Resin

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Mutombo
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:04 pm
Location: Madrid (Spain)
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Resin

Post by Mutombo »

Hi! I´m trying to get all the material I need to build my first skis but I don´t know which resin is the best one for this purpose.
I have asked a construction trader and he recommended me poliuretane resin but I´m not really sure. You guys use epoxy but I´ve used epoxy stick stones to build my rockwall and it´s very rigid so I think it wont work.
In other places they tell me that what i need is poliester resin or vinilester resin. I think I´m getting crazy. Which one do u use and which is better for building skis??
Thx 4 all!!
tonyt
Posts: 42
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 8:36 am
Location: Halifax Nova Scotia

Resin

Post by tonyt »

I think pretty much everyone uses epoxy resins, most of the poly and vinyl ester resins do not work really well with the different materials in a ski. You need to glue the core with epoxy since polyesters will not bond well enough. Polyester resins can not be used over epoxy resins because they will not cure. Epoxy resin for boatbuilding should be available somewhere near you. Some brands that I know are MAS, SP-Systems,
West and Epiglass from International paints. There are others who use other epoxy resins so I hope they'll chime in and tell you some other types.


I just noticed that the boat show is in Madrid this weekend, someone there could lead you to some good epoxies
G-man
Posts: 600
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: northern sierra nevada

Post by G-man »

I also think that pretty much everyone is using epoxy resin for ski lamination. I have done a lot of testing on the epoxy that I use (from QCM... see the links page on this site) and have been amazed at how strong and flexible it is... if mixed and processed properly. I use the heat cure hardener and I learned the hard way that if it is not heated to at least 160 C, the epoxy will harden okay but will be very brittle and will crumble to powder when flexed only slightly... a real bummer when your ski falls apart in your hands when its removed from the press. Anyway, QCM also has a number of other systems that cure at room temp... they just report that the heat cure system is a bit stronger. I happened to think last night about what might happen if my press heating system failed for some reason before reaching 160 C. I guess that I'd just have to let the epoxy cure until it was hard (takes about 6 hours at room temp), then remove the ski and throw it away... something to think about when one is trying to decide whether or not to use a heat cure or room tempcure resin. Anyway, Mutombo, sure there are lots of epoxy products that are formulated to cure to a rigid state, but there are a lot of others that are formulated to be very strong and flexible. Since you are located in Europe, have you checked out the links page on the Graf snowboard site? They list a lot of material suppliers in Europe as well as some in the U.S. that they have used to order their stuff from.

Good luck to you and don't let it get you too crazy. The stuff is out there, it just takes some looking around to find it. I think I would never have managed to get it all together without all of the help and 'teamwork' from the folks on this site.
G-man
Posts: 600
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: northern sierra nevada

Post by G-man »

I also think that pretty much everyone is using epoxy resin for ski lamination. I have done a lot of testing on the epoxy that I use (from QCM... see the links page on this site) and have been amazed at how strong and flexible it is... if mixed and processed properly. I use the heat cure hardener and I learned the hard way that if it is not heated to at least 160 C, the epoxy will harden okay but be very brittle and will crumble to powder when flexed only slightly... a real bummer when your ski falls apart in your hands when its removed from the press. Anyway, QCM also has a number of other systems that cure at room temp... they just report that the heat cure system is a bit stronger. I happened to think last night about what might happen if my press heating system failed for some reason before reaching 160 C. I guess that I'd just have to let the epoxy cure until it was hard (takes about 6 hours at room temp), then remove the ski and throw it away... something to think about when one is trying to decide whether or not to use a heat cure or room tempcure resin. Anyway, Mutombo, sure there are lots of epoxy products that are formulated to cure to a rigid state, but there lot of others that are formulated to be very strong and flexible. Since you are located in Europe, have you checked out the links page on the Graf snowboard site? They list a lot of material suppliers in Europe as well as some in the U.S. that they have used to order their stuff from.

Good luck to you and don't let it get you too crazy. The stuff is out there, it just takes some looking around to find it. I think I would never have managed to get it all together without all of the help and 'teamwork' from the folks on this site.
davide
Posts: 260
Joined: Wed May 04, 2005 7:13 am
Location: Tsukuba, Ibaraki-ken, Japan
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Post by davide »

type L at www.r-g.de
SCHÜSS
Posts: 99
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:21 am
Location: Australia

Post by SCHÜSS »

i am using West systems 105 resin and 206 hardener at a ratio of 5 parts resin 1 part hardener.

works pretty good so far and here in Aus its pretty cheap.. so i would imagine its cheap in the US as well
SCHÜSS 2011
kohlrabi
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:52 pm

Post by kohlrabi »

I use the same epoxy as you, schuss.

$110CAD for a gallon of resin, and $40 for the hardener.

Works out to about $0.35/sqft
Mutombo
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:04 pm
Location: Madrid (Spain)
Contact:

Post by Mutombo »

Thank you guys! I have already found a dealer in my country that suplyes epoxy resin. Now I´m going on looking for the base and edges.
Thx again!


P.D.: the resin is EC131LV and the hardener is W342

One question? How many kg do you use to make a pair? I would lie to know in order to buy the proper amount
o0norton0o
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Seattle

Post by o0norton0o »

this site has a very good section on "how to" including how much epoxy you need and how important mixing it in a few batches for one layup is so the exothermic reaction of the large mass doesn't make the whole volume "kick" too quickly. This technique gives you time to get the whole lamination together and into the press and compress it into form before the assembly can begin to stiffen. I learned this the hard way repairing carbon epoxy surfboards.
est sularis oth mithas
SCHÜSS
Posts: 99
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:21 am
Location: Australia

Post by SCHÜSS »

Mutombo, for bases and edges i buy from www.snowboardmaterials.com.

They have a convenient online store where you can select quantities and such. Delivery is quick too, it took one week to diliver to AUS. so if your in the states it would be faster again.

prices are around $2.20US for an endge and under $21 for a base sheet. (30cmx170cm)

have a look around tho. im sure they cover this in some other topics.
SCHÜSS 2011
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