Your boards are looking really good! I’m doing a similar layup and was wondering what sort of finish you get on top of the veneer straight out of the press? I get tiny areas of pitting, and I’m not sure if it’s from debris, or air bubbles from outgassing. Also, what type of varnish are you using? I’...

Latest 2x pairs are getting real close to what I'd like to call an "enjoyable ski" I haven't had the chance to ride any of the pairs yet, but I reckon the first couple pairs would be a real chore to ski. Now I've got something that I REALLY want to ski! Dialed in the core taper to get a fl...

After going too thin in the core and producing a very soft & floppy ski. I went the complete opposite direction. Kind of on purpose, to "set my limits" so to speak. I was hoping to go just beyond what I considered "reasonable" for thickness of a ski. And this pair was stiff! ...

A few problems I noticed after the first pair was: Flex was too soft Topsheet had pitting Slight ding in top of one ski due to thermocouple placement Tip/Tail filler to core interface wasn't made with great tolerances Rocker was too aggressive, not leaving enough effective edge My attempts to fix th...

After upgrading the heat control and feeling confident enough in laying-up materials. I went on to press the first pair. I tried using hot-glue to attach some alignment tabs to keep the core/base in place during layup/inserting into the press. This worked OK, but was a bit of a hassle & I wasn't...

So, it's been a pretty busy couple of months since my last update. I have pressed 4 pairs of skis! Each pair has gotten a bit closer to my desired shape/flex/weight. And I've learned & refined on my process heaps. Again, this site continues to be a huge resource and I thank all my priors! Turns ...

I had trouble with the sled and thicknesser when I had a small thicknesser like the one you have. Felt that it just didn't have the roller hold down power or feed through power to push a heavy sled and core. I got a carbatec 15 inch model which was much more heavy duty and it works well. Yea, I wou...

I agree with all you said above. I think it was too hot, and I had concerns about the high pressure zones around the ski edges...Unless you were able to get the ski exactly lined up under the bladder, then it will have a tendency to tilt to one side or the other. I also learned something about after...

Thanks for the explanation. Two follow-on questions: What temperature do you reckon the base material starts to get too soft? Is there such a thing as too much pressure? I know I by the end of the press cycle I was just above 80C. Here's the cure schedule from the Data Sheet: Screen Shot 2022-03-22 ...

Thanks, chrismp! I had been taking heaps of photos and notes over the last few months. Found I kept coming back here for information and though I should get around to making a post to get "caught-up." Hopefully I can post a bit more regularly now :) Big shoutout to everyone here that has s...

RESIN & FIBERS I've got some West System resin (again from jamesradny), Kirkside K3600 laminate resin, as well as some Surfset Flex resin. Entropy in Australia is not really doable, and will try out a few different locally available resins to see what is preferable. 18oz & 22oz tri-ax fiber...

SHAPES / MOLDS So far I have created molds and shapes using CAD & by hand. I've used FreeCAD to create mold templates I've had CNC'd out here locally, and my current templates I have made by hand. I'm struggling to suss out an offset function in FreeCAD that will allow me to create a base templ...

CORES I'm trying to build skis using 100% Australian sourced timbers, so using what's available here in WA. Obviously there aren't any "traditional" timbers in an area that hasn't had mountains for hundreds of millions of years. But there are some interesting timbers that I'm going to try...