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Liberty sidewall puzzler
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:00 pm
by mattman
Ok, so one of our customers ended up breaking a Liberty Genome and donated it to research. What really caught my eye when I cut it open is an elastomer layer that runs the full perimeter of the ski along the top of the sidewall. It is easy to push a fingernail into (60 to 70A durometer I would guess). It seems to be about .040" thick (much more than VDS) and when the ski delamed, the fiberglass sheared before separating from the elastomer or elastomer-from-UHMW. I dont think I have ever seen this in a video before. Any ideas on how this is incorporated into the manufacturing process?
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 3:21 pm
by MontuckyMadman
Urethane
????
I think you can get 1mm vds from haberkron
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 3:40 pm
by mattman
MM, I agree - its definitely urethane. But do you think they just epoxy a strip of cured urethane onto the sidewall during the layup? The fact that it ends perfectly in line with the sidewall makes me think that that it is somehow pre-applied to the sidewall strips. If it were during wet layup, wouldn't they just use their much thinner (and cheaper) VDS?
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 3:52 pm
by MontuckyMadman
U think the vds is cheaper than urethane of the same thickness?
Arnt those made at neversummer?
Could be whole sheets of sidewalls prelammed and machined separate to thickness minus the rabbet.
Wow
Pita
That uhmw is a nightmare.
Looks like a great idea.
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 5:01 pm
by mattman
They seem like they would be a Never Summer ski - but no, it says Made in China. I was saying that thin VDS is probably cheaper than the thick urethane. Thick VDS is pricey.
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 7:24 pm
by Dtrain
They call this "durathane". it is a sheet of cured urethane glued to a slab of sidewall block after profiling. Not there to only smooth out the ride, but also help with chipping of the topsheet. I was also surprised their skis are make with quadaxial glass.
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 9:28 pm
by MontuckyMadman
All pine or poplar core?
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 5:40 am
by falls
Bamboo core
Or these days bamboo + poplar or something else.
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:23 am
by Dtrain
Polar/bamboo
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 10:19 am
by skimann20
can you post of photo of the core with a straight on view so we can see all the layers of the core?
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:03 pm
by falls
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 12:12 pm
by skimann20
I would like to see if they did that top channel and also wanted to see if they rabbet for the edges.
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 3:35 pm
by MontuckyMadman
Always rodent rod!!
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 3:48 am
by skidesmond
Liberty can spell big words like quadaxial and but misspelled helps, heps.
Also the description of the sidewall seems contradictory. Is it ABS or UMHW? Is it dependably or dependable? Made in china for sure
Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:31 am
by chrismp
skidesmond wrote:Liberty can spell big words like quadaxial and but misspelled helps, heps.
I believe it's quadraxial
