Happy Monkey's process

Document your personal work here. Show photos, movies, and share your secrets.

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Head Monkey
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Post by Head Monkey »

I've been building some core blanks lately, so I took a bunch of pictures and have been adding step-by-step details on the process to my site. I've got more pictures of slicing and finishing the slices that I'll add in the next few days.

An overview of making blanks with various dimensions: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... k_overview

A page on wood selection, drying, and prep including local suppliers in the Seattle area: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... ,_and_prep

Details on building a stack, including picking boards to match together into a stack, glue up and clamping, info on the clamps, and processing the stack to make it smooth in preparation for slicing: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... ng_a_stack

A page on slicing the stack on the bandsaw, and processing the stack in between slices to ensure we have good surfaces for later. I'll add pics soon: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... ng_a_stack

Finally, joining two slices into a final core blank wide enough for snowboards. I'll update this with more current pictures and info on the clamps soon as well: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... core_blank

As always feedback is welcomed. A couple of pictures to give you an idea of what's going on.

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Last edited by Head Monkey on Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Everything I know about snowboard building, almost: MonkeyWiki, a guide to snowboard construction
Free open source ski and snowboard CADCAM: MonkeyCAM, snoCAD-X
Jibber
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Post by Jibber »

Wow, thanks for sharing all the information! The Woodworking Ressources Page is also very helpful! 8)

Maybe you could add metric values in brackets for those who are not used to the imperial system. :oops:

Cheers, Christoph
ben_mtl
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Post by ben_mtl »

HeadMonkey you're amazing !
Thanks a lot (again and again) for all this helpful information you always share !
A bad day skiing is always better than a good one at work...
sir.orange
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Post by sir.orange »

how could a workshop where dust and dirt occur while machinig the materials be so clean!??
shiny spots on every machine... you really use them? :)

thanks for the wiki-input!
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Brazen
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Post by Brazen »

Even the wood is stacked perfectly, you would probably not be comfortable in my shop, Mike haha. Awesome info, great pictures...thank you :)
"86% of the time it works 100% of the time".
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falls
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Post by falls »

hey mike, did you get your CNC running again?
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
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Head Monkey
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Post by Head Monkey »

sir.orange wrote:how could a workshop where dust and dirt occur while machining the materials be so clean!??
shiny spots on every machine... you really use them? :)
You're not done unless you've cleaned up ;) As for the shiny, yea, there's a lot of moisture in the air here in the Pacific Northwest most of the year so it's important to keep the cast iron surfaces waxed or they'll rust. If I take care of them they will last longer than I will!
falls wrote:hey mike, did you get your CNC running again?
Yes, the CNC is running again. I'm really not happy with the control software and hardware, I'm thinking of replacing them before I build anything else, but I can't decide if that would be more or less annoying than living with what I have.
Last edited by Head Monkey on Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Everything I know about snowboard building, almost: MonkeyWiki, a guide to snowboard construction
Free open source ski and snowboard CADCAM: MonkeyCAM, snoCAD-X
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Head Monkey
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Post by Head Monkey »

Added pictures of actually slicing the stack, and corrected a bit of text here and there on the page about slicing a stack: http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... ng_a_stack

Just a few pics, many more on the wiki. I don't want to clutter this up too much by linking every picture!

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Last edited by Head Monkey on Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Everything I know about snowboard building, almost: MonkeyWiki, a guide to snowboard construction
Free open source ski and snowboard CADCAM: MonkeyCAM, snoCAD-X
OAC
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Post by OAC »

I like the "pointer" on the bandsaw table! I will add one to mine! :-)
WhitePine
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Post by WhitePine »

Excellent work. This stuff is so helpful.
skidesmond
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Post by skidesmond »

Excellent work Mike! Nothing like a clean well organized shop, not that I would know but just from I heard :) Actually that's one thing I'm trying to improve upon is keeping the shop clean and putting tools away at the end of the day. Probably won't be building skis for a little while. I'll be making more portable work benches/storage and getting rid of "junk" and "the some day I might use" stuff.
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Brazen
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Post by Brazen »

I spy a grindrite belt not put away. Ha!

:D
"86% of the time it works 100% of the time".
OAC
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Post by OAC »

Ha ha :)
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Head Monkey
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Post by Head Monkey »

But note how clean that belt is!

:oops:
Everything I know about snowboard building, almost: MonkeyWiki, a guide to snowboard construction
Free open source ski and snowboard CADCAM: MonkeyCAM, snoCAD-X
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EricW
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Post by EricW »

Thanks Mike. Love it.
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