Ski Builders Forum

Hi there.

Can you use wallpaper for graphics?
It's already been discussed here in the forum, but the entries date back to 2007, so i thought in the meantime someone might have tried out quite a bit and maybe even hace succeeded making a tight bond...

I am interested in your experiences beforing starting to experiment...

Greets
Chris (new to the forum as well as to skibuilding)

Hi!
As long as it's paper it should work fine. Make a test with a small piece!

Hi and thanks for the reply. I would love to make a test-piece but i have not yet build a press and so all my skibuilding still takes place in my head...

I was just wondering why you guys don't make use of wallpapers as there are really lots of cool graphics for wallpapers on the market.

Once the skibuilding process has moved to reality i will try that out and let you know how it's working.

Cheers.

Get yourself a bit of epoxy - around the viscosity of the one you intend to use and test whether the paper will wet out.

It's worth doing now, as you will not doubt find that only certain papers will wet out. The more little experiments you do, the better!

Ok. That's what i'll do. Thanks a lot.

Finally got my wallpapers and started experimenting. I'm using usual graphic wallpaper. You can get free samples (usually size A4) at the market or online.

If everything works right you should find a picture of the samples i used here:

https://mc.gmx.net/qxclient/?path=GMX%2 ... ion=gmx_de

You can get almost any graphics on wallpapers. I especially like the idea of a (hopefully) light ski in heavy stone optics...

My experiment set-up is really easy:
piece of fir-wood that i had lying around, scrap of the wallpaper, topsheet-plastic

I'm only using barclamps for pressure, i think that it should be fine for this small test

I'll post again after the Epoxy has cured...
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Wallpaper, especially Fleece-Wallpaper works fine. It's soaking up the epoxy really nice (i used EKL 45 Epoxy System). Also the epoxy does give it a nice, shiny finish. Adhesion is very strong.

No worries using Wallpapers for graphics.

https://mc.gmx.net/qxclient/?path=GMX%2 ... ion=gmx_de

Here you can see the wallpaper as it is delivered (first picture), with just a coat of epoxy (second picture left) and with a strip of isosport topsheet (second picture right) - right click on the picture to get a better view...

Great job - are you going to test the peel strength?

[quote="Richuk"]Great job - are you going to test the peel strength?[/quote]

If you give me some good advice on how to do that test - i'd love to...

What i did so far is that i peeled with my fingernails and a knife, but nothing happened. With the knife i could penetrate at one spot where i didn't disperse the epoxy very thoroughfully, but i still couldn't lift the topsheet off...

Any ideas?

Sure - send me and email and I will send you a document.

First of all: Thanks Rich for the documents. Great.

When i had the whole thing submerged in water for about two days, i could easily lift the topsheet off with a knife - guess thats not a good sign.

Though i think this is rather due to the pressing procedure (clamps only) than to the materials used. Or what do you think

I will give the wallpaper a try on a splitboard and apply some real pressure . I'll keep you up to date.

Crismp will know better than I, but the problem tends to be caused by the ink. If you have the time, it is worth considering running the same test but using plain paper - but I would worry too much.

i've never tried wallpaper, but the tests we did with all types of regular printers (inkjet dye/pigment and laser) all showed signs of delamination. we now paint the underside of our printed papers white so the epoxy doesn't seep through and tints the graphic and after pressing we apply a couple coats of 2k polyurethane clear coat to protect the graphics (no topsheet).

[quote="chrismp"]i've never tried wallpaper, but the tests we did with all types of regular printers (inkjet dye/pigment and laser) all showed signs of delamination. we now paint the underside of our printed papers white so the epoxy doesn't seep through and tints the graphic and after pressing we apply a couple coats of 2k polyurethane clear coat to protect the graphics (no topsheet).[/quote]

So what you're saying Chris, is that basically you print your graphics with usual household printers and apply protection from both sides??
Sounds like a very easy way to do your graphics in-house. Like that.

I've been experimenting some more with the wallpapers. This is the result of a flex-test:
Wood broke, before the delam started...
[img]http://bergstreicher.de/blub.jpg[/img]

you're exactly right! i'm currently in the process of building a board for a friend. i'll post some pics in the next couple days until then you can check out my journal.

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