Ski Builders Forum

Is it too early to start for next season? I didn't do much this past season. Only made a couple pair of skis and they were typical layups, nothing to invented.

The skis have piled up and I need to get them organized. Made a ski rack to hold 13 pairs. The rack is 72in long, 14in high. The sides are 6in wide 14 inches high. The foot on each side is 3in wide and 18in long to keep it from tipping over from the weight. The rails that hold the skis have a 2inch wide slot. Plenty of space to get a pair of skis in. Each slot is 2x4.5 and one is about 5 inches wide to hold a wider pair. Not sure if a pair of twins would fit in 1 slot or not. Might need to use 2 slots.

Might have to make another one or start thinning out the quiver.

So my 9 month pregnant wife is big time nesting... So guess what I'm going to build to get the skis off the front porch... would you change anything? I was thinking a bottom would be good so the skis don't sit on the ground. (mine will be in the basement on concrete floors.) You build yours out of pine? The scary thing is I'm going to have to fire up my table saw, that I haven't used since building skis...

I was looking at this one too. I've never been a fan of the tip pinching ones:
http://www.theonlydutchredneck.com/?p=338

forget ski building... I'm going into ski rack holding business:
http://www.grassracks.com/products/wall ... =294955945

This was a proto-type. I used this design because I didn't want to drill holes in my foundation wall. it's cinder block. Also it allows me to move the skis to another part of my basement if I need too.

I used oak because I got a free load from a friend. I think pine or plywood maybe too light weight. There's a lot of weight in 13 pairs of skis.

I would add a bottom to keep them off the floor, but since I wasn't 100% sure the rack wouldn't tip over, I didn't want to waste anymore wood. But it's very sturdy.

I dado-ed the stretchers and glued in pieces but that was a pita to do all the dadoes and to be sure they're aligned. For a rack for 4 or 6 pairs maybe ok. I thought about using 1/2in wood dowels instead. You could drill the holes through stretchers 2 at a time so the holes would align, glue and tack nail the dowels in place. Not sure which way is faster/better.

The stretchers are just end glued to the side with a single 2 inch deck screw, pre-drilled. I think using joinery to attach the stretcher and side would be better and more durable in the long run. I think what I did works ok. But joinery would make it look more durable and "Norm Abrams" like .

The foot support is just screwed on with 2 screws each. I thought it might be a bit tipsy, but it's plenty sturdy.

I did not poly but I will in the future.

I may make a few racks and put them on my website. I see the Hallsteiner is getting max $$$ for his simple design. Great if he can get it.

That kind of rack is good for flat tailed skis, but add rocker or even a flared tail and it can be more difficult. This is because to get the tails in the rack yiu need s wider opening but with s wider opening the ski won't stand vertically which increases the tendency to tip over.

A gun rack style rack to hold skis horizontally on the wall might workr well also .

A pair of twin tips would more than likely require a slot for each ski. I knew more than likely this will be moved around so portability was important.

But that gives me another idea about the portability of a gun rack style also. Instead of fastening a gun rack style to the wall you could build it to lean against the wal. Something like this:
http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/reso ... %20shelves

I like this one but have not built it yet.

Was that cut with a cnc? That would be the way to go.

Not sure but it kind of looks like it. Could be done by hand easily enough. Just have to make sure the angle keeps the weight over the base of support. I think that one was made for snowboards. If could BC cut much shallower for skis.

That one is similar to the grass roots one. It looks like it was cut out with a router. cnc or template I'm not sure but certainly a router. reminds me of the wood dinosaurs I had as a kid.

Made my first ski of the 2015-2016 season. Well I did make one at the end of the 2105 season... But this one is a bit more innovated in the core design and materials. The goal is to make it fairly light weight, damp, torsional firm, nice even longitudinal flex AND earth friendly (tough combo). Primarily this ski is made to rip up groomers and then some.

Ski Stats:
170cm
118-76-104
R15.5 meters

Wood core: douglas fir down the middle with poplar along the oustide, 2.5-11-2.5.
Sidewall: Ipe
Epoxy: Entropy CLR
TopSheet; Man-made Oak from Certainly Woods
Base - 4001 Black
Bi-axial 45degree Flax 350 gsm
Cork.8mm and 2.5mm thickness
Uni-CF 4.4oz
metal edges
VDS
Tip/Tail Spacers: 2.5mm poplar

Flax is a bit tricky to work with. It's difficult to cut, very fibrous. My rotary cutting knife didn't work on it so you need a well made sharp pair of scissors. Second thing about flax is it's deceiving in the amount of resin you need. It doesn't wet out like FG. I used a total of 47ounces!! Way over did it. Got a lot of squeeze out, which was good but wasted a lot of resin. Each ski weighs 3.5lbs. So I think I missed the light weight goal but I can live with that. I'm not usually that concerned over weight.

I used .8mm sheet cork to fill in between the edges and act as a damping layer. I rabbeted a 2in x 12in recess in the front of the wood core and laid in a 2.5mm sheet of cork, another damping technique, we'll see if it makes any difference.

I laid a 2in strip of uni-CF down the middle of the each side of the wood core and then flax over the CF.

I used Entropys slow hardener. Problem is it take 8 hours to set up at room temp. Even at that point it was still far from cured. Full cure time at room temp is 7 days. I pressed the skis over night. When I took them out the epoxy was a bit soft still so I put them back in the press for another 8 hours just to be safe. They came out fine the second time. Then they sat on the work bench for 7 days.

Tonight I cut the flashing off. The resin was cured as far as I could tell, It was hard. Tomorrow I'll bevel the sidewall, LPU the topsheet and sidewalls, grind the base, etc.

The skis seem to have a nice flex and torsionally solid. I think this could be a winner. I'll report on how they ski once we get some snow.

An upside to the flax is there's no itch factor like FG, it handles good and is supposed to be a more damp material than FG. I use the uni-CF since the flax only comes in biax and uni-CF give me the longitudinal strength .

Just need to nail down the amount of resin to use.

If this skis like I think it should. I'll convert from FG to Flax/CF

Nice Steve, interesting lay up for sure, can't wait to hear how they ski.

Interesting build! Have you skied them yet?

Not yet. Waiting for snow to arrive. Looks like it's going to be awhile 50's F forecast for most of the week.