Neb Powshape

[Buckow]

Hey Builders,
I made my first board a few weeks ago and I can’t believe how good it rides! It’s all thanks to you guys and the heaps of great info you’ve shared.
I went for a vacuum bagged board with cap construction to start and now i’m working on sandwich/sidewall construction for the second one. I wanted to keep the first one simple and get it out in the snow. Now, I’m completely hooked and there are 3 more boards on the way.
Here are some pics of the board and the first few powder days on it.


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I’ll post the build photos in the next post.

[Buckow]

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I started out by tracing a nose rocker to make a mold out of MDF

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Then I got some 3mm thick aluminum and glued an Alirubber heat blanket between the mdf mold and the aluminum sheet. The 3mm aluminum is probably overkill for a vacuum bag setup but I figured if I really get into building then I’d like to bring the aluminum sheets over to a pneumatic press. Also, I thought it might not suck down into the mold properly so with a buddy we slowly bent the aluminum sheet into the exact shape of the mold. I asked a metal worker buddy because I screwed up the first one I tried to do myself and I didn’t want to see those kinks in the bases. He whispered to the aluminum and somehow managed to get it perfect with some plastic pipes and clamps. It now sits in the form perfectly!
In addition, I had to use the router to create a depression in the mdf mold for the cables from the heat blanket to lay flat. So far so good!

[Buckow]

The next step was to get the cores down to the right thickness. I made an adjustable planer bed and used double stick tape to attach the core. A friend had a wide enough planer for my 35cm wide core so I traded him some beers.

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Then I made a pattern using a copying bit for the router and carefully borrowed the side cut, nose and tail shapes from a few different boards I like. I made it much wider than anything I’ve ridden to date. I wanted to make something with 5cm of taper, really wide, normal camber, low rise nose rocker, shorter effective edge and the stiffest part of the board around the front foot. I wanted to create good grip on the hard pack but still float really well. I’m very happy with this one! I made a new shape yesterday but I’ll get to that in a bit.

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[Hannes]

You will never forget your first ride on your very own board. And once you´re hooked...

Good job, keep building:-)

Hannes

[Buckow]

Thanks Hannes!

Yeah, I’m totally hooked now and really enjoying it. I made another board last weekend but I went a bit overboard on the carbon... I think I learned something? The board is too stiff and edge high. When it cooled down I felt like it was cupping visibly. I put a straight edge on the base and it was very edge high. Too stiff and edge high on a 29cm waist width was really edge catchy.

I put an extra layer of 300g triax carbon on top of the top 750g triax fiberglass. I heated the bottom at 80* and the top at 70*. I thought the base side needed to be hotter to compensate for the base material since I didn’t have a top sheet. That seemed to work well on the first board so I think for the third one I will go back to a symmetrical layup with the glass and a 10*c difference.

Did it cup because I had a thicker laminate layer on the top which got 70*c of heat versus the bottom that got 80*c of heat so the bottom expanded more and therefore contracted more creating the edge high base? I’m not too sure so I think I will try and tune the core thickness better rather than add to the laminate layers. That seems like an easier way to get the flex I’m looking for.

Does any of this make sense or am I misunderstanding things? Here are some pics of the second board.
The second one is a 157 with 34cm - 29cm - 31cm and normal camber. The first one is a 160 it’s 34cm - 29cm - 31cm. I think I like the 5cm of taper more in the powder and less on the hard pack. For the third one I think I’ll do the first shape but with abs sidewalls. The flame treat is just 2 quick passes with a torch? Alcohol wipe before the torch or after? Any advice would be appreciated.

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So now I made a router sled and profiled 2 more cores. Those will be getting sidewalls.

[Buckow]

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I am thinking about trying this method at 1:28 with the sidewalls and planer. Anybody done something similar?

[Buckow]

The binding inserts on my first 2 boards were laughably far from ideal. I asked a friend with a CNC machine to make me a jig. I think my next board should line up much better.

