Ski Builders Forum

After a first try last year (FAT from Grenoble) we are about to press new skis with a new press, probably a bit too late for the snow though...

monster garage



what's expceted next week...


nothing very innovative in this project, but some partners who wants to try out basalt fibers for building skis.
We received them last week and they seem massive. We'll let the community know about our impressions

interesting with the basalt.
btw, is that a wooden cattrack?

yes it is. It should do the job, we made some pressure tests and it did not move.

nice garage and nice bikes - oh, and nice press by the way

and guess what i`m using for my next skis :P whuat? too late for snow?! alexis, it`s february! there is plenty of snow coming! i`m expecting some for this weekend, that`s why i work nearly day and night right now to finish my new monsters

my friend sells his lapierre x-160...interested ?

I hope you're right, 'cause we've been "spring skiiing" the last three weeks and now we're mtbiking...

interested: yes - money: no haha

i hope i`m right too, otherwise i would be really pissed because a) spring snow itself is a reason to be pissed and b) all my hard work with not so much sleep would have been for "nothing" if i wasn`t busy skibuilding right now i`d probabely mountainbike too... how sad is this?!

oh, and by the way: on my actual project i`m using some leftover 1,2mm base material with standard edges - damn those things look so tiny and thin and...just not solid in comparison to the 2mm edges. so use them wisely!

it's being pressed...i'm getting stressed...rdv on monday

you`re a real poet alexis

by the way:
i`m not stressed, because mine are already pressed,
i`m really happy cause my boards are pretty snappy
i`ll upload some pics soon, maybe tomorrow at high noon :D:D

and i`ll follow your advice and won`t speak anymore about snow..ups, sorry, for having written the "S"-word. of course i mean "about IT" . and before i forget: what about the 29. or so of march? probabely we`ll do a meeting on the last weekend in march...i`ll do an official posting soon and sorry for so much off topic

hi everyone,
I juste trimmed out my first pair of skis.
Here's a picture from this morning, I'll tell the details later (including problems...)

So, a little figures now :

- skis are : 130 - 90 - 120, but because of not putting offset for the edges, they are 4mm wider.
- they are 180 cm long, but the running length is pretty short as we shaped a very progressive front tip.
- sidecut radius is 19 m.
- woodcore (ash and pine) and wooden sidewalls
- alu reinforcements in tip, carbon strings for improving stiffness in torsion
- sandwich is : base - 0°/90° FB - carbon/kevlar - woodcore - 0°/90°FB - carbon/kevlar - carbon strings - graphics - microfiber. There are no +45/-45, that'(s why I used carbon strings for improving torsion resistance

After having donne a huge job on the press, we thought we would reach good result. It's not too bad, but it's not perfect

- top mold shape seems very important to insure that tip and tails are well pressed
- in order to make the aluminium bond, we believe it is better to cover the aluminium pieces with VDS rubber ! We had been sandblasting the alu parts, but it bonded only where it was covered with VDS.
- we used a plastic cover on top of microfiber, but it was too thin and the result is that it's not perfectly slick/smooth. I htink about sanding the top surface and put a bit of varnish
- for the graphics I used cloth (perfect bonding) and laser printed paper. The microfiber did not bond on laser printed paper ! (they did not have ink printer where I went).


Overall, I'm pretty happy

very nice skis!


did you really put kevlar into them? How did you trimm it after pressing? Do you have a special kevlar scissors?

well, over all they look awesome! and an extra 4mm of width can`t be wrong

@burny: from my experience i can tell you that kevlar is not that hard to cut. at least to cut out the finished skis i had no problems cutting through it. when preparing it for layup and cutting the tissue it`s a bit harder to cut than fibreglass. but it`s manageable without special scissors.

in order to make the aluminium bond, we believe it is better to cover the aluminium pieces with VDS rubber ! We had been sandblasting the alu parts, but it bonded only where it was covered with VDS.

That's some really good information. Thanks. For your first attempt, I think you did very well.

G-man

i would say that if you use kevlar overlapping the edges, make sure you wet it out well beyond the border.

your saw wont like cutting dry kevlar fibers. even fiberglass is a bitch to cut out when it's dry.

i think as long as its wet out well and cured good, the right blade will rip right through it.



by the way NICE SKIS!!!

Yes we really pu kevlar-carbon in them.
Indeed when the aramid fiber is not wet, the dry fibers are a pain to cut !

First it is hard to cut with special scissors before layup, and it's hard to trim with a jigsaw.
We used it because the guy from phoenix ( http://www.phenix-snowboards.com/ ) assured us that it gives a better contact with snow...

thanks for the comments !

I'll try to post more picture to illustrate the problems with finish and aluminium.