Ski Builders Forum

So I have 2mm thick tip spacer material but I would like to make my core thickness closer to 3mm in the tail.

any tips for making this more even? Figured I could put a little fiberglass in there but wanted to see if any other ways seemed better.

thanks

hey igg, put some sheet of metal with 1 mm thick under the tail to reduce 1 mm until you are passsing the router, it works good

I am not sure if I was totally clear with what I was asking.

The tip spacer material I have is only 2mm thick, but I was hoping to have my tail thickness be thicker than that.

So I am hoping to avoid having a gap in the thickness where the tip spacer and core meet. I thick I have seen some people add a few layers of fiberglass over the tipspacer to do this, but was wondering people if do anything else to smooth out the transition.

iggyskier wrote:I am not sure if I was totally clear with what I was asking.

The tip spacer material I have is only 2mm thick, but I was hoping to have my tail thickness be thicker than that.

So I am hoping to avoid having a gap in the thickness where the tip spacer and core meet. I thick I have seen some people add a few layers of fiberglass over the tipspacer to do this, but was wondering people if do anything else to smooth out the transition.

Cant you clue two sheets together to create a 4mm thick sheet and then router it down to 3mm with rest of the core?

Iggyskier,
I have been wanting a thicker tail too. On my previous skis I have just tapered my core abruptly down to 2mm in order to avoid a gap.
To do what you want I would cut a couple pieces of veneer to the same shape as your tip spacers and use that in the layup. To really get the same thickness you might have to adhere the veneer to the tip spacer material before you lay up your skis and then sand to the correct thickness. Glue this up in your mold in order to get the curve of your tail built in to the tip spacer.
good luck!

My solution for tip spacers has always been to use layers of fiberglass. So, to thicken the tip or tail, just cut out a piece of fiberglass in the same shape as your tip spacer, and lay it up with the rest of the ski.

I have had tips made with up to 6 layers of fiberglass, and they work great. But, 4 layers is a little more reasonable.

The added bonus of fiberglass tip spacers is that they lay directly into the mold and don't shift at all when you inflate the bladder or turn on the vacuum.