Ski Builders Forum

Hi guys,

This is an emergency: If I don't find a solution until tomorrow I am thinking about giving up skibuilding! And only because of the F***ING edges!

ok, here is my problem:
I found some time over Christmas to work on my next pair of skis. I am really frustrated cause I don't manage it to bend the edges perfectly around the base. Always when I fix them with superglue on the base the pop off when I lay them into my press. This really sucks.

Does anyone have any hint or tips how I could improve the bending?
I heated them up, I have nearly the same bender as discribed in the tutorial...

Did someone glued the edges to the base with hot glue? Would that be better than superglue?

Thank you for your support!

windsurfer

Does anone know the person who build this edge bender? This semas to be exactly what I need!!
Does anyone have the building instructions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crYQ3sKegKI

If you can get the edges close to the shape of the skis you should be able to superglue them. I used just pliers and was able to get good results. Couple of things you need to make sure to do.

1) Make sure you are trying to glue to the flame treated side of the base. The other side won't stick.
2) Clean the flame treated side of the base well with alcohol or something before glueing and let it dry.
3) Use LOTS of spring clamps to hold in place until the glue has dried. It can sometimes take a couple of minutes for the glue to cure to the point where it will hold the edges to the base. Don't take the clamps off to early.

Try that and see if it helps. Otherwise you might need a thinner type of superglue.

Do not use hot glue.

You don't need to heat the edges.

I built a bender like the one in the video, do a search for my thread. It works great, but you have to get the dies machined, and that will set you back $100 or more.

I've found that I can get just as good of results, and faster, with modified tile nippers. Search for that on here. That will cost you $10.

Are you doing your layup flat or in the mold? If in the mold, you can make a tip bender also, that bends the base and edges together. Eyes a good thread about that too.

Also, the edge should perfectly without any clamping. If you're having to use clamps to hold it in place, you need to do more bending.

Obviously you need to use the clamps to hold the edges down, but you shouldn't rely on them to hold the edge shape, if that makes sense.

I had similar issue and I solved it very easy.


I bought a nipples and modified them like in the video on the forum. Search for edge bending and you will find it. I also cut my edges 6cm from the tip/tail. Was talking to few people and concluded that its not worth the effort at least in the beginning where there is plenty of issues.

I use superglue, no problem. Let it dry at least 30min. This is also a good video by falls


For me it takes 5min pr ski now.

found the video, look at 0:50.

Great, I just bought two pairs of nipper pliers. First I tried with an 50 years old model, but I made a mistake, so I had to take a new one.
Which was very hard to work with because it was - of course - hardened.

But thanks to dremel I finally made it. I destroyed several cutting wheels, but it was worth it!

And it works great! Within 20 minutes I could bend the rest of the edge perfectly. I will try to do the layup tonight, latest tomorrow morning.

Thank you very much for your support! The skibuilders-community is awesome. When I find the time, I will try to read most of the topics, there is so much knowledge collected.


windsurfer


PS: I will post a picture in a month, cause I don't have a camera with me.[/img]

dont clean the flames treated plastic with solvents it destroys the flame treating. If you do you have to reflame.

windsurfer wrote:Does anone know the person who build this edge bender? This semas to be exactly what I need!!
Does anyone have the building instructions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crYQ3sKegKI

Hi!
I am the guy!

Have a look at Twizz thread!

Those of you who have used Tile Nippers, Are you still using them? Or should I save for a real edge bender?

I made the job way to hard for my first pair. Now I am looking at different radius tips, and need versatility.
Thanks

I have an edge bender very similar to the one in deepskis video. Got the plans from twiz quite some time ago.
I rarely use it any more since I stopped doing full wrap edges.
These days i use my hands or a pair of pliers.
I'd say tile nippers are probably the way to go just haven't got there yet.

sam

My fancy rolly edge bender continues to sit at the bottom of a pile of junk, collecting dust. I'll probably never use it again.

I bent some edges for a new pair just yesterday, using my nippers, and it took me all of maybe 5-10 minutes and the edges are a PERFECT fit (3/4 wrap).

I've gotten a pretty good technic of using very light pressure on the nippers, to add just a tiny amount of bend, then check, then bend more, etc. If I accidentally bend a little too much, I flip the nippers around and squeeze VERY lightly. It seems like it takes much less force to "un-bend" edges than it does to bend them, so you have to be careful to not over do it.

I squeeze the nippers right my right hand, while guiding/sliding the nippers along the edge with my left hand/thumb. It's fast!

With the clippers do you guys find the edges warping up and down? As I am putting the bend around the nose and tail, the edges tend to warp up or down.

Nope, the nippers keep the bend perfectly in plane. Something I could never do with just pliers.