HTech Skis

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

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skidesmond
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Post by skidesmond »

I like the rustic look off the aged wood. Nice idea. Wasn't aware of using vinegar as a cleaning agent for epoxy. Hope the ski holds together. Let us know if it causes any issues.
Last edited by skidesmond on Mon Jan 05, 2015 4:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
twizzstyle
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Post by twizzstyle »

holmtech wrote: Unfortunately our local source for the bamboo veneer (Urbanata/Bamboo Hardwoods) is no longer making and selling the veneer. I even tried to buy them out of any scraps they might have laying around but got nothing. I've got some scraps leftover that I might get one or two more pair out of.
What?! Crap!!! I still have some blonde and carbonized veneer, probably enough to do one pair of each, but that's it :( They still carry flooring though I assume? (that's my core wood).

And yeah, the subbed nylon from Miller looks amazing over the bamboo, and it's pretty tough stuff. I'd like to do that again. I'm a BIG fan of the graphics you did on these, they'll get a lot of attention at the mountain:

Image
holmtech
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Post by holmtech »

Thanks all. I was going with the assumption that the vinegar is fairly volatile, and once it evaporates there shouldn't be much acid residue left behind. We'll see. If I get a total delam situation I hope it comes clean from the cores so I can put them on the wall. I should have known, but I really was really expecting the fiberglass to be more transparent.

I'll report back on durability once I get these on snow. I'm hoping they hold up. If someone wants to try the vinegar/tea solution what I did was sit the vinegar with some steel wool in a jar for a couple of days. Make a cup of tea, and let it cool. Coat the wood with the tea and let dry. Then coat the wood with the vinegar. As the vinegar was drying, I splashed both tea and vinegar on the wood to get lighter and darker spots. In about 5 minutes they looked old and well used. The solution did also bring out some of the wood grains. In a big way in spots. That made me a bit concerned about strength of the wood as well. Partly why I went with 2 layers of glass on bottom (20 oz triax, 9 oz uni) and 3 on top (20 oz triax, 9 oz uni, 19 oz triax).

Montucky, yeah, the 3 layers are pretty obvious. My first pair of skis I ran an extra layer of uniaxial carbon from nearly tip to tail. Before I skied them I was showing them off at a local ski shop that put on an event for some home builders to get together. A guy dropped in who was at the time helping LaSportiva get into the ski biz and was designing their skis. He had commented that he liked my skis, but that I should have cut the carbon more short of the tip and tail to allow the tip and tail to be softer. I've been doing it since with extra layers of either 3" strips of 4oz carbon uni, or full width strips of 9oz uni glass. This occasion, I used 9oz uni for the first step, and 19oz triax under foot. I've got the layers plugged into my excel sheet to predict the stiffness and flex and usually get fairly close.

I wouldn't say there's a hinge point at all, and I think the flex of most of my skis is quite smooth with a pretty good transition of a soft tip to firm under foot. With the 4oz carbon, and the 9oz fiberglass facilitates this well. I'll admit though, this is the 2nd time I've used the 19oz triax under the binding area, and holy smokes that one layer makes it stiff under foot. A bit more than my sheet predicts, and I don't think I'll use the 19oz again. It's too much.

These skis were a bit of an experiment in a number of ways. The black on the tips and tails is extra pieces of tip spacer. I sanded them down a bit in a criss-cross pattern to thin them out a little (could have started with some base material and been better off) and to give them a cool, used look. Then I put them down over the fiberglass and ran the topsheet just over them. I cut away the topsheet after layup. This worked, other than the fact that the topsheet is not pressed well in front of these spacers. As I somewhat expected, but was optimistic that it would be much less than it is. I'm being critical though. They're cool skis, and should ski well. I may do a similar style some time with a wood veneer though.
holmtech
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Post by holmtech »

twizzstyle wrote: What?! Crap!!! I still have some blonde and carbonized veneer, probably enough to do one pair of each, but that's it :( They still carry flooring though I assume? (that's my core wood).
They've still totally got the flooring. Although I need to return my last two boxes I bought. They gave me the finished boards as opposed to the unfinished.

But, yeah don't go wasting the veneer you've got. The price just went up! I'm not sure where else to even get it. Had I known I would have bought them out. That stuff looks great and was so cheep for what you get.
holmtech
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Updated Shop

Post by holmtech »

I'm working on building a new garage with an attached ski shop.

Image

Question for those with ski tuners: What are your thoughts on having a floor drain under the ski tuner? I was planning on it but am wondering if it's more of a pain than it's worth. Are others just using towels and moping up to deal with the spray? Recovering the fluid?

My current garage slab/floor is in such rough shape that you couldn't really mop it up and the spray runs out the side under a cabinet so I don't really even know now much spray water is really generated.

There's probably a better spot on the forum that will get more traction than my thread but not sure where.

Oh, and here's a pair of skis that I finished up this past winter. No ski building for now until the new shop is in place.
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skidesmond
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Post by skidesmond »

My grinder doesn't put that much fluid on the floor. I probably put more fluid on the floor while cleaner the grinder :-) . I use a towel for cleanup. Only worry I would have with a floor drain is the building code...
sammer
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Post by sammer »

I just mop, There's probably as much base "dust" as water on the floor.
That would plug up your drain in no time.

Looks like it's going to be a nice shop! What's the size?

I spent the last 2-1/2 days cleaning everything out of mine and acid etching the floor.
Gotta dry for another day then epoxy primer goes down tomorrow.
I wish I had done it before I started using it!

sam
You don't even have a legit signature, nothing to reveal who you are and what you do...

Best of luck to you. (uneva)
holmtech
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Post by holmtech »

Thanks Sammer and Desmond. I'm thinking you guys are right. No drain.

The building overall is going to be 2 stories, 2,000 sf. Downstairs is the garage and ski shop.

Upstairs will eventually be for storage, office, bathroom and a hang out space. My house is small so this space will give some much needed relief.

From the front...
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Upstairs...
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And the garage/shop...
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The garage space will be partly for ski stuff, but mostly for cars. My other hobby is old Volkswagens. I have a totally restored '77 camper bus, and a lowered and rusty '58 beetle with a gold flake clear coat over the rust.
Hannes
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Post by Hannes »

I take the T1😍
twizzstyle
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Post by twizzstyle »

The shop looks awesome!!! My shop is only about ~600 sqft, I always wish it was a little bigger.

Epoxy floor makes for EASY clean-up. I did the epoxy in my shop just after we bought our house, it was an off-white color. Then last summer I had my shop fire and had to grind the floor down to concrete and do it again. I did it pure white this time. It makes it nice and bright in the shop, very easy to find tiny nuts/bolts you drop, but it does show scratches more than the off-white did. I have never wished I had a drain in my shop.

Only word of caution if you do epoxy, it is very slippery when wet. VERY slippery. You can add non-slip grit stuff, but I wanted mine smooth for cleaning.
twizzstyle
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Location: Kenmore, Wa USA

Post by twizzstyle »

As an aside - how did permitting go in Shoreline for the new shop? We are planning to bulldoze our house to build a new one (shop will be staying), and I'm a little intimidated by the permitting process having never built a house before.
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chrismp
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Post by chrismp »

New shop plans look great! Make sure you post some pics of your cars in this topic: http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3189 8)
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