Ski Builders Forum

HAs anyone worked with tranparent p tex topsheets? if so, how did you like working with it? Any probems with bonding, accepting ink, etc? Im thinking of printing the underside and leaving the top clean. Anyone have any experience/opinons on how transparent ptex looks as a topsheet?

Finally, I'm assuming that a ptex topsheet would repel ice/water and make a true non-stick surface. Can anyone either confirm that, or blow it down?

In fact, any advice or comments at all would be great.

Thanks!

crown has some, it's just a thin 2001. have to be careful with the ink, same process as printing a base. it's hard and so is the ride

Thanks!

Crown is who turned me onto this stuff in the first place, but they didn't seem to have a good practical feel for it (or I wasn;t asking the right questions).

When you say the ride is hard, does the the topsheet affect the flex by stiffening it? Or over-damping it? Any experience with non-stick qualities?

Uhmw is not really non-Stick, the reason you have a somewhat non-stick surface on your base is bc of wax. Back in my racing days we played with many things trying to keep snow off of the topsheets, the best thing was a automotive paste wax that you buff very well. Pledge also works well in wet heavy snow.

We used UHMW for topsheet last year, it is a bastard to print! we got past that by printing a sheer layer of tight weave cotton, then laminating that right under the topsheet.

The uhmw does "Damp" the skis but it is not as noticeable as if you had some aluminum in them.

We probably have some printed cotton we could send you a sample of, and i believe we have 80m+ of the crown topsheet. If you like the printing we can set you up with our material suppliers and you can have a local print shop print them.

Jeff, Can you weigh in on how much topsheet we have and how many prints we have left from last year as well.

what kind of printer does your printshop use for the canvas and do you use just the raw canvas or is it paperbacked?

chrismp wrote:what kind of printer does your printshop use for the canvas and do you use just the raw canvas or is it paperbacked?

They Use a roland inkjet, the material is not paper backed.

thanks for the quick reply.
one more question: did you have any issues with delamination?

we tried laserjet printing on paper and we could peel the topsheet off easily. haven't tried inkjet on paper yet, but we want to go either paper or canvas.

Most likely the paper what ripping apart, when you laser print it creates a barrier and it doesn't allow the epoxy to penetrate. The cotton will become part of the laminate, the paper wont.

So, no we haven't had any issues

We used UHMW for topsheet last year, it is a bastard to print!

Do you mean screen printing or sublimation?

Do you mean screen printing or sublimation?

I mean Sub, Screen printing isnt as hard, but if you plan to back print you will need Epoxy based inks.

Basler has some good stuff http://www.basler-lacke.com/main.php?chapter=204

heliski989 wrote:Uhmw is not really non-Stick, the reason you have a somewhat non-stick surface on your base is bc of wax. Back in my racing days we played with many things trying to keep snow off of the topsheets, the best thing was a automotive paste wax that you buff very well. Pledge also works well in wet heavy snow.

I've been playing with an ice-phobic coating used for industrial applciations. It looks like s&*t once it's on, and doesn;t wear well at all, but it does seem to work. I'm willing to sacrifice a little performance to get the look right.

heliski989 wrote: We probably have some printed cotton we could send you a sample of, and i believe we have 80m+ of the crown topsheet. If you like the printing we can set you up with our material suppliers and you can have a local print shop print them.

Jeff, Can you weigh in on how much topsheet we have and how many prints we have left from last year as well.

Thanks for this info, great stuff!

I'm definitely interested. I'll PM you.

hey heliski989

Apparantly i;m an idiot because my PMs are sitting in my Outbox and i can;t seem to send them.

I'm definitly interested in your offer, could you PM me?

don't worry, you're not an idiot. they'll stay in your outbox until he has opened them