Ski Builders Forum

I'm building a ski for the first time, and I would like to try building the sidewalls with the trough method. Now my question is wether I have to leave some room on the base side of the sidewall for the metal edges or not.

If yes, how much and how do I make it?

Yes, you need to rabbet. Have a think about what you think it should be and them ask for opinions )

Don't try to leave a gap by pouring the sidewalls slightly lower than the core bottom. You should still be filling it and planing it totally smooth and flat, and then using a router to cut the rabbit.

If you don't rabbit your sidewall. The person who does your base-grinds will come to you and complain about how it took 200 pass's on the robot to clean up, and how he missed warren miller working for you, and then expect dinner and beer...

how much do you guys take off for the gap with the rabbet bit also does it matter if you go further into the sidewall then the edge

Is the epoxy strong enough to rabbet? Won't it brake when I do so?

Depends on the epoxy you're using, but it should cut just fine. If it chips/shatters, then you're using an epoxy that is too brittle to be a sidewall anyways.

The depth of the rabbit should be equal to the thickness of the edge teeth. This is easy to set by placing an edge upside down on your router base and setting the bit height to match the edge teeth.

Doesn't really matter if you go in further than the width of the edge teeth, its better to go too far than not far enough (within reason). You don't want like an inch extra, but I usually go 1/16"-1/8" further in just to be on the safe side.

This is a great time to considor a cheap router table if you don;t already have one. You can set up a fence, then jsut run the core+sidewall against it.

Easy as pie and doesn;t seem to pull the sidewall too hard (i just superglue mine).

Remember to not cut your cores to length before rabbeting. It's easier to get a more consistent depth that way at the start and finish.

I don't have a router table so I just use the fence on my router and have it follow the sidewall.

The rabbet also helps in layup too. You can feel when the core is locked in place and it helps keep it there.

The depth should be around .6 mm and you can just test it with some scrap edge.

jvangelder wrote:If you don't rabbit your sidewall. The person who does your base-grinds will come to you and complain about how it took 200 pass's on the robot to clean up, and how he missed warren miller working for you, and then expect dinner and beer...

we don't do the rabbit our sidewall and have perfectly flat bases. I am not sure this is really necessary. We just got two pairs of skis back today from the shop here in town and they were very happy with how flat our bases were.

you guys have a fabric press shopvac?
what PSI do you use?

With enough heat and pressure you can get away with anything.

The depth of the rabbet will depth on the thickness of the tang and your views on the results you achieve. If you are aiming to increase the pressure in this area (no a bad idea IMO), then the thickness of the tang is enough, providing you are using VDS and your fibre runs to the edge.

Richuk wrote:With enough heat and pressure you can get away with anything.

strange, last time i checked the shopvac guys were pressing at 45 psi with no heat...

It wasn't supposed to be a dig...and your right, it's not about what is necessary.

Epoxy is a hard sidewall material - different to PE or ABS, so it may be necessary to take this into consideration because of the effect it will have on the edge and particularly the base. Wood is different again - I wonder if too much pressure will result in the crushing of the capillaries and cell structure and reducing the strength of the bond.

Zooming in on the cross-section shown in this link is useful in understanding what the commercial companies do - I think Scott has commented on this issue in the past.

i know, this issue has been discussed on here a lot and everyone had different results. i guess it's just about finding out what works well for you.
i don't do a recess for the edges as well, but for different reasons...the polyurethane i use is a pain to machine. it melts and clogs up the router bits and the shavings sticks to the sidewall. but the material is pretty soft compared to uhmpe, so i'm getting away with it.