Ski Builders Forum

First off, I'd like to say sorry ahead of time because I know that once I post this, 1000 people will think, "somebody has already asked this a billion times." But, what I'm really trying to ask for is ideas on graphics. For one of our pairs of skis, we decided we want to have the Picasso painting [i]Guernica[/i] for the graphics. However, I can't seem to find a good way to do this. I have had four ideas thus far. My first idea was to pay for a 6' by 1.5' screen print of the painting at a local place, but they quoted me at more than $300, which I don't really feel like paying for graphics. My second idea was to screen print it myself. But, then I realized to screen print something by myself that large and complex would be damn near impossible. Then, I came up with idea to just trace it onto a piece of cotton then paint it with fabric paints. Once again, this would be impossible. Then my 4th idea came to me while walking through the store. I saw special paper used for t-shirts that you print your design on then iron it onto cotton. I would try to print out maybe 15 pieces of that and arrange it into the design of Guernica and put it onto cotton. Has anyone tried this before? If so, how did it work? I still want to use cotton because my biggest fear is delamination. If anyone has any ideas for printing a large image onto cotton and are as cheap as I am, then please do give advice.

check this out.
http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3522

Wow….that helps. But, we have never experimented with nylon before, which is the only thing they offer for ski graphics. How does it compare to cotton in terms of delamination? If cotton is better, than I'd definitely stay with that instead of nylon and continue my search for a cheap method.

just have it printed.
you cold print on just regular paper but Miller uses the best materials in the land. You could have miller do the work if you cant but its super easy.
It would be 50 bucks to have a real topsheet printed or you could have something done at kinkos for like 25 maybe.

Ive actually seen this painting in person in madrid.

Thanks. That rendering actually looks pretty awesome. We might've chosen the right idea After looking around on the miller website, I have higher hopes than I did before and that is what we will probably do. But, just in case, I would still like to know if anybody has played with the t-shirt printing paper that I said before and how it worked. I'm still curious about that because it seems like it would work and because of its cheap price, it might be better on my wallet.

its tough to iron on large transfers or any without the image wrinkling unless you use a heat press. Its tough to get them straight and not to float or wrinkle in my experience. The iron on stuff is like 15 bucks for 5 sheets and you will need 10 prolly, plus ink or printing costs. Or have them printed and transferred for like 5 bucks a sheet.
It works but its much better for smaller stuff and not a whole topsheet design in my opinion.

Alright. Thank you. That confirms what I originally thought would be a problem. I will almost certainly use Miller now. But, if anybody else has any more innovative and cheap solutions for graphics, then don't hesitate to comment.

Also, one more question. As I am searching around on Miller, I see that the Sublimated graphics that they sell are printed on Nylon (at least the most popular ski materials). This may sound like a stupid question, but does this mean that they print topsheets or fabric that you put under the top sheet material? I'm only asking this because I already bought clear topsheet material for this pair of skis and I'm wondering if I can still use that or if it is unnecessary for this pair.

MontuckyMadman wrote: Its tough to get them straight and not to float or wrinkle in my experience.

make some cuts in the paper so it will fold over its self a little.

The nylon is sublimated on or "printed". It is a topsheet.
What clear topsheet do you have? Is it PE cause that looks like sh it compared to the clear nylon or subbed on nylon.
If you have good clear topsheet try having the graphic printed on regular paper by following the posts on here in the journals section. See OAC's and amidnightproject's stuff.
Im gonna say it but you have to read more on here.

I did some graphics on my first few pairs with fabric and some iron on logos. They came out ok but it is a little tricky getting everything perfect. I didn't know of anyone printing topsheets at the time for homebuilders so that is what I used.

The difference is night and day when you get the topsheets dye subbed instead of fabric under clear topsheet. You might spend a little more but it is well worth it and you can design whatever the heck you want.

The most expensive part of my skis is the graphic but they really do make the skis. I wouldn't skimp here if you want them to look really good.

Plus, layup is way easier with just a single piece for graphics that is easy to align and have exactly where you want it.

Thanks montuckymadman. Sorry, it's just that after you read a ton of things on this forum, you forget some. To answer your question, the top sheet I've already bought is the "natural" stuff on blankslateskis.com I can't remember the brand or material.

Here is the link to the top sheet that I already bought: http://www.blankslateskis.com/p-tex-top ... per-meter/

Another vote here for subbed nylon from Miller. They do excellent work.