Ski Builders Forum

Richuk wrote:What are the gold coloured spots on the edge set shown in your photo please?

I have the same question... Can be seen in this photo:



Looks a little like the neoprene contact cement I tested to glue edges on (which did not work)

Secret Sauce.

No for real it's just some left over paper from glue and the table. I used to sand it off. Then realized it doesn't cause any issues so don't bother anymore.

What are you using for your cassette? Looks pretty thin? At least from other pictures I've seen. full disclosure, nonsearchingnewb.

It's just sheet aluminum. The second to last picture is the newer stuff I'm going to start using as it's a bit heavier. It's cheap. I can get 4-6 pairs out of it before they get real bad and if I wanna throw it away I can and not feel bad.

Only 4-6 pairs? I was thinking these could be reused more often than that. Is this common for most people? My thought was that covering them with mold release would keep them epoxy free. Is it mainly that they just get bent up during de-molding?

my aluminum skins are 2mm thick and we're just using parchment paper to cover them. i've built about 12 boards with the same sheets and they still look like on day one!

Mine are just thin aluminum and mold release isn't magic. I haven't ordered the thicker stuff because I don't think its necessary yet. Plus using a full wood core I have to set the cassette on the bottom mold, then push the ends down by hand to get them to slide under the top mold. So I think with the thicker aluminum it would be more a pain.

I'm going to try the Parchment paper though. Thanks chris! Hopefully the parchment and the release wax will make things last longer.

i have never used release wax, ever. i always cut a couple of small holes into the parchment paper and stick the base to the mold using spray adhesive.
for the upper aluminum sheet i stick the parchment paper to the aluminum sheet at the ends so it's under tension when being pressed into the mold. i have to do this cause the parchment paper always left small wrinkles in the topsheets.

the thicker aluminum also never takes the shape of the mold and returns to a completely flat shape when coming out of the press. this makes layup outside of the press a breeze. you just have to be careful that the sandwich stays in place while loading the press.

Deffinetely going to try parchment paper then. My top sheet of aluminum neverr really gets damaged or nasty, pretty much just the bottom and even with 6 or so coats of release wax it never all comes off and eventually just gets nasty.

Remember to use parchment paper and not wax paper. They are not the same thing!

Thanks for pointing that out!

I have a feeling i would have gone out and purchased wax paper by mistake, thrown it in the cassette, then been very pissed later tonight haha.

in german it's called baking paper...it's the stuff you put on your baking tray so the cake doesn't stick.

amidnightproject wrote:Thanks for pointing that out!

I have a feeling i would have gone out and purchased wax paper by mistake, thrown it in the cassette, then been very pissed later tonight haha.

Yeah I did it once on accident. It doesn't ruin the skis or anything, but I couldn't get it to peel off easily, ended up having to grind it off on my base grinder and it took forever and was a mess. It also seemed like it turned wet or soggy? The parchment paper peels right off and is nice and dry.

Good to know.

Because honestly I'm getting tired of scraping the cassette down even after using release wax. It takes about an hour to wax and still doesn't work well. So going to give parchment a try.