Ski Builders Forum

Finished off the latest pair with some epoxy ink decals and polyurethane.
5 days in a row above 40C here at present. Japan powder on 28th January cannot come soon enough!

SWEEEEEEEETTTTTTTT!!!!!

Tell me more about those decals, love them.

I have a vinyl cutter that cuts die-cut stickers that I use as a stencil. Just stick them on then paint on the epoxy screen printing ink (local brand, but same idea as the US nazdar inks for doing base graphics) with a brush.
The vinyl cutter allows me to change the size/style of any graphics rather than having a screen made that costs $ and has to be the same size and style each time.
It works really well for blockier graphics and OK for finer stuff, but can't do really small or intricate lettering.

Wow! Those look awesome!

vertical sidewall?

They look fantastic! I really like using the epoxy ink as a graphic, might have to try that one on a next pair.

7.5 degree sidewall bevel.

Love the look! Very cool

I have vinyl cutter envy. Great looking skis.

Falls, when you use the vinyl stickers/stencils can you re-use them? Or are they a one shot deal?

One shot deal.
However I suppose it would be possible to try and peel the sticker and reuse it. The vinyl I have is pretty sticky so I always mess up the sticker peeling it off. I suppose a low tack strength vinyl might be reusable. The paint doesn't stick to the vinyl well so it peels away at the edges nicely.
The biggest problem is that the stencil is usually in several pieces and they need to stay in the same orientation relative to each other to form the desired graphic.

Back from Japan. Another good 2 weeks of deep snow.
Had a good feeling riding chairs with 3 or 4 of us all on home built skis!
Here is some raw video of a friend test riding a pair of 171cm 5 dimension powder skis. I think he likes them and the snow??
http://vimeo.com/60435056

how long do you wait before peeling the sticker away?
and do you have to clean around to remove any residue before coating over the graphic with clear? do you put anything over it?

That's a great idea, as die cutters are getting more affordable, simple to just create the negative of your graphic. I've used diecut stickers as stencils for spraypainting crap and that worked well, but havent tried it on anything board/ski related.

The epoxy ink is touch dry in 2 hours. I usually wait overnight. The epoxy doesn't stick to vinyl well so the edges are good. It peels off pretty well, sometimes a little alcohol to remove any gum leftover. Prob you could use application tape instead of vinyl, which has no residue adhesive.
I then just apply clear coat directly over. It seems good with the epoxy ink. I initially used acrylic paint and the clear coat has peeled a little off that and the paint peeled too with time. The epoxy ink is much more robust.

is it just epoxy screen ink brushed over?

And what i was wondering with original question, is how long do you wait to peel? Do you wait for the ink to cure fully? Do you pull off immediately? wait 10 min? apply heat gun and peel?

Just wondering because i really want to try this and your answers could help reduce my trial and error time . thanks.


and what type/brand clear are you using?

thanks