When to place sidewall

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madclimber03
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:54 am
Location: Jackson, WY

When to place sidewall

Post by madclimber03 »

I'm just finishing building my press and i'm gathering all of my material and going over my whole process. I was just wondering about different sidewalls and when/how to apply them to the ski. Any suggestions will help!
rockaukum
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Location: Placerville area

Post by rockaukum »

On my first skis I used sidewalls (UHMW). I unfortunatley profiled my cores then realized that I would have to profile the cores again with the sidewalls attached. A problem with that is when the proiled core tapers to 2mm it is hard to keep the 1/2" UHMW in alignment(?).
Anyway if I were to do it again I'd laminate the wood, cut the rough outline of the ski, then laminate the UHMW. Profile is done via the planer for me. Hope this helps.
ra
madclimber03
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:54 am
Location: Jackson, WY

sidewalls

Post by madclimber03 »

So it seems like you profile your core before your press to get your sidewalls in. What about if i want to wait to profile my cores side cut untill it has been pressed. What sidewall options do i have?
rockaukum
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Location: Placerville area

Post by rockaukum »

The sidewall I used is 1/2", so if I just attached the sidewall to the core (prior to the sidewall trim) I might run the risk of going through the whole sidewall material in some places and not others. I don't know if this makes sence or not. The way I see it is you need to know the ski dimensions and trim the core (unprofiled) just under that size then attach the sidewall and profile.
hugocacola
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Post by hugocacola »

i agree with rockaukum.. its the better way...
madclimber03
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Location: Jackson, WY

side walls

Post by madclimber03 »

Perfect that answered my question. Thanks
Idris
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Post by Idris »

Rout an 8"- 10" wide piece of sidewall material through whatever core profiler setup you're using, then rip to about 10mm wide lengths. Lay the core on a flat surface, lay your sidewall beside it and feel the wood/plastic connection match evenly over the length of the core with your fingers. Hot glue sidewall to core, pressing firmly for a tight bond, then scrape excess glue off the top and bottom of the seam before routing for edges.
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hugocacola
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Post by hugocacola »

a question about hot glue..

the glue is strong enought to trim when we are profiling?

actualy i'm bonding with epoxy but it takes to much time and is not good to glue the pieces correctly.

i know bonding with hot glue could be good to bond and hang the sidewall and the epoxy will fill the sapces during layup and press process, but how do you glue with hot glue??? any good explenation???
Idris
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Post by Idris »

hugocacola wrote:a question about hot glue..

the glue is strong enought to trim when we are profiling?

actualy i'm bonding with epoxy but it takes to much time and is not good to glue the pieces correctly.

i know bonding with hot glue could be good to bond and hang the sidewall and the epoxy will fill the sapces during layup and press process, but how do you glue with hot glue??? any good explenation???
???

Squirt hot gule on a bit of the sidewall (starting with one end or middle). Press to core. Move along to next unglued bit. Open gap just wide enough for glue gun. insert glue. press together - repeat.

More than one major ski/board maker just stapels their sidewalls on!
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hugocacola
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Post by hugocacola »

Thks for your description but the glue is strong to keep the side wall in the place when ill pass the router to profiling together with the wood??'
rockaukum
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Post by rockaukum »

I'd just glue it up using the epoxy after you trim the rough outline of the ski. With the epoxy you will not have to worry about the bond.
ra
hugocacola
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Post by hugocacola »

i do that way to, but i must figerout a new way to do it mor simple with no problem with brake stuff...
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littleKam
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Post by littleKam »

rockaukum's got it down....I usually flame treat the sidewalls before epoxying them on by passing a simple torch over the sidewall material.
- Kam S Leang (aka Little Kam)
hugocacola
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Post by hugocacola »

ok i can imagine it.. you glue the sidewall to to the table near the wood trimed and glue with epoxy...??? is it???
rockaukum
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Post by rockaukum »

Littlekam,
I also flame treat the sidewall material only I used the pretreated side to bond to the core and then after profiling the core I flame treated the top and bottom for bonding of the glass ect.

Here is the post in the "how to" section:
Making ABS or P-Tex Sidewalls Making ABS/P-Tex sidewalls requires the most work out of the three methods, however, the results are much stronger than those obtained by using wood or epoxy. The outline below demonstrates how ABS/P-Tex sidewalls are attached to a wood core. Note that the method is the same whether you choose to use ABS or P-Tex.

Step 1: Trim Wood Core to Shape Before you can attach the sidewalls you must cut the blank (not profiled) wood core to shape using a band saw or jig saw.



When cutting your core to shape keep in mind that you must leave enough room for the plastic sidewall material. The actual width of the sidewall is up to you to determine but typical widths range from 1/4" to 3/4". The following picture shows the wood core on top of the base material (w/ edges attached).



Notice that there is about 1/4" of room for the sidewalls to extend into the ski. When attached, the sidewalls will actually cover the edges and overhang them (the excess material is trimmed off in the finishing process). Also note that the tip of the core is only roughly cut. This is because this portion will undergo additional trimming when attaching the tipspacers so a precise cut is not necessary at this point.

Step 2: Rip Plastic Into Strips After the core has been cut, the plastic needs to be prepared. You usually find thick ABS/P-Tex material in large sheet forms (1/2" x 48" x 96"). These sheets need be ripped into strips using a table saw or any other saw you are comfortable with. For a pair of skis, you will need four strips (two for each side of a ski). The width of the sidewalls strips vary depending on your ski design. Just make sure that you have enough to overhang the ski's edge by approximately 1/4" or greater.



Step 3: Flame Treat the Strips Most manufacturers of ABS or P-Tex recommend that you flame treat the plastic before it is bonded to the core. This is done by simply using a torch and quickly passing the flame over the plastic.



Only let the torch stay in one location long enough just to slightly darken the plastic material as shown below.



You only need to flame treat the side that you intend to bond to the wood core. The other sides (top-side and base-side) will be flame treated after the core has been profiled.

Step 4: Attach Sidewalls to Core Mix up a small amount of epoxy (the same kind that you will use for layup or something similar). Use a small, disposable brush to apply the epoxy to the vertical sides of the wood core. Then apply another generous amount of epoxy to the flame treated sides of the sidewalls. Arrange the sidewalls and core together and secure into place with some clamps as shown.



After the epoxy has completely dried, remove clamps and proceed to the next step of profiling of the core.

Note that it is also possible to make a full wrap around the core with the ABS/P-Tex to create both the sidewalls and tipspacers at once. However, this requires a little more work and the plastic will have a greater tendency to "blow out" during skiing.
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