It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any ski building stuff. But I’ve been busy trying to innovate the last couple years. My latest ski is a GS Cheater style ski using flax instead of FG and titanal. This was going to be my racing ski this season. But by the time I got the ski dialed in, feedback by E...

You can put the veneer on using epoxy. A vacuum press might work better in this case. Epoxy will fill in where the binding holes were. You could also cut wood plugs to fill the holes, or mix sawdust and epoxy to fill the holes. If you’re trying to preserve the holes for remounting, not sure house to...

I never see myself ever being more than a 1 man show. Trying to put skis in ski shops is expensive, they’ll want 30-50% off the top. It just doesn’t make sense when you start looking at the numbers. I had skis in a shop a couple seasons ago. It was a good experience. I got a lot of free exposure and...

I don’t want to be a wet blanket for anyone wanting to make it big building skis or snowboards. But it’s an up hill battle. The market is super saturated. Even if you have a great product it’s only the tip of the iceberg. It takes REAL money! Real hard work. I watched the show The Profit and he was ...

I think a 2-10-2 or even 2-9.5-2 would be better. 150cm is pretty short. I've made 152cm for my daughters and the dims were something like 1.8-10-1.8

Great info! And that clarifies the 80% and 90% calcs. I thought it was saying the tip and tail were 80% and 90% in length which would be pretty long for FIS Racing Ski.

I don’t think cork sidewall will standup well as a sidewall. I use cork in my skis but it’s encased so it’s not exposed. Depending on how the use the cork, it doesn’t seem like it would hold screws well either. Perhaps using inserts help. But there’s still very light strength in cork. Applying epoxy...

Every so often I like to drive my self nuts looking for THE formula to calculate the radius of a ski. Sno-CadX and BoardCrafter must use different formulas because if you input the same dimensions of a ski into each of the tools they give a different radius. So I searched the web and found a formula...

Depending on where you're getting your titanal it should be treated already. Also use VDS rubber on each side, it seems to help in bonding and provides a sheer layer just like for your edges. If you're using a super high grade AL then you'll want to treat it with acid. It will pit the AL which helps...

There's engineering software to help figure all this out but you still need to build the ski to see how the engineering compares to the real thing. And then its still subjective to a certain degree. What seems poppy, snappy, damp to one person maybe different to another. But don't let is discourage ...

The million dollar question with a hundred answers. Usually the pop feeling out of a turn comes from camber or the amount of pressure applied during the turn and then released. Titanal is used mostly for damping a ski and torsional rigidity. The pop feeling can also come from CF, the type of wood, t...

This is a pretty old post. I remember when this press was built and I think it worked ok. Not sure if the corduroy stretched when the hose was pressurized. I’d be careful pressurizing, do some dry runs to make sure it’s ok before making skis. If you get to 25-30 psi and you have good matching top an...

There's no step by step guide per se. There's many ways and approaches to design and build a ski or snowboard. You can start by downloading SnoCadX (do a search for it) or Boardcrafter for designing. There are tons of videos on YouTube that will give you an idea of what you"re in for. Best opti...

Sounds like it’s going to soak in resin either way, pre-soak or not. No idea if this would work but it’s the same idea.... I read in a woodworking mag that if you want to get an even stain over an open grain board like oak, etc. to apply a light coat of wood glue on the end of the board. The end gra...

My main goal is to achieve a damp ski that handles like a race ski that's torsional stiff, grips ice well yet bends longitudinally. I made a test piece also, but can't recall the exact size and dimensions, probably 6x12inch. 1/16in ash veneer with flax, .6 titanal, on each side of the ash, bonded wi...