Ski Builders Forum

so im assuming that a vacuum press is the cheapest option for building your own ski press.

do you need both and air compressor and a pump? and how many psi would you need?

Just a vacuum pump. If you get a realy great seal you can get about -14.5psi. You can use a compressor and venturi to create a vacume but unless you already have a compressor this is an expensive way of doing things. Personaly I use an old fridge compressor as a vacuum pump with a pressure cut off switch at around -12, -13psi tro stop it running all the time and overheating.

Many ski and snowboard companies used vacuum technology to start out. Fischer used it for years.

vakuum press is easy .... built the mould for vakuum is easy ...
for made one ore two boards it is ok.

my first vakuum pump was an old kitcken cooler..
he get 0,7 under presur ( absulut 0,9 )
importand is the vakuum bag - no hols .
it run s 3-4 times - after this smoke came out - the end
my next was a vactory vakuum pump ... verry big and havy -
to day i youse it for hold the core at my profil prozes..

for vakuum prozes bay a good pump . at e-bay some time s good things under 50 euros go out.

self made is good - but my works only 3-4 times - one board lost


i think for beginnig , and see the first ride ok

after this all came to pneumatic press .


burton

thanks

so i would use something like this along with an air compressor

http://www.joewoodworker.com/catalog/pr ... ts_id=1682

seaprep23 wrote:thanks

so i would use something like this along with an air compressor

http://www.joewoodworker.com/catalog/pr ... ts_id=1682

Yup. But I would have a look on ebay for vacuum pumps also

The Joe wood worker system is good and isn’t too much $$ if you have a compressor. At 4500 ft. above sea level I can only pull 21” HG (~10.32 PSI, .7 atmospheres) at best, and that works the system pretty hard. If I keep it at 19” HG the system does not cycle as much or run as long.

It has been a good setup so far. I’ve used it on two skate boards, two surfboards and three pairs of skis over the last 18 months. I have managed to collapse a section of one reinforced plastic tube, and I tipped the unit over and broke the light switch that turns the whole thing on.

Like Idris said check EBay for vacuum pumps. I hear of them as cheap as $90 and you should be able to pull full vacuum for your altitude much easier. You could also use a compressor from a refrigerator and set up a vacuum chamber and control switch from Joe wood worker to keep it from running all of the time. I also know of people that have used old vacuum cleaners to generate the vacuum. They ran for the full cure cycle, so the vacuum cleaner would burn out eventually.

Oh, and the skis have worked out great so far. No issues with how the skis perform or how they are holding up.

One draw back is that you have a lot of consumable supplies that you need to buy i.e. vacuum bag, peal ply, breather fabric, release film, sealant tape etc. Most are only good for one use. The good part is they are pretty inexpensive.

Hafte

hafte wrote:One draw back is that you have a lot of consumable supplies that you need to buy i.e. vacuum bag, peal ply, breather fabric, release film, sealant tape etc. Most are only good for one use. The good part is they are pretty inexpensive.

Hafte

if you get inventive, or read some of Davide's and others posts. Vacuum bags help, but folded polythene and tape works fine.

For sealing tape, brown packing tape works fine, just carefull no wrinkles.

Breather fabric = carboard

Peal ply/release film, never had any problems with polythene, thicker is easier to keep the wrinkles out of.

Tape on the base and on the mold (just masonite) makes life easier

But then again I guess I'm jsut being a dirtbag ski bum.

would this be a good vacuum pump to use?

http://www.veneersupplies.com/product_i ... ts_id=1099