XC skis

[Madriverglen]

i was just wondering if u guys know the differance in making nordic from downhill skis, i was thinking that it would be a lot easier becasue oif not having to deal with edges, dampining, and as much strength

[littleKam]

i've never XCed in my life, but i think you're right about the skis being easier to make. i know there's quite a few sites on how to build nordic skis though.

[bigKam]

i've skate skied before. it's really fun and very good exercise. i see myself doing it more in the future.

i'm not sure if it will be easier to build XC skis. for one, you have to find the base material, e.g., material with scales and grooves, or figure out a way to create them. i'm not sure how the cores are made, but my guess is it will involve similar challenges as regular alpine/tele skis. from experience, building skis with edges isn't all that difficult. laying down the edge requires some work, but it's not terribly challenging.

when i become more serious about XC skiing, i'll probably try to build them myself. it would be cool to see someone build them at home and talk about it on this forum.

[Guest]

IMO building XC skis will be *harder*, not easier. For instance, skating skis need to be very torsionally rigid, very light and have a flex that suits the particular skier using them (and the snow conditions). For instance, the Fischer "skatecut" skis use some fairly weird sidecuts to try to get the pressure distribution more even throughout the skating cycle.

Speed, and thus base flatness and structure is also crucial. It'd be interesting to have a go at making XC race skis, but I'd expect many many failed attempts before it was possible to make anything competitive with what's out there from Atomic, Fischer, Madshus, Peltonen et al. At least the press won't have to be too big though, and the amount of materials used will be less.

The other "interesting" question is what to use for core materials - wood has been obsolete since some time in the 1970s...

I'm inclined to think that making resort skis - where weight isn't much of an issue - ought to be a lot more successful!

BTW, congrats on the site; will be trying to find/make what is necessary to try making some skis myself. Should be a good way to try some of those odd ideas that've been rattling around in my head.

[endre]

foam is a lot easier to shape than wood. The core ofcourse has to be a lot thicker,(the ski is thinner and stiffer) but that just makes the flex much easier to regulate. Make a flextester and start experimenting with flexcurves. I am shure it is a lot less work with xc than alpine skis. Also I believe that the flex is a greater challenge than the sidecut. The flex just doesn't show as well. Steel edges suck in layup, but are great for guidance when you cut the excess materials. guess you have to make a jig when you cut it out..