We try very hard, but these pictures were taken this summer))
Unfortunately, I started to fill in the post too late ...
Through the thorns to the stars
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Since the press was almost ready, we started to make router table.
Here are some pictures of our company transport.
So, the first version of our table had fiberboard base and plywood rails and router support.
That was not the difficult task.
Also we decided to make our rails extremely accurate. We used water jet CNC of our friends company (they cut stones with the help of this stuff). The result was fantastic.
We did a templates using water jet for the future cores as well.
May be later I will post some pictures of this marvelous process.
Here are some pictures of our company transport.
So, the first version of our table had fiberboard base and plywood rails and router support.
That was not the difficult task.
Also we decided to make our rails extremely accurate. We used water jet CNC of our friends company (they cut stones with the help of this stuff). The result was fantastic.
We did a templates using water jet for the future cores as well.
May be later I will post some pictures of this marvelous process.
It seems to me that the most interesting part of ski and snowboard manufacturing is the work with wood.
We decided to make of first snowboards from poplar since it is not hard to find this tree in our country. Also many people advise to start with poplar.
But still, really difficult to select appropriate type of wood.
We have agreed with one sawmill to produce for us poplar boards. And for the first times we asked them to stick boards together and even cut the board to the required thickness.
Poplar has about 7% of moisture, the thickness of the board add up to 10 mm.
The longitudinal strips have width 20 mm. And they were glued with PVA.
The first trial boards that are illustrated on the pictures are not of the first class since they have some twigs.
It seems to me that it is not good and they may cause breaking of the board in future. Also there is a question which type of twigs can exist in the board, as it difficult to find ideal wood without twigs?
We decided to make of first snowboards from poplar since it is not hard to find this tree in our country. Also many people advise to start with poplar.
But still, really difficult to select appropriate type of wood.
We have agreed with one sawmill to produce for us poplar boards. And for the first times we asked them to stick boards together and even cut the board to the required thickness.
Poplar has about 7% of moisture, the thickness of the board add up to 10 mm.
The longitudinal strips have width 20 mm. And they were glued with PVA.
The first trial boards that are illustrated on the pictures are not of the first class since they have some twigs.
It seems to me that it is not good and they may cause breaking of the board in future. Also there is a question which type of twigs can exist in the board, as it difficult to find ideal wood without twigs?
I think you mean knots instead of twigs. It is better to avoid knots in your cores by using only clean timber (timber without knots) when building cores. I have seen boards/skis built with wood with some knots and they turned out ok, but try and avoid it in the future.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
We have ordered some materials for a few snowboards from @junksupply@
Also we bought Aerobond glue SR 7300 (some kind of epoxy for ski and snowboard manufacturing).
The most exciting part of work began.
We began from profiling the core.
I thought that this work is piece of cake. But the board start bend. This caused non uniform profiling. We decided to put some loads on the sides of the router. This Is good method but takes to much time to get final result.
After shaping the core with router, we used the "nail" method to drill pilot holes for inserts.
This method is not that bad but requires high accuracy of performer(do not try it being tired, sleepy or drunk).
So, here you can see the result.
The surface of the profiled side is quite smooth. Holes for inserts are quite accurately drilled.
Also we bought Aerobond glue SR 7300 (some kind of epoxy for ski and snowboard manufacturing).
The most exciting part of work began.
We began from profiling the core.
I thought that this work is piece of cake. But the board start bend. This caused non uniform profiling. We decided to put some loads on the sides of the router. This Is good method but takes to much time to get final result.
After shaping the core with router, we used the "nail" method to drill pilot holes for inserts.
This method is not that bad but requires high accuracy of performer(do not try it being tired, sleepy or drunk).
So, here you can see the result.
The surface of the profiled side is quite smooth. Holes for inserts are quite accurately drilled.
The process of cutting the base material to the shape and attaching of edges didn't take to much time. ((template + base material +router) +super glue+( edges + rod bender or hands)). Sanding process of edges was performed with the help of angle grinder and metal brush.
Concerning sidewalls, we decided to make some kind of oven to speed up the process of epoxy drying.
Core and sidewalls have to be fixed since due to the temperature wood begins to bend.
After that we moved on to the final stage, laying up.
But previously we thought that it would be great to check our press once more...
Concerning sidewalls, we decided to make some kind of oven to speed up the process of epoxy drying.
Core and sidewalls have to be fixed since due to the temperature wood begins to bend.
After that we moved on to the final stage, laying up.
But previously we thought that it would be great to check our press once more...
When silicon penetrates inside the space between L-profiles (angles) it may cause slipping of hose fabric. The result is that under high pressure fire hose will try to get out of angles and it is no matter how strong have you tighten the bolts since silicone substance penetrate deep in the fibers of the hose fabric and creates some kind of composite material with strong bonds.
Here you can see the result.
After one night hoses lost 70 per cent of pressure.
