Anyone seen the 'how it's made' segment on karhu?

[APS]

Hey guys, first post. I have been lurking around forever, and am in the process of building my press and profiler, but its kind of on hold for the ski season.

Anyhow, I was just watching the discovery channel show 'how its made'. They had a segment on karhu and their ski production. The ski the were showing was a traditional alpine/tele ski (not nordic) The layup looked pretty similar to what everyone here was doing, except they weren't using tip spacers. They just ran the core all the way to the tip. Has anyone tried this? Any reason to do or not do this? I like the simplicity, but not if it delams right away.

[RoboGeek]

missed it.. have to keep my eyes open for it now.

[bostonski]

That is my plan for my first pair. Like you said "simple". Who knows how it will work out though.

[APS]

I was watching the igneous video that is kicking around on the internet, and they talk about 'simplicity' and reducing the amount of plastic in the ski. From what I can tell from watching them work in their shop, they do use tip spacers, from the V-notching on their core tips. Anyone with a pair of Iggy's know what they use for spacers?

[iggyskier]

Anyone with a pair of Iggy's know what they use for spacers?

they use wooden tip spacers.

[APS]

Presumably these spacers are a different wood than the core? Maybe they are steam bending them? Interesting.

[plywood]

and maybe the grain runs in a different direction than the one in the core?

[kelvin]

I've used wood tips and sidewalls on my last few pairs of skis and they work great. I just profile the core and it is ready to go. No need to prebend. After finishing, I put some varnish on the wood.

I've been skiing the 'little wings' a lot for over a year and they are holding up well. The tips and tails look a bit worn, but no issues with delamination. I think it actually bonds better than plastic.

-kelvin

[Easy]

I think it actually bonds better than plastic.

I agree. I did some testing on my prototype (actually I did a "karhu" tip delam test) the sandwich construction held together without any problem. I did have edge delam problems, but I didn't clean the edges after heat treatment so it was to be expected. Besides my edges delamed after about 8 tests, if I remember correctly the Karhu ski's with delam problems failed after 1 or 3 attempts.

[SRP]

Igneous uses thin sheets of wood veneer as there tip spacers. Four or five sheets make up there spacers. Great guys and amazing attention to detail in there skis.