Ski Builders Forum

you guys are insane with the finish tech.

Took a fresh pair out of the press this morning. Near flawless. Same size and dimensions as the "All-Wood" ski. This ski is for a customer. I skim coated the top w/ epoxy, came out sooo smooth. So far I don't see any little dimples, or edge fall, etc. Used the new technique of attaching edges. If I could make all skis this good each time, I feel I'm ready for prime time.

Edges Tines down - Applying the edges tines down took me a while to get it. I leave my bases attached to the template until I'm ready to do the layup so nothing warps. I worried the glue would stick to the template but it didn't. Just before layup I added some extra glue to the tip and tail area so I could pre-bend w/o the edges popping off. Final result was superb!

Edge Fall - NONE! pre-bending helps. I also added a small extra piece of FG above and below the core at the ski tip where the edges end to fill that tiny space. I'm doing 3/4 wrap.

Bases - I applied some release wax (floor wax w/ carnauba) to the base to help in removing any epoxy that seeps onto the base. I left one area plain and put masking tape over the center of the ski. I use spray glue to tack the base onto the cassettes where the masking tape is. This seems to keep the base pretty clean.

I took extra care to make sure the entire work surface, cassettes, material, etc were spotless. The extra time was well worth it. No little dimples, etc to ruin my day.

I'll get to use my LPU finally and my new spray gun. I'll let these sit for a few days before I trim the flashing and finish. More pics to follow.

Great builds!
It's really anoying when something went wrong. Then the whole day is ruined!
I like that you got the dark string in the middle of the ski. Same on the other?

Yeah both top sheets are about the same. It's recycled teak. They take scraps of teak veneer glue'em, stack'em, press'em, then re-slice the stack and it produces this straight looking grain.

Looking great dude!

slow going getting the finish details done. I've been wanting to get decals on the skis and trying different things. I had clear vinyl decal printed up. Looks great. I also wanted to personalize the ski. I tried printing on rice paper, vellum and clear packaging labels from Staples.

Rice paper ending up being what I used. Results are ok, still a little translucent. The main problem I had was with the printer jamming because the paper is so thin. I had to run regular paper with the rice paper to prevent jamming. Still would jam occasionally. Wasted a lot of paper.

Vellum - I tried this before.... still doesn't work I thought perhaps using a water based LPU would work. But the vellum wrinkled after a while and the ink started to run. Had to scrape off.

Packaging labels -(AVERY 18664 3.3" x 4") The clear labels printed fine and stuck on to the ski fine. They are not as clear as clear vinyl but decent. Put a coat of LPU on and after about 10 min the ink ran. So I had to scrape off.

I know a few people have used water-slide paper with good results. I'll try that next but probably not on these skis. They're just about done. Pics to follow tomorrow. S/b done then.

I have had good success with using a vinyl sticker as a template then painting on the graphic. with your spray gun you could get a nice even film of paint.
Have to be block colour type graphics, or single colour.
I have a vinyl cutter so if you want to have a try you can send me a file (dxf, corel draw, svg vector) and I can cut a decal and post it over if you want.

don't mind the top right of the "p" that was my mistake not the method's

hahaha I wouldn't even have noticed if you hadn't said anything. So...mostly Crisp

Thanks falls. I used a vinyl sticker for the decal. It was printed by a local business/printer. The rice paper was for personalizing. I was hoping the packaging label would work. Also I'm using a regular desktop printer. So the ink may not be the right type either. Rice paper get's fairly transparent but when it's on a darker wood veneer you can still see the paper. On a lighter veneer or background it's much better. The packaging label showed real promise... then the ink ran, I freaked, and had to peel the label off, wipe off the LPU, let dry and re-coat w/ LPU. It's things like that make for a long build. Anyhow....

So you painted onto the vinyl, that's not printed? Very Nice! btw, I didn't notice the 'p' either. What type of paint are you using?

It is like a stencil I make with vinyl sticker material. Basically cut out the bits you want to paint (the opposite of making a sticker you would stick on your car). Apply this to the topsheet like any vinyl sticker using an application tape. Then paint in the gaps onto the topsheet. Let the paint dry and peel off the vinyl sticker. Polyurethane over that.
I used artist's oil paints. That's where the mistake came in. I peeled the sticker material then checked to see if the paint was dry after 24 hours. It wasn't and smudged. It took days to dry! But with your spray gun you could use an oil based house paint thinned down and get a really nice result I think.

I wouldn't use oil-based paints at all...they can take months to dry.

brett is right...water based acrylic paints work well and dry fast.

Acrylic paints stick to epoxy/polyurethane ok? Even if the epoxy/poly is oil based?

Good question! I think that it will work, but I've never tested it. There's a diff between artists oil paint (linseed oil, flax oil, waxes, etc.) and the "oil" based poly. I kind of feel like I wouldn't want to oil the surface of a board before I shot it...but I haven't tried that either

the artists oil paints were definitely a mistake.