More POP!

[heelside76]

Just wondering if you guys know how to get more POP from a board or ski. I like to be able to pop my board up onto high ledges and was wondering if you need a flatter camber or higher one or if its something completely different.

[plywood]

as far as i know pop comes of the ability of a ski to "flex back", right?

so if you wanted more pop you need a snappier ski. there are several ways to increase this flex-back.

one is to use more fibreglass.
this method is kind of limited, because if you use more fibreglass you also become a stiffer ski. and a stiff and heavy ski is not really what we want. (somehow i`m not in the mood to explain things today, i don`t get the right words)
the snap-back ability of a ski, or the so called pop, is a result of the preload of a ski. this preload can be increased with fibreglass. but the physical attributes of fibreglass set some limits. so there is a point where applying more fibreglass doesn`t make any sense.
then you have to take higher fibres as for example carbon. carbon has a higher tensile modulus. so it gets you a "faster" snap-back.

but you have to be a bit careful: with a better pop and the use of fibres with a higher tensile modulus you also increase the stiffness of a ski. so you have to find a good ratio between pop and stiffness.... (because also if you want a better pop you still need a flexible ski)

[heelside76]

Thanks plywood for the info, it really helped and I think i'll try it.

[RoboGeek]

Different wood types in the core will affect it too. A harder wood would have more pop too.
Any other materials would do the same - metal, carbon, rubber, etc - all would have some effect

[heelside76]

Ya, i'm gonna be using poplar for my core with two sheets of fiber glass.

[plywood]

well, i think it makes more sense to use some better composites than trying to reach more pop with harder woods in the core.

skis are sandwich construction which means that the core is just there to create a space between the top layer fibreglass and the bottom layer. the bigger this space gets, the more forces the outside layer can take up. a bit simplified.
or in other words: if you bend a rod or something similar,if we look at the profile of this rod you got in the middle of it zero load. the more you go to the outside of the profile, the more the forces get higher.

if you apply this to a ski, the outermost layers are fibreglass. there you can reach the most influences by only changing little things.

i totally aggree that a different wood in the core has an influence. but harder woods are normally heavy. so if you replaced a poplar core with something harder the result would be a heavier board than if you use poplar and add some carbon. i think.

[rockaukum]

Don't you think that the camber will have an effect on the "pop" of a ski or baord? Pre tensioning the board with the camber, then when loaded and released it will "pop" back quicker or stronger with a board with more camber than one with less? Just a thought.
RA

[plywood]

you`re right, more camber also has an effect on the pop.

but if you just build a ski with more camber and fibreglass, tha camber doesn`t get as good as i could, because you still use fibreglass. this fibres are now under higher tension if you put the ski flat on the ground, but they are still out of glass with the same properties of glass.
so you could say carbon is snappier or something like that...

an other thing with more camber is following: i just can tell you about my experiences with slalomskateboards. there you also build some camber in the planks. i once tried to use more camber. the board got more "pop". but it was a pain to ride...it was like riding a trampoline. every single movement made you bounce up and down. so i suppose, if you want to use more camber, you have to make a softer ski.otherways the camber would increase the pressure on tip and tail too much so that they would dig into the snow too much and hook up faster.so i think the method with the camber is limited. it`s better to let the camber as it is but to increase the internal characteristics of a ski with let`s say carbon or something similar.