Mike's build....

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

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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Mike's build....

Post by MLReed05 »

After a couple months its about time to share some photos....enjoy.
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Hopefully I will have my first ski pressed this week. I am considering my first ski to be sacrificaial for the sake of learning. For this reason I am cheating a little....no sidewalls, no tip spacer, short edges, etc. It will probably end up hanging it on my wall with a bottle opener mounted in the middle.....

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and help!![
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G-man
Posts: 600
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: northern sierra nevada

Post by G-man »

Hey Mike,

Nice work. I think that your press frame is the first one we've seen that uses large dimension channel iron. I'm pretty out of touch with modern machinery (most of mine is from the industrial revolution era), but, that machine you used to cut out your mold parts is very slick. I'm really looking forward to the report on the first ski. Good luck!

G-man
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hose-man
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Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:17 am

Post by hose-man »

Is that a wood vaneer that you are going to use as a topsheet? If it is, it should be pretty cool looking.. The bottle opener will be a nice touch. Gonna use inserts to mount it?
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

hose-man wrote:Is that a wood vaneer that you are going to use as a topsheet? If it is, it should be pretty cool looking.. The bottle opener will be a nice touch. Gonna use inserts to mount it?
Yeah, for my first pair I am going to use veneer as the top sheet and maybe a gelcoat over the top.....Considering all the use a bottle opener would get, i think it would be in my best interest to mount with inserts :D

If you get a chance...shoot me any email with the shipping price on that hose and I will get a check out asap.
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

G-man wrote:Hey Mike,

Nice work. I think that your press frame is the first one we've seen that uses large dimension channel iron. I'm pretty out of touch with modern machinery (most of mine is from the industrial revolution era), but, that machine you used to cut out your mold parts is very slick. I'm really looking forward to the report on the first ski. Good luck!

G-man
The press was inspired by Hose-mans...I wanted that something that was simple, strong, and easy to fabricate.

As far as the machine that cut the mold...it is a CNC router. A fellow forum member owns this and was nice enough to help me out. If I continue making skis, I will def. be purchasing a similar machine.
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Update

Post by MLReed05 »

I finally got my first ski done this weekend. I was expecting the worst and was extremely please with the way things came out. Here are some pics:

I am too cheap to by a heat blanket so I preheated the the press frame with propane heaters. I was barely able to achieve an acceptable temp during testing...however during the actual press I saw temps of around 230 degrees F. I assume this was due to the heat the epoxy generated. Image

I decided to go with a fiberglass top sheet. Becasue of this I needed a perfectly flat pressing surface. Due to the high heat my pressing surface melted and I ended up with an imprint of the firehose...

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We were basically able to achieve everything we were going for with this prototype and are ready to move on to the next pair....

Thanks again for everyone's help..look foward to sharing more pics!
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iggyskier
Posts: 274
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

that wood veneer is awesome!!! nicely done.

what psi did you press at and did you find that it caused any significant deflection in your press frame? I am currently trying to decide the final details of my frame and make it as cost effective as I can.
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

iggyskier wrote:that wood veneer is awesome!!! nicely done.

what psi did you press at and did you find that it caused any significant deflection in your press frame? I am currently trying to decide the final details of my frame and make it as cost effective as I can.
Thanks! I pressed at 45 PSI. Did not notice any deflection. I went with this design becasue it was simple and easy. It only took about 1.5hours to make. If I had to to it again, I would make something that could be bolted together. That thing is a b^#*h to move around. If you want to save some $, go with wood
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iggyskier
Posts: 274
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Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

I guess I should say that I am trying to keep cost at a minimum...but not that much of one. Right now I am planning on spending about $700 on the press. that is already down from $800. I want mine to be pretty awesome though :D

how did the fiberglass topsheet work out? again...looks amazing. The veneer comes thru very well. think it will be durable?

did you add the bottle opener? ;)
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

iggyskier wrote:I guess I should say that I am trying to keep cost at a minimum...but not that much of one. Right now I am planning on spending about $700 on the press. that is already down from $800. I want mine to be pretty awesome though :D

how did the fiberglass topsheet work out? again...looks amazing. The veneer comes thru very well. think it will be durable?

did you add the bottle opener? ;)
I only spend $310 on my press. I had to buy 22 feet of 12" U-channel and several feet of 2x3" angle. If I did it again I would get 10" channel. I was planning on pressing 2 at a time but I am sticking with one for now.

I wont be able to give them the real test for a while but I think the fiberglass top sheet is the way to go. In order for it to look good its got to be pressed with a super smooth surface coated with mold release. the finish then has to be coated with something to keep it from breaking down in UV rays. I got this idea from a wooden boat builder. Seems to be a hell of alot stronger than the crappy ISOsport top sheet I bought.
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iggyskier
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Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:25 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Post by iggyskier »

very very cool. I would love to do some stuff with veneer at some point.
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hose-man
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Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:17 am

Post by hose-man »

That is a beautiful ski. Well done! What variety of wood is that veneer? I think I'd like to use it some time. Did you add any color to it besides the color of the epoxy hardener?

Looking good.
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

hose-man wrote:That is a beautiful ski. Well done! What variety of wood is that veneer? I think I'd like to use it some time. Did you add any color to it besides the color of the epoxy hardener?

Looking good.
Its quilted Bubinga...it was actually relativly cheap. No color..just fiberglass, epoxy, and polyurethane over the top. Came out good but it was A LOT of extra work
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kelvin
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Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: Jackson Hole

Post by kelvin »

Looks awesome! Great looking skis and setup. Is that a shopbot you are using? I'm going to have to build a cnc router soon.

-kelvin
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MLReed05
Posts: 82
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 5:12 pm
Location: Western MA

Post by MLReed05 »

kelvin wrote:Looks awesome! Great looking skis and setup. Is that a shopbot you are using? I'm going to have to build a cnc router soon.

-kelvin
Thanks! Yeah, thats "Team08's" ShopBot. Very nice machine!
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