Ski Builders Forum

I skied my newest pair of skis the last two days (I will do a full writeup soon), and while they skied great, one of them had a serious topsheet delamination. I think it may have been because I didn't get enough epoxy on it. The fiberglass held together great, and the core is still bent as it is supposed to be. I plan on pulling the whole topsheet off in a couple weeks and relaminating it back on. But I was just wondering if any of you have had similar experiences.

As a side note, I used 4 layers of fiberglass to create the tipspacers, and I am really impressed at how tough they are. Additionally, they didn't relax at all when I pulled them out of the press, so the tips are huge looking.

Did you have graphics on your skis? or any color printed on? this can often cause delam if something isnt right in the ink mix.
Otherwise the most common problem is dirty topsheet, greasy substance can cause heaps of trouble, or possibly not enough pressure on part of the ski while pressing.

what kind of topsheet material are you using? was it abraded?

we've had some delam issues, mainly due to poor bonding with ABS tipspacers. the abraded p-tex works well.

can't wait to see the photos.

kam

I used base material for the topsheet. The more I have been thinking about this, the more I seem to remember not putting a lot of epoxy on the top layer between the topsheet and the top layer of fiberglass because when I mixed up the epoxy, I forgot to plan for the 4 layers of fiberglass I would have to epoxy at the tip. I think this must have been the problem and as soon as I get a chance, I am going to pull off the bindings and re-epoxy the topsheet down.

On the first ski of this pair I didn't get the epoxy fully mixed because it was the first time I had used the epoxy. The epoxy in the bottom of my mixing container didn't get a full ratio of hardener. The topsheet being the last piece to get epoxy got all of the unmixed epoxy. When the ski cured, the topsheet never cured on and the while the rest of the ski was solid, the topsheet peeled right off and was still sticky. I re-epoxied the topsheet on, and it is holding on quite well now.

Greg - did you think about using some filling material. There is a stuff called cotton fluffs (or flakes - don't no how to translate it correctly). Mixing it with epoxy creates a great (stronger an lighter) glue that is able to fill the gaps.