Ski Builders Forum

Second that Doug.
the forces applied are tremendous! Use caution even with a well configured press.
ra

Ok well I will work on it.

Ok I am going to take my press apart and put it all back together so that I can vacuum press my board. I can get the press out of the way so I can work on my cores finally!

drews, good thinking.
I know it seems everyone here is giving you a hard time, but no one wants to see you waste you money and time making a piece of $h1t.
This community is very knowledgeable, heed their advise!
A vacuum mold is definitely the easiest way to go.
Mine is just a 8" wide piece of MDF with tip and tail pieces hot glued on.
Camber is achieved using shims under the MDF.
It all gets laid up in the mold, then all gets vacuumed to the table.

See my log http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1407
You'll find i use the flexibility of MDF lots. It just bends nice
I think the idea originally came from buuk's planer profiling jig.

Now your only question is where to find a vacuum pump.
The short answer "search"

Hope this helps

sam

ohhhh that's a whole new can of worms....

vacuum pumps:

who's got the best one?

i never got one because I was too overwhelmed with the choices, and also broke at the time.

now i have a press, grinder, waxer, yadda yadda, go figure hahaha


I think GAST is a solid choice for vac pumps.
You want something that can handle over 20" hg, as close to full vacuum as possible, for hours and hours.

I just spent a bit of time looking back through old posts.
It turns out it was Marks planer profile jig that gave me the bendy MDF idea!
Credit were credit is due

Gast vacuum pumps seem to be reasonably priced, but I would still think about using an old fridge pump. (if mine ever breaks down)
Recycle!!

sam

So I plan to build the vacuum pump from this web site http://www.dream-models.com/eco/vacuumpump.html looks pretty easy should be fun! But who knows maybe I can buy one.

How wide should the core for my board be?

The best DIY vacuum-press-place: http://joewoodworker.com/veneering/welcome.htm

drews wrote:How wide should the core for my board be?

8 inches

Not at the waist like how thick should it be?

Have you read anything on this site?

You have to make your core at least 14mm thick at the centerpoint. Taper it outside of the bindings down to 5 mm thick at the tip and tail.

Thank you.

dude, I was screwing with you. Do not use any of those measurements. Search, learn to read, stop asking stupid questions.

doughboyshredder wrote: You have to make your core at least 14mm thick at the centerpoint. Taper it outside of the bindings down to 5 mm thick at the tip and tail.

Or you could ride a 2 x 12 that would be sweet