Ski Builders Forum

Hi!

Finally I have all the materials I need to build a ski. Thanks to all of you that helped me!

Now I started to build the press. A vacuum press is too expensive for me. I'm going to build a press of wood with 10 threaded bolts on each side. I hope that works.

I have some air-dried ash shelves. do I have to build the ski out of strips? The problem is, if i cut them into strips, i will not have enough material! The ski will not be wide enough.

I already have a name for my skies:
"You'll never find friends with salad."
It's a quote of a Simpsons episode.


karsten

I like the wood press, but I suppose you must really design it carefully, to be sure to have a uniform and sufficient pressure along the whole ski. I did some trails oressing longboards.
I would use three rows of bolts (10 or more per row) to press a pair of skis.
Maybe I will send you some drawings.

hmm i don't think that vacuum presses are expensive and its easier tio build

i payed 0$ for it

the press don't need to be that robust as if your use a fire-hose press so its enough if you use about 5 ribs of wood and one sheet of plywood over the ribs

I have been thinking about making a pair of skis without cutting strips for the core. I am curious how they would turn out. As for the ash, I have a couple cores set up that are made of ash, and they are really stiff and pretty springy (which is a good thing). One thing you might do if you make solid cores, is to use extra layers of fiberglass. This would give you a little extra strength. The only worry I would have about a solid core is that it might warp significantly when you profile the core. But then again, it is hard to tell how a piece of wood will move around when it is shaped.

the press is nearly done.

i'd like to insert a pic... how does that work?

check out my photos:


http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~uryo/karsten/


In the middle i used a plastik plate. every 10cm there are two threaded bolts (8mm). at the ends of the press i will use the cut-out from the lower part of the press.

I wanted to use the whole cut-out, but i think its very difficult to make it accurately, because the thickness of the ski varies.

I hope that you understand what i want to say....
Do you think it could work like that?

It looks nice. I suppose it should work.
Maybe just do some tests, like laminating some glass on a wood board, to be sure that you manage the whole process.

It is very nice that you are trying something different.

Good luck.

i think it may work. maybe try using a torque wrench to get all the nuts tightened down somewhat uniformly? how do you plan on pressing the tip and tail sections? i like the simplicity of the press.

thanks for your feedback! now i am more confident.

@ littleKam: i think its a great idea with the torque wrench!

I will continue with the press in a few weeks after returning from france (les Arcs) :-P
then i will show you the whole press with the tip and tail section. i tried to explain it, but it seams to be too difficult...

cu in a few weeks!

karsten

My press is ready!
But building the ski takes a lot of time. An i have several problems:

1. How can I bend the edges, so that they fit EXACTLY to the base?
I put the ends of the edges into our fireplace and they started to glow. Check out a picture (its not exactly!!) http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~uryo/ ... 20edge.JPG

2. Before I cut the base, I taped it with double-side tape at the template. Afterwards, it was very difficult to take off the tape! Next time I will use another one. With which kind of cleaner can I clean the base from the rest of the glue?

3. My old planer broke! The bearing became to hot... damn.

more pictures:
http://www.stud.uni-karlsruhe.de/~uryo/karsten/

rock on,
karsten

I hope you don´t try to press the skis with the base turned the way it is on picture 4. The rough side is the one treated for bonding to epoxy.

are the sides really different? i thought bouth sides would be the same. thank you for the hint!

I sold you the base, right? That one has both sides rough. so it does not matter which side you put up.

Where are you building the skis? I will visit a friend in Koeln next week (Karneval...), so I can maybe come to have a look at your skis...

hi davide!

i'm building the skis in Ulm. but next week i will go skiing in austria.
How did you bend the edges?

Usually I do not put edges at tip and tail.


Here I flame treated the edges, to make them softer, then I bent them by hand. But they did not fit perfectly.