The reason was that holes between angles ripped and allow air to comes out.
The axiom is that it is not possible to repair such failure. The only way is to make hose shorter, but it is not solution of the problem.
Here are some pictures how we did the mistake which caused big bang.
We tried to make some kind of reinforcement with the help of sandpaper.
The theory was as follows.
We put sandpaper between hoses and angles with the rough side to the fabric to prevent sliding and provide additional strength to torn holes.
This idea seems good and after one time it worked, only after one time, since when we did test second time fiber which was located on the line of angles was cut like with the help of sharp knife. The reason was as follows: small particles of sandpaper under the pressure ingrained inside the fiber and caused break in a fiber.
The result was that we put no silicone inside the bolts.
As well we put rubber gasket to insulate the space in the place of nipple.
The result was quite good. Air bladders were stable all the night long as well after several tests.
Here you can see the result.
After one night hoses lost 70 per cent of pressure.
The reason was that holes between angles ripped and allow air to comes out.
The axiom is that it is not possible to repair such failure. The only way is to make hose shorter, but it is not solution of the problem.
Here are some pictures how we did the mistake which caused big bang.
We tried to make some kind of reinforcement with the help of sandpaper.
The theory was as follows.
We put sandpaper between hoses and angles with the rough side to the fabric to prevent sliding and provide additional strength to torn holes.
This idea seems good and after one time it worked, only after one time, since when we did test second time fiber which was located on the line of angles was cut like with the help of sharp knife. The reason was as follows: small particles of sandpaper under the pressure ingrained inside the fiber and caused break in a fiber.
The result was that we put no silicone inside the bolts.
As well we put rubber gasket to insulate the space in the place of nipple.
The result was quite good. Air bladders were stable all the night long as well after several tests.
Last edited by motoman on Tue Nov 03, 2015 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Layup.
The first thing we decided to do is to use appropriate method to keep base surface on the place.
The first method to use was double side adhesive tape, but we thought that there will be some convexity on the place of surface.
Another one was - hot glue. May be we will use it.
But we decided to use method of small pieces of plastic glued on the contour of the base. I have seen such method on several videos.
(By the by, I don't still know appropriate method)
The last one method is good since it is possible also keep core on the place.
Here is the picture of this method.
On the next picture there are some additional wooden pieces which prevent core from sliding during layup and press.
The sidewalls were made of two different plastics.
Stiffer plastic from outside and softer from the inside. This was done in the name of experiment.
Also we used inserts without magnetic caps like this:
So, the main fear was how find holes after pressing...
We used bi axial fiberglass for the first time as there are no suppliers of triaxial fiberglass in our country.
Anyway first snowboard is testboard.
Concerning printing we used Ultra-violet coating print machine.
The result is good but this method suits better for mass production.
Since we are still beginners in this area, we had some troubles with our glue (epoxy) (aerobond SR 7300, hardener SD7303). We didn't heat it to appropriate temperature when mixing in order to get lower viscosity. It was pretty hard to work with thick substance. And moreover we had pot only for one item. So it was stressful to lay the glue knowing that it might be not enough.
But despite the difficulties, we did it.
The first thing we decided to do is to use appropriate method to keep base surface on the place.
The first method to use was double side adhesive tape, but we thought that there will be some convexity on the place of surface.
Another one was - hot glue. May be we will use it.
But we decided to use method of small pieces of plastic glued on the contour of the base. I have seen such method on several videos.
(By the by, I don't still know appropriate method)
The last one method is good since it is possible also keep core on the place.
Here is the picture of this method.
On the next picture there are some additional wooden pieces which prevent core from sliding during layup and press.
The sidewalls were made of two different plastics.
Stiffer plastic from outside and softer from the inside. This was done in the name of experiment.
Also we used inserts without magnetic caps like this:
So, the main fear was how find holes after pressing...
We used bi axial fiberglass for the first time as there are no suppliers of triaxial fiberglass in our country.
Anyway first snowboard is testboard.
Concerning printing we used Ultra-violet coating print machine.
The result is good but this method suits better for mass production.
Since we are still beginners in this area, we had some troubles with our glue (epoxy) (aerobond SR 7300, hardener SD7303). We didn't heat it to appropriate temperature when mixing in order to get lower viscosity. It was pretty hard to work with thick substance. And moreover we had pot only for one item. So it was stressful to lay the glue knowing that it might be not enough.
But despite the difficulties, we did it.
Look forward to seeing the result.
I have the same inserts. there dont appear to be any available here in Europe with the magnetic top. Also they are very expensive. I pay €0.79 per insert... so it becomes one of the more expensive parts of the board if you put in 24 inserts.
I have the same inserts. there dont appear to be any available here in Europe with the magnetic top. Also they are very expensive. I pay €0.79 per insert... so it becomes one of the more expensive parts of the board if you put in 24 inserts.
I am nobody. Nobody's perfect, so I must be perfect.
