Ski Builders Forum

I'm in process of my first pair of skis. They have a wood veneer as the top sheet. My plan is to put on some water based spar varnish on the top and sidewalls.

The top sheep ended up having about 60% epoxy on the top because of the bleed through. I knew there was going to be some bleed through, but wish I had done a skim coat of epoxy on the top before putting them in the vacuum press for a more unified appearance. I've sanded the epoxy on the top smooth but it's still very blotchy.

Do I try to sand all of the epoxy of the top or does adding enough coats of spar varnish hide this?

I also picked water based spar varnish. Should I have used oil based spar?

Soak the top with epoxy, then sand it. Should be more uniform (depending how hot you press)

Cover the top sheet in epoxy, lay a sheet of baking paper on top and press, do not sand it once it is pressed.