Second Pair of Skis

Document your personal work here. Show photos, movies, and share your secrets.

Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp

Post Reply
sleepycp
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:39 pm

Second Pair of Skis

Post by sleepycp »

Just finished these. Too bad it's Summer. Had a little problem with epoxy not going everywhere it was supposed to, but I hope it will be ok.

http://gallery.me.com/sleepycp/100019
User avatar
KevyWevy
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:24 pm
Location: Kirkland, WA

Post by KevyWevy »

did you do VDS on top of your sidewalls as well?

i don't want to be mean, but your press scares me. it seems like if you're just pressing one ski at a time, you should really make it skinnier. and have the laminated beams closer. what PSI are you pressing at?
sleepycp
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:39 pm

Post by sleepycp »

The black stripes on top are 1" plain weave 5.6 oz carbon fiber tape. There is also a piece of that running full length down the center under the core.

Yes, the press is sorta scary. Originally I could do two skis at once, but the power in my garage will not handle enough heater to cover the whole bottom of the mold, so now it is one at a time. I press at 30 psi in the hoses, which seems to be plenty. Lots of epoxy came out. Nevertheless, I am retiring that press and will build a better one, from steel, that is stronger and easier to load.
skidesmond
Posts: 2337
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:26 pm
Location: Western Mass, USA
Contact:

Post by skidesmond »

The skis look pretty good. Let us know how they handle when the snow flies. Be nice to see a couple more pics of the base/sidewalls.

To be honest I started to make a ski press like yours. After reading many of the postings about the forces involved when pressing I decided not to go that route. I'm still building my press (day job gets in the way, graduation parties, my daughters' dance recital and competitions, etc) But when it's done I will post pics ASAP.

Next weekend I'm going to my friends house to pick up some steel to fabricate a cage to house the forms and wood beams for the press.
Post Reply