Ski Builders Forum

Here we go-

I've been perusing this forum since 2009 without much input, so I figured it's about time I share my project, Origin Skis. Hope you enjoy

In 2009, I was a sophomore in high school and had just quit alpine racing. With all the extra free-time in the winter I decided to try making my own skis. I started with a cloth pneumatic press design (unfortunately no pictures) a couple of users were implementing at the time. That was used to make my first pair of skis- and only that pair of skis- before I decided an upgrade was in order. So here's what I've been up to:

A few old pictures first. Press construction in 2011
Bought these I-beams from a local scrapyard. Just so happens they were PERFECT (and cheap)


Drilling through 3+ feet of steel with a mag drill


Nice coat of paint!


Finished press cavity. Total weight just over 1900lbs.


Now for some new(er) pics. The press today!


Opted for a hybrid mold construction made out of progressively taller mdf 'shims'. Works really well with a 1/16" steel sheet over it at around 50psi (and it's really easy to change up!)


Recycled bits of the cordura sleeves from my first press- work nicely to hold the top mold. Btw, these were made by the one and only montuckymadman!


Air controls for the press. Fairly standard stuff I guess


Electronics. PID controller and solid state relay.


I was too cheap to pay an electrician, so I wired the control box myself. It runs off 220v and draws about 16amps to the MEI silicone heat blanket.

Thermocouple off the right of the box, and output plug on the left. My little brother so generously made the switch covers in his shop class!

Meguiar's Mirror Glaze. The stuff of legends


A shot of the business end of the press cavity. Hose couplers, aluminum cattrack, and the heat blanket.


I have used a 3/4 edge wrap on my skis, so when cutting bases I attach a bit of tipspacer to the template.


A few of the tools. Had to buy the dust collector after I destroyed the garage a couple of times with mdf dust. Planer, bandsaw...


Currently how I make cores. I think this is the most rudimentary planer jig I've ever seen, but it works damn good! Tolerances around .1mm


Shaped core


Bamboo is the best.


I use a shopfox shaper to bevel the sidewalls. Tried a few different ways but this one always produces the cleanest results.


Putting the shaper to work


The press in action!


A pair of hybrid carbon sticks from 2011/2012.


Behold: the first ski I ever made


Park skis fresh out of the press. Carbon stringers and all.


The lineup as of January 2012. Since then I've made quite a few more pairs, so I'll post pics as soon as I get around to it...


The shop!




Stoked to be able to share my progress with this community. Everything I learned came from you all, so thanks a million.

Here's an article the local paper wrote about my project:
http://helenair.com/news/local/original ... f887a.html

I go to school in Salt Lake currently, so any SLC builders I'd love to come check out your shops.

Ask questions, share thoughts. I'll post pictures of my current work soon!

that mold idea is such a good Idea. thank you for saving me soooooo much time on my next pair.\!!

It works really well so long as you secure the pieces (for this I use ratchet straps and have never had a problem) and have adequate smoothing via a metal layer of some thickness on top. It's really nice for making one-of-a-kinds and customs. The center section is flat mdf, with what I call a "camber plate" on top to easily switch amount of camber from ski to ski. Glad you like it!

this is a shop i would kill for

Thanks man, glad you like it. It's been a long time coming!!

Nice setup man. So clean!

Thanks! The garage is NEVER that clean anymore. Had to spruce it up for some pictures

Here are a couple of pics of skis I made this spring/summer. Snowbird opening can't come soon enough

Layup. (c)Dylan Brown


Routing bases. Safety first! (c)Dylan Brown


Prepping the templates for routing. Stapling some tipspacer on the template to account for the 3/4 edge wrap. (c)Dylan Brown


Now for skis! This is going to be my touring pair this season. They're 134-106-118 and are hybrid carbon. SUPER light but a bit soft. We'll see how they preform on the crud. Let the pics do the talkin'



Here you can see the carbon bases. Full width triaxial 14oz carbon


The Origin Nazca. Graphics were printed direct to the nylon topsheet. I have made a few pairs of these and love how they perform. The one problem- I printed the tail graphics backward... oops. For that reason they're demo skis this year!


Tip detail


1" uni carbon stringer on the base


Some park skis I threw together over my fall break. 112-96-112


The orange color is just cotton fabric under the topsheet. Super simple graphics.


They have quite a bit of early rise which I'm excited to try out, and about 6-7mm camber.

Make sure you give us a write up on the skis. The skis with the 14oz CF, is there FG also?

Will do skidesmond- they have 19oz glass on top and a couple strips of uni 30k carbon tow

You've got a killer setup, but that bottom mold is dodgy! I wouldn't trust it, but if it's working out for you, great. How is your base flatness? Seems like you went all out on everything else, but the bottom mold.

I've got major press frame envy, that thing is a beast!

Twizz- So far I've had good luck with flat bases. Occasionally there is a slight abnormality (usually near the tips, not surprisingly) but they are easy to flatten with one or two passes on a base sander.

I do want to transition to a more conventional bottom mold, but haven't because of either cost or ability to change it from ski to ski. What kind of system do you use?