Twizz 2013/2014

[holmtech]

Gorgeous skis Twiz!

[twizzstyle]

Now if only it would snow at Alpy so I can take them up I haven't had the energy to make the drive to Baker.

[holmtech]

I hit up Stevens yesterday. It's been cold enough that it was decent.

[twizzstyle]

Awesome!

We drove up to Snoqualmie Friday just to play in the snow. Not much at the base, but we drove up some forest service roads and found lots. Took turns towing each other on skis with my truck.

[Damon]

Take some like 10oz. biaxial and wetted it out on a flat plate, then sit your honeycomb core down on top of the wet glass and put a weight on top of the core to seat it into the glass.

(Really neato illustration that sums it up better than my wordiness)

-WEIGHT-
-HONEYCOMB-
-WET FIBERGLASS-

Let the epoxy cure, remove the weight, and repeat the process on the other side of the honeycomb. Boom, sealed honeycomb. And if you left the glass resin rich, enough epoxy would likely flow up into the root of the honeycomb's cells to create a reliable bond.

Thoughts and idea's on that? Sucks that it's a multiple step process but if that's what it took, id imagine it would be worth it.

So one advantage of prepreg is the resin is typically "low flow". So you can cure with honeycomb and the resin won't fill the cells. I'd imagine wet layup resins would be too low in viscousity to mimic prepreg... Might be worth a test though!

Damon

[NinetyFour]

So one advantage of prepreg is the resin is typically "low flow". So you can cure with honeycomb and the resin won't fill the cells. I'd imagine wet layup resins would be too low in viscousity to mimic prepreg... Might be worth a test though!

Damon

I absolutely agree with everything you're saying. But I think my post is being misread and poorly interpreted, admittedly I don't have a great way with expressing ideas through words. Let me try through something that is more step by step...

Step 1: Cut two lengths of fiberglass larger than the honeycomb section, one for the top, one for the bottom.

Step 2: Prep a large enough flat surface for direct layup. A glass plate with a release wax, or maybe even a wooden board with wax paper on top would work. As long as it is flat and resin won't stick, it will work!

Step 3: Mix up your resin and wet out only ONE of the two fiberglass pieces that were cut out in step 1, directly on top of the surface you preped in step 2. DO NOT WET OUT THE SECOND PIECE OF FABRIC. It would be best if the fiberglass was slightly resin rich.

Step 4: Set your piece of honeycomb down on top of the wet out fiberglass. Add some heavy steel plates to the honeycomb so that the pressure is evenly distributed.

Step 5: Leave the weight on until the resin is cured... And damnit you wet out the second piece of fiberglass didn't you? Go back and read the directions!

Step 6: Now that it's cured you can removed it from your flat plate. If the fiberglass cloth was resin rich, some of the resin should have flowed up into the honeycomb cells and you should have a piece of fiberglass well bonded to the bottom side of the honeycomb. Now you can flip it over, and repeat steps 3 through 6.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hopefully that makes sense. If people don't understand this, then I guess I'll have to do a picture step by step. I'll even cut out the mid section of a coke 2L to prove that the resin isn't heavily flowing into what would essentially be a giant honeycomb cell. It's not the materials that are the problem, it's the process!

[Damon]

Take some like 10oz. biaxial and wetted it out on a flat plate, then sit your honeycomb core down on top of the wet glass and put a weight on top of the core to seat it into the glass.

(Really neato illustration that sums it up better than my wordiness)

-WEIGHT-
-HONEYCOMB-
-WET FIBERGLASS-

Let the epoxy cure, remove the weight, and repeat the process on the other side of the honeycomb. Boom, sealed honeycomb. And if you left the glass resin rich, enough epoxy would likely flow up into the root of the honeycomb's cells to create a reliable bond.

Thoughts and idea's on that? Sucks that it's a multiple step process but if that's what it took, id imagine it would be worth it.

So one advantage of prepreg is the resin is typically "low flow". So you can cure with honeycomb and the resin won't fill the cells. I'd imagine wet layup resins would be too low in viscosity to mimic prepreg... Might be worth a test though!

Damon

[twizzstyle]

Makes perfect sense to me. I'd just want to use the lightest weave fiberglass I could find, cause if its significant it's just adding weight that the honeycomb removed!

[petemorgan(pmoskico)]

those edges look beefier than what i am used to seeing as edges, or is that just an illusion?

The ski lab transitioned from a stiff, hard steel edge to a softer easier to bend steel edge. i was a pretty surprised when i first recieved them and a little disappointed. i am sure you wont ever notice the difference skiing, but it might have some issues with longevity. i really hope not. but it also may bend easier with the ski and help prevent de-laminiations. could easily discuss this in another thread.

Nice looking skis twizz. and airplane, i had a hand in manufacturing that-9 tail-fin!

[twizzstyle]

Well you did a beautiful job, it's a gorgeous tail! We're having a great time flying them right now.

As for the skis - finally got up to the slopes today, up at Crystal (for you washington folks). The skis did great! I think I need to do a little edge de-tuning, they were a little grabby at first but seemed to get better later in the day.

Conditions were pretty crap. Old snow, maybe a few inches of new overnight, and then snowfall turned to freezing rain turned to just plain rain. But there were no lift lines, and the snow was fast. These skis are nice and stable on hard packed (nothing is groomed up there right now), are excellent in moguls - possibly the easiest ski in moguls I've ever skied... stiff, yet with the gradual tip/tail I can easily lean back and get up in big tail presses and pop off jumps/bumps with ease. What little un-tracked snow I did find, it seemed like these will do great in powder as well. Obviously not the same level of float as my real powder skis, but for an all-around do everything ski, I think I've got myself a winner!

[twizzstyle]

I'm pretty sure I got these edges from Kam (SkiLab). They seemed no different than any other edges I've used before, I believe they are 2mm wide.

[twizzstyle]

Finally got these new skis in the park today. They're great! No good rails setup, but they were easy on a big pipe thing. They carve nice and easy and seemed less grabby today that the other day I had them up a few months ago. A little more edge work to dial them in and they'll be even better.

They're super off jumps. I was doing big 540s most of the day today, easy to land switch and ski out. Effortless to spin.

There was a photographer in the park taking photos of everyone today, we exchanged contact info so I'm hoping to get some good shots. In the meantime, just this one:

[neatturns]

Great shot! No better feeling than skiing your own!!

[twizzstyle]

Also a good way to test the flex of your skis If they don't break, they pass.

[skidesmond]

Awesome shot! Skis look great!