ON3P Skis

Document your personal work here. Show photos, movies, and share your secrets.

Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp

iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

Shop is a mess in this photo, but this is what I finished last night.

Actually...the ski on the left is a older one with a different core. The match for the ski on the right is in the press, but I still need to finish it, but gives you an idea of how one of my graphics looks on the skis.

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Dutchjibber
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Delft, The Netherlands

Post by Dutchjibber »

That looks sweet!

In the pictures where you can see the difference in tips compared to the other one, yours is way "longer". did you do that on purpose? why?

Keep up the the good photo report, it's very inspiring!
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

Dutchjibber wrote:That looks sweet!

In the pictures where you can see the difference in tips compared to the other one, yours is way "longer". did you do that on purpose? why?

Keep up the the good photo report, it's very inspiring!
Yeah, it is on purpose. I have been rockering the tips of my skis to provide better float in soft snow and allow them to pivot more quickly in tight places.
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

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knightsofnii
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Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:02 am
Location: NJ USA
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Post by knightsofnii »

do they have sidewalls? or just wood? are you treating them with anything?


SICK skis man. give us a report when you do some pond skimming!!!
Doug
hydrant71
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2006 1:30 pm
Location: portland,or.

Post by hydrant71 »

hell yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
really really coming together
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

knightsofnii wrote:do they have sidewalls? or just wood? are you treating them with anything?


SICK skis man. give us a report when you do some pond skimming!!!
Just bamboo sidewalls for now. P-tex later if I change it up.

They will be sealed with some epoxy and then some spar urethane.

And yeah, I will ski them next week. Just wait to see what is coming!

PS - Hydrant. In portland right now! Looking like I will be down here for sure next year!
jono
Posts: 121
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:26 am
Location: denver

Post by jono »

Iggyskier,
Everything looks great in this thread. I especially like the high level of organization.
I saw your recent post over on TGR's quiver thread and am wondering if you are incorporated or if you have taken steps to protect yourself legally? I've sold skis to people I know but am reluctant to sell to strangers since right now I think I am personally liable for any damages awarded in a lawsuit. The TGR community is probably a safe group to sell skis to but you never know.
How many responses have you gotten so far? I get offers all the time to make skis for people I meet on lifts. I can't imagine what would happen if I opened things up to an entire online community.
Good luck with your enterprise!!!
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

jono wrote:Iggyskier,
Everything looks great in this thread. I especially like the high level of organization.
I saw your recent post over on TGR's quiver thread and am wondering if you are incorporated or if you have taken steps to protect yourself legally? I've sold skis to people I know but am reluctant to sell to strangers since right now I think I am personally liable for any damages awarded in a lawsuit. The TGR community is probably a safe group to sell skis to but you never know.
How many responses have you gotten so far? I get offers all the time to make skis for people I meet on lifts. I can't imagine what would happen if I opened things up to an entire online community.
Good luck with your enterprise!!!
Funny you mention this, because I had the same talk with someone while in Portland over the weekend.

Currently, I have not. Nor do I know exactly what I would need to do to take steps to protect myself. Any insight here? I figured if I truly started selling skis, it would be an all or nothing thing, so I am sure I would take all the legal steps to protect myself from any liability.

For the time being, though, I have just been selling to friends. I have too been reluctant to really speak out about the project to people other than friends involved in it because I am not sure where it will go, how the skis will turn out, and I also want to make sure I have everything, legal or otherwise, dialed before I took steps in that direction.

It is a scary thought to consider getting sued over something like this and I would for sure protect myself. I do feel safe knowing the people I am selling skis to now, as I would consider every single person a friend. You are right, though, you never know.

Regarding responses, I actually have a lot as well, but for now, I just tell people I am keeping it for friends as we go through the steps to test the skis.

Not sure if I stated it before, but I am at a real crossroads here in my life. Graduating from UPS in Tacoma with a BS in Biology, so far from business in every sense. I am looking to probably get a job at Oregon Health and Science down in Portland, but I totally want to use it just as a day job until I could get something going with skis. But the quantity you really would need to sell to do it as a living is pretty high, so not sure if I would really want to try for it.

