Ski Builders Forum

Hi all!
With lots of thanks to this terrific website this will be my story of building my own ride!
Finally after recovering from some shoulder churgery the big day has come!

I started building my pneumatic press last weekend

During my ski building adventure I will try to keep you all up-to-date by placing a lot of pictures with some additional explaination.

Well.... let's begin!

Building the press
I will publish the CAD drawings of my press in PDF format later...


This is me drilling the holes in the squared tubes (the olive oil works great for cooling)


Cleaning the steel using a copper brush


Before (right) and after (left) cleaning the tubes


The squared tubes after painting

Looking good. I spent some of the first few years of my life in the Netherlands. We were there for the US Air Force, but I have very little memory of the place. It's fun to see that there are ski builders like myself all over the world.

Looking forward to seeing the press all together.

nice, clean work! i love the use of olive oil.

I have been busy last weekend building my press frame. So time for some pictures!


Painted U-profiles


Fasteners


Assembling the press frame


The final press frame (still need to mount some good wheels)

Now I need to do some exams before starting with the bladder and the mold. I'll keep you informed!

Looks great. I always admire people who have the patience to paint their stuff before assembling.

-kelvin

Everyone who has the passion of building his own ride should put some love and care in his press and skis!
I'm sure that will increase the lifetime of both. Also as a mechanical / biomedical engineer I don't like sloppy work.

@ Hose-man: Cool that you've been living in the Netherlands. Where did you live in the Netherlands? In Volkel or Gilze-Rijen maybe?

Patience is really important but when you are close to press a pair you loose it and get too anxious to do things well. This is what happend to us and let me advise you try to go step by step all slow as it is neccesary.
Buuk really nice work man

that is a very nice press I would love to get the designs for that

Worked a lot on my molds and bladder last weekends. So time to share some pics.

Finally the steel edges have arrived.


Close up of the steel edges


Testing the bladder


Close up of the bladder closure during testing at 7,5 bar / 109 PSI (this type of firehose can resist a pressure of 35 bar / 508 PSI), without air leaking away. Used Power fix with SF polymer to close everything in combination with clamping.


Finished the adjustable bottom mold.


Next week I hope to show you my adjustable top mold as well


Buuk

that is some very nice stuff. wher did you get the fire hose?

Did get the firehose from a fireman from a Dutch Ski Forum. Changed 6 meter for some beers

what digital camera did you use to take those pisc and where did you get your ski edge?

Finally my entire press including molds is ready and tested
So again time for some pictures!

This is the design of my top mold, I made it the same as my bottom mold.
It's easy to replace tip, tail or the camber part. All parts are mounted to bottom (top) plate using small wooden block with a hole in it. These blocks are mounted to the bottom plate and a threated rod connects all parts and / or to each other.


Checking if the bottom and top mold fit together. They fit exactly. The tip and tail are made smaller on purpose to leave more space for the firehose.


This is the total press during testing at 5,5 bar (80 PSI) I could hear the wood creak everytime I increased the pressure, but everything went exactly as planned and there were no noticeable displacements in the wood.




Well, 5,5 bar.... didn't really dare to go higher... however the press frame should be able to withstand minimally 6 bar (87 PSI)


Now it's time to start with what it's all about! THE SKIS!
Till now and still I really (really really really ) enjoy building!
Thanks a lot again Kam, Kam and Kelvin!

@ Zachjowi: I always use my Canon digital IXUS 500 camera, however I would like to have a camera with a bigger lens.

a happy Buuk

Buuk,

Very, very nice work. I wouldn't have believed a wooden press frame could look and function so great until I saw your's. I really can't wait to see the pictures of your skis. It's great to hear that you are having so much fun with your project.

G-man

Looks great! How much did the press frame and mold cost you?