Ski Builders Forum

With my vacuum system I have to use tipspacers to get the result I want. With a full wood core I have to make the tips very thin or I loose tip height.

With tipspacers the skis fit like a glove in the mould when finished

deepskis wrote:With my vacuum system I have to use tipspacers to get the result I want. With a full wood core I have to make the tips very thin or I loose tip height.

With tipspacers the skis fit like a glove in the mould when finished

How does the flex end up when not running full length wood cores? I plan on using a vacuum setup as well and this is my main concern. I want a bomber ski that busts through crud and I've found a stiffer tip to work better at busting through manky stuff.

I'd say it works just fine. I have tried both ways and yes you can feel a difference. I prefer tipspacers.

[quote="amidnightproject"][quote="More"]Hey, amidnightproject and Deep, how thin is thin enough? I'll be profiling on a cnc so I should be able to get down pretty thin if needed. I was thinking of dropping it down to ~2mm or even a little less over an early rise section after being more like 2.8-3mm at the contact point / transition between rise and camber (I'm a big fella).

Would sure be nice not to worry about the tipspacers on my first pair.[/quote]

I believe I'm at 2mm at the very tips. Just a tad over I think (very small, I cut on a planer for what it's worth).[/quote]

What kind of planer are you using? Have been having trouble getting that result and wondering if it's the bamboo or the planer...

i would prefer to bring the bamboo right to my tips because i have a pretty mellow tip curve (with enough rocker i get away with it) so i dont have to worry about what will bend and retain shape as much. however, my bamboo blanks are 183 cm (6ft) and my ski is 191cm so i used plastic tip spacer, which i will be forced to do on the majority of my skis.

i bought some door skin veneer which is a 3.1 mm laminate and i also have some masonite which is 1.something. is there any issue with water seeping into these products being that they are not plastic ? i worry about the laminated veneer especially, havent used either yet but i'm all out of 2mm plastic at the moment. thanks in advance.

You should check out Grace Skis. I am pretty sure they use bamboo for the entire core, sidewall,tip/tail.
http://www.skigrace.com/

I saw grace on the local news Tuesday night and had been down to visit David L. recently as well. He mentioned their exposed bamboo (specifically sidewalls) absorbed water and began to crack. They were using plastic SW and TS when I visited and also in the video.

I always seal mine with epoxy and then urethane.

I also advise those who purchase to do the same as they see them getting banged up with 2part epoxy from a hardware store. It's inevitable and one of the things you just need to do with wood sidewalls.

It's also the reason I'm going to move away from wood sidewalls.