Ski Builders Forum

Well, I rode my first board today, and it performed far better than I expected.

The good: Very catch free, and the most stable board I've ever ridden when flat footing, very confidence inspiring at speed, excellent carving and extremely light. I couldn't believe how light it was when I first strapped in, you don't really notice it when carrying the board but as soon as it's on your feet it's very obvious. On the lift it felt like a feather, and considering my main board is a ride DH2 153 which is a park orientated board, and this one is a 157 all mountain, I'm fairly impressed with that. It feels like it's about 2/3 the weight of the DH2. I attribute that to the Paulownia wood core.

The bad: Waaaaay too stiff. Turning or stopping at high speed over any sort of bumps gives crazy chatter. It doesn't deform to the shape of the mountain at all really. However, if you've read my journal post you'll know that I put a lot of carbon in to the board that wasn't meant to be there, so the stiffness was expected and isn't actually a design flaw.

The next few boards will be out this week, just in time to finish of the season. I'm pumped about riding the next one with the stiffness backed off a tad!

I have to say as well, riding your own board for the first time is a really good feeling. A real sense of accomplishment. I couldn't have done it without the help of the users on this forum, happy monkey snowboards and graf snowboards websites.

well done alex

Hey good to hear you're riding your 1st board. Well done, bet you've learn't heaps. I'm still a wee way off , my press is basically finished except for the heater now and "elevating" my cat track. As its warming up I'm tempted to do a press at room temp in the next 8-12 weeks if I'm ready and defer the heater cost a whisker. Are you running a heat blanket and controller? Like most of us down here I'm challenged by materials ie. base/edges/topsheet and I am especially keen to get the gruntier 2.5mm edges if I can. Topsheet I am not totally stressing over as I will go for a basic glass or veneer if I need to. So it comes down to the base material and edges really. I've had no response from Crown and it looks like I'll have to get it from the few resellers in the US which puts a heap of freight on. Will keep trying.
My first board will a 158ish all mountain design, I'll keep the internals simple as I don't want super stiff, its brother board # 2 will be built as a split. I'm getting some SparkR&D Blaze bindings and some skins, can't wait to try them. You got any suggestions on materials or do I just have to pay through the nose? cheers, Rich

Hey Richie,

I'm surprised you've had no response from Crown, they were very good with me. Try Jack.zheng@crownplastics.cn or jimh@crownplastics.com.

Top sheet I used wood veneer from a local supplier, inserts I can recommend Camax Tool Co - easy to deal with and very helpful, shipping was very reasonable from the US.

Edges I ended up buying from skibuilders.com.

Unfortunately you just have to pay through the nose for most of it.

Hi Alex,

I will do a veneer topsheet maybe with a layer of real thin 4oz glass on top to beef it up, I'm not too worried about looks at this stage anyhow I just want to see it hold together. Seems that ash is a good timber for sidewalls ??? so I am thinking a mix of ash sidewalls and paulonia core. I have a mate who had just built a very cool surf play kayak out of paulonia and its wickedly strong, he also builds paddles from it - they are light and tough. He's built paddles for 25 years and he's a solid grade 5 paddler so if he puts his faith in it then I will too! I will try Jack and Jim at Crown and see what happens. Camax have replied and I agree very easy to deal with and not trying to fleese me either. Edges I think you're right I may just have to pay whatever.......

Thanks for the advice appreciate it.

Cheers
Rich

If you're going with Paulownia core, I'd recommend finding a hardwood for the insert stringers (assuming you're making snowboards). I used Tasmanian Oak which seems to have worked well. Paulownia is strong but fairly soft so tightening up the bindings could easily cause indentations in the wood. Another option is to back the inserts with Kevlar, which is how Happy Monkey do it (on a poplar core).

My sidewalls are made of Wandoo - it's a relatively easy to source timber in Australia, and very dense, so seems to have made a great sidewall material. I'm not sure how readily available it is in NZ. Lots of people use Ash in the US so it can't be terrible, what you want is basically something that's as dense as possible, and preferably waxy for natural water resistance.

Hi, I'll try a bit of wandoo if I can get my hands on it, sounds like good stuff. I forgot about stringers but I have always intended to back the inserts with some reinforcement patches albeit carbon or kevlar, in windsurfers we build them with large carbon patches around fin box and mast base to distribute the loads out and its really makes a massive difference. Thanks again for the advice whats your email Alex?