Press width

[Seymour Skinner]

I have materials to fabricate an 8”or 10” wide press. I will be limited to pressing one ski at a time either way so I think the 8” wide will work fine. Would there be any advantages or disadvantages to using a 10” wide press instead of an 8” press?

[littleKam]

i would just go with the 10" if you can. better to have more width than not.

[Greg]

My press is 8" wide, and there are lots of times I wish it were a little wider. For instance, when I slide my firehose in, it occasionally catches on the sides, and if I overload the ski with epoxy, I have to break it off before the ski will come out of the press. If I were to do it again, I would make it 10" wide. Pressing one ski at a time really isn't too much of a problem, because it allows you to use a fast setting epoxy (mine has 15 minutes of working time) and that will in turn greatly decrease the amount of time your ski is in the press. With my epoxy, it is hard after 4 hours at room temerature, but with my heat blanket, I can pretty much pull the ski out after 1.5 to 2 hours.