I wanted to make a stiffer, version of a ski I previously built. I am hoping for a ski I can use in the frontcountry as well backcountry. I'm not aiming for anything featherweight but not too burly either. I designed the skis so they would take my 100mm skins. Aside from being a little too soft in the tail the ski was a good shape but I had had some problems with during lay-up. The dimensions are 185cm with a 22.5-25m turning radius and just over 100mm underfoot. The core is 11mm underfoot and tapers out to 2mm at the tip and tail. I used a planer crib like some other people have been using. It works far better than the router jig I made originally. I have fewer tear-outs and it takes a fraction the time. The layup isn't anything fancy. I used pine/fir core and wood sidewalls with triaxial fiberglass layers. I added a section of twenty oz biaxial fiberglass with a 3/4oz mat to reinforce the binding area. It's brand name is Knytex or something very similar.
I was in such a rush to actually get the skis in the press I think I may have shot myself in the foot. First off I forgot to cut my tip spacers. I was just about to slap down the cores when I realized what I was missing. Then i misplaced my topsheet material, after a few minutes of searching I found it. The ordeal was a lesson in patience and foresight I don't want to repeat. On a better note, I think I got everything together before my epoxy started to go off. I am using a pretty an epoxy that will set at room temp but slow unless it is heated.
cutting the form.
Laminated core
Profiled core
I'll everything out of the press tomorrow and post some more pictures as soon as I clean them up.
"Powder days? Everyone loves powder days. You can ski powder days the rest of your life. I prefer ice, its faster." -Glen Plake
...cleaned up and ready to go. My newest skis are feeling pretty good. It took a lot longer for the sealant on the sidewalls to dry than I thought it would. I added a white pigment to a marine epoxy to make the sidewalls look white rather than like wood. Either the epoxy is getting old or the pigment slowed down the cure time, but at least it finally hardened.
Now that they look nice I can definitively say that these are my best skis to date. They feel like they have the flex characteristics that I am looking for and using the simple grab and twist method the tips feel more torsionally stiff than my k2s.
I did realize that I really need a cat track. I had pressed previous skis with my frankenbladder made from no less than six small diameter fire hoses. I had no need for a catrack because the hoses were so close together they distributed the pressure very evenly across the mold. I finally upgraded the bladder to lay flat hose. Since there are only two hoses, I need something to distribute the pressure evenly but that should be a quick fix.
The tips are wider than the tails even though this shot makes them look a little heavy on the ass end. They have about a 12mm tip-tail taper. It is hard to see but I put a little dimple in the tail to help hold my skins in place. I also gave them a little bit of a turned up tail. I like flat tails but I think kick turns are easier with a twin tip and the skins seem not to get hung up on things as much... twigs, snowboarder, etc.
A close up of the print. I used a lightweight cotton fabric for the graphics and a thin PE topsheet so everything would be nice and shiny.
Testing phase (pending).
"Powder days? Everyone loves powder days. You can ski powder days the rest of your life. I prefer ice, its faster." -Glen Plake
The top sheet is from Tap Plastics. It seems thinner than the topsheet I got from snowboardmaterials.com and it is also far more translucent. So far I haven't had any problem with durability or UV discoloration. It is actually two sheets butted together at the waist of the ski. I tape the two sheet together prior to layup. When it is time to add the top sheet I skim the bottom with a layer of epoxy making sure to get some into the butt joint. This picture isn't perfect but you can try to see the seam. It is right on top of where the two fabrics come together.
As you can tell, I like paisley too. All the funky patterns help hide scratches and if the fabric doesn't lay down perfectly straight it doesn't look all warped like some repeating patterns do.
"Powder days? Everyone loves powder days. You can ski powder days the rest of your life. I prefer ice, its faster." -Glen Plake
Finally winter is coming. I was beginning to thing that Ullr had forgotten about the northwest. I stuck a pair of naxos on these guys and made a trip to muir to give them a test drive. The TR is here http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 0456#10456
"Powder days? Everyone loves powder days. You can ski powder days the rest of your life. I prefer ice, its faster." -Glen Plake
