Ski Builders Forum

hi i was wondering if i could profile a core with a planer(i have access to this one http://www.deltamachinery.com/index.asp?e=136&p=944) i was wondering if it would work

that is a pretty sweet planer. i would say definitely go for the planer profiling method. after trying both that and the router bridge method, i would HIGHLY recommend the planer method. we used a vacuum clamping method to hold the core blank onto the wedge. you can see this process http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=497. the most important thing to do when building the wedge is to make sure your boards are perfectly level and strait. i would avoid actual wood, and stick with pressed board. its flatter. also make sure to feed the wedge through narrow end first, so the tip of the core is the last part to go feed under the blade. good luck!

here's an old article explaining one way to build and use a planer: http://skibuilders.com/articles/planerprofiler.shtml. I would skip the protruding screws and use hotglue to hold your core down onto the wedge.

You don't need much to secure the core. If you are anxious though, put some sanding paper in the crib, it will definately not slip.

Here is my old custom crib, it has a layer of griptape towards the core.


here is the same crib in use:

When i saw the delta come up i thought a picture of the planer i just bought was going to come up. This weekend i added a base model delta planer and table saw to my..."workshop" Your planer will do the job without a doubt.

I had my first pair of cores ripped into ribs for me by a cabinet maker since i did not have a table saw. I'm hoping my $99 delta will do the trick if i am super careful to align the fence perfectly and upgrade the blade. Anyone have advice on making good cuts with a cheap saw?

at my local Lowes I go a lot of new awsome tools for cheap. Anyways I got a GMC brand (not name brand) hand planer for $25 and a Makita planer for $50 shown here

how can I use these to profile my skis? Are these good for making skis and how so I use it to do so?

thanks

can i use the planer to profile the core with the sidewals on?

shure.

mp_skier wrote:can i use the planer to profile the core with the sidewals on?

You pretty much have to have the sidewalls on. Otherwise how will you mill the sidewall materal to matsh the core profile? I guess you could beltsand it, but I imagine that would be rather imprecise.

I really like the concept of endre's profiler. How has it worked for you? Has anyone else had any success with this design. It seems like it would be a little more work to set up but easier to use once dialed in.

Thanks for any reply,
Doug

it has worked great for me. It's a well tested method for profiling a core, and has been used by small scale producers for as long as there has been planers. It is fast and precise, much better than using a router w/bridge.

we use a planer jig kind of like that one but it does both sides at the same time. We have the two ends of the jig high and the middle low. Its basically a negative of how we want the core to look. When the planer gets the the center of the board it pushes it into the low area and doenst cut at all. Works like a charm. We coudnt do it with the sidewall on tho cause the plastic would snipe too much when it entered the planer. We just taper the sidewall in a router bridge, its such a small area it works fine.

So... if you're using sidewalls and you don't want two different rigs, the down-ramp style (skibuilder article) one may work best because it's able to apply more pressure to the cutting surface?

?
The amount of pressure on the cutting surface depends on the planer, but it very high (never a problem). I have profiled several cores with plastic sidewalls on in the planer.

I got a CNC now though

by the way beansnow, the crib in the picture works the same same way as yours.. (if I understood your description)

ah ok, i couldnt tell if it was just a wedge or not from the picture. You are probably able to do it with sidewall on the core because you have a much nicer planer than I do.

At first we were breaking the sidewall off the core, even if we only took a little off at a time. Then we improved the bond to the core and startd breaking cores. I think the blade hitting hte flat front of the plastic sidewall put too much stress on it. What material do u use for sidewall?