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I also welded up an edge bender and it seemed like a good idea but it’s pretty useless, haha. Learning by it’s finest....

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[chrismp]

For bending edges I prefer to use the modified tile nippers. You can buy them here (or just make your own with tile nippers from the hardware store): https://www.skibaumarkt.de/produkt/kantenbiegezange/

[Buckow]

Thanks Chris! I modified some snips and that works best for me currently. I just need to take the time and then I can get them pretty good.

[Buckow]

Here is my quiver of pow boards so far. I have another one on the way. I just need to lay it up. All the pieces are ready more or less. The one with the flax and carbon X was the sweetest riding one overall but I broke the tail a few days ago. It was very soft and lovely in deep snow but I kinda augered it into the frozen grass on a sloppy aerial attempt and that was that! I rode it out so that was cool. Here are a few pics of the last 2 weeks.

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[chrismp]

Nice quiver and great shots! Looks like a great riding spot you have there!

[Buckow]

Nice quiver and great shots! Looks like a great riding spot you have there!

Thanks! I have a powder board fetish.
Yes! I moved here 20 years ago for the snowboarding and DH biking. It’s a wonderful place. There are a bunch of ski resorts linked together crossing over from Switzerland into France called the Portes du Soleil. It snowed another foot yesterday. Yeah!

Here are two of latest builds.

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Beech sidewalls from the hardware store

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We managed to shoot two of my boards across the shop when the feed wheels slipped out of place. Super funny but the shop guys are really ashamed each time. I tell them that I build boards for the experience and seeing my new board get shot across the room definitely adds to the experience, haha.

This is the first time I used a top sheet. I haven’t used one yet because I couldn’t imagine how the air bubbles could get out. I think I might try how @Sleepingawake did his with vacuum infusion. I don’t mind justifying another tool or setup, haha.

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[chrismp]

Portes du Soleil is definitely on my list of places I want to ride someday! Enjoy the fresh powder!

[SleepingAwake]

Love the shape of those! Hit me up if you have specific questions on the infusion process.

Cheers!

[Buckow]

Love the shape of those! Hit me up if you have specific questions on the infusion process.

Cheers!

Thanks man! I sent you a PM and I’m mainly wondering if I can infuse the top sheet and fiberglass on a flat piece of aluminum or should I pre-curve the plate like the camber mold but the other way? Thanks for the help.

Portes du Soleil is definitely on my list of places I want to ride someday! Enjoy the fresh powder!

Thanks! Hit me up if you are over here? You are in Austria right? Did you guys get snow this last storm? We got lots of rain... Oh well. I have time to finish a new board.

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This one is more of a carver than the last 5. I pushed out the effective edges as far as my “duct taped N dowels” modified mold could handle without having the effective edges off of the snow. I’m very happy with how it turned out. One of the new techniques I tried that helped was to pre-bend the tips of the core and that made the layup process much easier. The nose kick stayed true to the camber mold better than the others. I watched a video on steam bending wood for Siberian hunting skis and then I used a moist sponge and a heat gun, haha. Are any of you guys pre-bending cores?

Here’s my last board. It’s fresh out of the oven and I cooked it at 80C for an hour with room temp cure epoxy from Skibaumarkt. When I used Entropy Supersap I felt like they were ready to ride sooner than the cheaper epoxy I’m using now? I should probably find some heat cure epoxy in Switzerland or EU...

Any ideas about how long I should let it cure before I can ride it? I have a nasty habit of riding them too soon, maybe? I dunno.... I feel like they setup and get a tiny bit stiffer over time? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

This one is a 163cm 27.2cm waist with 8mm of taper and normal camber with a slight bit of early rise in the nose. Poplar core 2.5mm 6.5mm 2.5mm. It’s soft but seems rideable. I was using Paulownia before so I’m just getting used to Poplar. Is Poplar slightly softer for the same thickness core?

I would like to find some wood veneer shops in Switzerland or EU if anybody has any links?

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