Have a Merry Christmas!!!

Sam
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ben_mtl
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by ben_mtl »

I won't use any tipspacer, I will just pour PU sidewalls all around the skis, including tip and tail... was thinking going down to 1.5mm.
The 22Oz fiberglass triax is pretty thick. I agree that core thickness has more influence on flex than fiberglass but my daughter being such a lightweight I think I'd better get more flex "playing" on as many things as I can.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but what I plan is the almost same shape : 118cm long, 88mm underfoot (vs 90 right now... Just because 90 is huge ! 88 makes me feel a bit more like a good dad...), Core thickness 1.5 / 7.2 / 1.5 (was thinking 1.8 tip&tail originally.... And the 7.2 underfoot is just because my brain tells me I'm looking for trouble with screw length if I go to 7.0mm hahaha).

Everything else remains the same : Durasurf 4001 base, vds, 100% poplar core, ghetto screen printed Duravision 5050 topsheet.

Of course any advice are welcome !
A bad day skiing is always better than a good one at work...
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falls
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by falls »

They look great.
Well done.
Hope v2 turns out as you want the performance.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
ben_mtl
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by ben_mtl »

Just a short heads up : V2 is ways better that the first pair.
Dimensions are almost the same (went 20mm longer because my daughter could handle it). So now 118cm long.
Full poplar core, 90mm underfoot.
1.7 - 7.3 - 1.7 core thickness (this time I knew exactly where I needed maximum thickness for the bindings, so there was no extra material)
12Oz biax + 1/4" carbon strips on both sides.
PU sidewalls+tipspacers
4001 base and edges as usual
Duravision 5050 topsheet.

The skis are ways softer that the previous ones a tad softer than the pair we bought at the begining of the season (I wasn't planning on building a pair for her this year...). I could probably have gone a bit softer but my daughter skies great with those. And since she's always having this "backseat" position, softer tail coul be too soft..

Duravision has its advantages : it's cheap, clear, and the finish is pretty nice. Since it's a soft material I was able to add a matte texture to it, by pressing the skis with some textured transfer paper on them (the transfer paper I used for the stencil).
BUT, and it's a huge "but" (with only one T..), it is very far from a durable product, it will mark just by looking at it. So imagine with a small kid who doesn't understand the concept of taking care of his stuff... It's ok because this skis will need replacement every 2 years because kids grow.. but for my own skis I don't know if it's a good choice...
A bad day skiing is always better than a good one at work...
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vinman
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Re: Kids Pow skis

Post by vinman »

Glad it worked out!!!
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