But, I do figure that if there is anytime that I am going to give this a shot, it would be in the next year or two while I am still young and am not really into a career yet. If not, it will probably be on to med school, RN school, or at least some sort of masters biology program.

I just picked up the skis from the shop today, so more pictures tonight I suspect. The clear coat on the sidewalls is drying. I will give a report back from Crystal this weekend. One of these days I will clean up the shop and give a real tour of where I keep everything. Hopefully it will help some other people organize all the crap it takes to get this done.
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Head Monkey
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Location: Carnation, WA
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Post by Head Monkey »

I would recommend being careful selling anything you build to anyone but very close friends. Unfortunately, injury and money can turn friends into enemies all to easily. If you are going to start selling to people beyond your close set of friends, then you’ll want to consider either a corporation (likely a S-corp) or limited liability corporation (LLC) to help protect your personal assets in the event something bad does happen. Honestly, if you get to this point, then you should pony up the money for both a lawyer and an accountant to help you get setup properly and to give you a basic education in running a business. Just setting up the corp isn’t actually enough… you must maintain the business properly and act like a real business, complete with books, taxes, state fees, sales & use tax, etc. I’ve been running Happy Monkey Snowboards, Inc. (a S-corporation in WA) properly for 6 years now, and not only have I become a reluctant wiz with Quickbooks (yikes!), but the tax return my accountant prepares for me each year is on the order of 30 pages, and I’m not exaggerating :( The only up-side is that you get to write off your losses on your personal taxes (again, so long as you run it as a proper business.) I have no personal background in business… my education was in CS, so I relied heavily on my accountant in particular to learn the ropes over the last many years.

Nice skis, BTW. I like your setup.
Everything I know about snowboard building, almost: MonkeyWiki, a guide to snowboard construction
Free open source ski and snowboard CADCAM: MonkeyCAM, snoCAD-X
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

Head Monkey wrote: Honestly, if you get to this point, then you should pony up the money for both a lawyer and an accountant to help you get setup properly and to give you a basic education in running a business. Just setting up the corp isn’t actually enough… you must maintain the business properly and act like a real business, complete with books, taxes, state fees, sales & use tax, etc.
First off, thanks for the post as it is exactly what I needed to know.

and the above quote is the plan if this is to go all out. Need to decide what direction it is going first.
hansonc
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:10 pm
Location: Park City

Post by hansonc »

I'm actually an accountant who deals with a fair number of S-Corps. Head Monkey's post is dead on and he gave great advice. One thing that he doesn't mention but is probably pretty obvious is the fact that if you want to start selling skis and snowboards get yourself a good insurance policy.

To be honest a good insurance policy might actually protect you from liability better than a Corp or LLC would. If you're serious about selling skis and snowboards you want to make 3 calls right away. 1) an attorney to draw up incorporation papers. 2) your accountant to get help setting things up correctly 3) an insurance agent about insurance policies. When you have that all set up, then you can start selling product.
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

hansonc wrote: To be honest a good insurance policy might actually protect you from liability better than a Corp or LLC would. If you're serious about selling skis and snowboards you want to make 3 calls right away. 1) an attorney to draw up incorporation papers. 2) your accountant to get help setting things up correctly 3) an insurance agent about insurance policies. When you have that all set up, then you can start selling product.
any insight on an LLC vs. a s-corp? My basic understanding is that a LLC is easier to operate, but that you pay more in taxes because of the self employment tax. Not sure which one would be best in this situation.
hansonc
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Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:10 pm
Location: Park City

Post by hansonc »

iggyskier wrote: any insight on an LLC vs. a s-corp? My basic understanding is that a LLC is easier to operate, but that you pay more in taxes because of the self employment tax. Not sure which one would be best in this situation.
For obvious reasons I don't have the time to answer this right now but I will come back to this post and try and answer your LLC v S-Corp questions.
iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

New skis. For a friend. Same shape, different topsheet and stiffer flex.

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Look pretty good
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Zoe thinks they are hot
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Taking them for a ride
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Rocker
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Rocker party with first pair
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