RightSideways Skis

[vinman]

DD, if you use spray adhesive to stick the parchment to the aluminum it won't cause wrinkles on the top. Lay it out really smooth, then once the pressure builds up the paper will be pulled into tension making a nice smooth top.

[MadRussian]

if you want drive down my way I can sand the basis for your

[skidesmond]

If you continue to use hardboard lay down a layer of wax paper (not parchment) over the hardboard OR give is a heavy coat of floor paste wax. Leave a spot unwaxed where you can tack the base to the hard board.

You've got it backwards. Use parchment, not wax paper. I use it on my bottom aluminum and fold up the sides to catch any excess epoxy that gets squeezed out. I never use it on top of the ski as it would cause wrinkles in the top sheet. I just use aluminum with car wax and any bits of epoxy pop right off.

Thanks DD, went off memory, should have looked it up. I use paste floor wax.

[Richuk]

Parchment paper i.e. silicone coated.

Hardboard is manufactured using a huge amount of pressure, so there shouldn't be a problem once you have found a silicone paper you are happy with.

[rightsideways]

thanks for the replies folks. Parchment paper on hardboard sounds like a plan for the near future. I can use the same method to hold the cores in place (nailing them w/ a brad nailer) and trace the base outline and reference markings on the parchment paper so that i know my bases won't be warped.

I'm thinking, for my next pair of skis, a no camber tip / tail rockered ski with an asymmetrical look to it. I drew this ski up using solidworks a while ago. it has a symmetrical sidecut, but, the sidecut is extended toward the tip on one side, and the tail on the other. it's hard to explain but they sort of look like gumby skis.

for the graphics i was thinking carbon fiber would look cool. i bought a yard of satin weave 5.7 oz. carbon for this purpose. I was thinking of just cutting 6" strips and joining the halves together under the binding location so it'd be hard to see. I'm not sure how much stiffer this will make the ski, and whether or not it matters that the layup won't be symmetrical. it seems like this is more important with a heated press though.

I have some green bases for the ski as well, and since i'm a Douglas Adams fan I thought the logo shown below would be cool at the tips:

[rightsideways]

So for the winter I have a goal for ski turn-around that will allow me to start pressing a ski on Monday/Tuesday and potentially be ready to ski it on Saturday. One bottleneck for this is finding a place to tune a ski that will be easy to get to from Boston and will be able to turn the ski around in time for some weekend skiing.

I'm considering making a simple wet grinder that will get the bases flat enough to do a simple tune so that i can test the ski without spending the time and money taking it to a shop.

I've searched the forum and found a few posts about converting belt sanders to grinders, or, creating drum grinders but most people seem to stumble upon ski tuners for a reasonable price and just do that.

After reading some of the posts i went and bought the ski visions base flattener. I'll try this on the skis I've made and see how well it works. If I need something beefier I was thinking about building something along these lines (excuse the crude sketch up design but I don't have CAD at home and it would take me hours to create something like this in solidworks):



I imagine a catch can underneath with a fish tank re-circulating pump to spray water on the belt. the motor will be separated by this, and, connected to a GFI receptacle. I haven't worked out belt tracking and tensioning completely yet but I imagine i can find some suitable stuff at McMaster.

I guess I'd be looking to do this for under 250 or so. I'm still not sure whether it'd be advantageous to start with a dry belt grinder and modify it. perhaps something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sears-C ... 2c7773b179

anyway, any suggestions / advice would be appreciated, and considered. The next few days I won't be able to build because I've got some serious house work to do before turkey day. Hopefully just after t-day i'll start on the don't panic skis.

[twizzstyle]

Forgive me if I sound like too much of a debbie downer, but you might be getting ahead of yourself.

How are your metalworking skills? This wet grinder certainly can't be wood, needs to be metal and it can't rust. Also you're going to be spinning things at high speeds, so things need to track straight and/or be adjustable. It's likely you'll need some machining skills/tools (do you have a lathe? milling machine? welder?). You also need a sufficiently powerful motor (2hp is plenty) and a sufficient pump. An aquarium pump probably won't cut it. You also need to filter the coolant (but filter material is cheap on mcmaster).

It seems like a simple enough idea - spin a belt and spray coolant on it. And it really isn't any more complicated than that - but that alone is a BIG project. The belt needs to be very wet, not just damp. The belt needs to be long, so that it doesn't overheat. etc.

I was lucky and found my grinder, in horrible condition, for cheap, and did a complete strip-down rebuild of it. It works great, but it weighs about 500lb and could easily rip my arm off if I wasn't careful.

Just as you said, homebuilt wet base grinders come up a lot on here, but I have yet to see a real success. This is the kind of project that, especially if you've got solidworks, needs to be planned out in full before you cut any metal, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time, and lot of money, for nothing. If you plan it out right, you can do it!

[rightsideways]

Forgive me if I sound like too much of a debbie downer, but you might be getting ahead of yourself.

don't worry about that man. it's good to hear from somebody with experience when you're not being realistic. My metal-working skills are pretty minimal. My dad is somebody I could turn to for this (he built his own articulating skidder from scratch, as well as a functioning set of tracks for a caprice). I know somebody who owns a metalworking company and has lathes and CAD/CAM experience as well... but, honestly I'd rather just build skis.

You've been helpful with providing some realistic figures if I choose to build one from scratch so that i don't under power it etc. For now a goal could be to minimize debris stuck to my skis after pressing, and make sure the skis are flat to begin with!

[skimann20]

IF you want to take a look at mine let me know, it will at least give you an idea of size and proportion. and like Twizz, the first time I fired mine up i was like holy crap this think could kill me... made sure there was no loose clothing anywhere when operating this beast.

the amount of time and money you are going to drop on making this thing might be way more in the short term than paying 30bucks for a base grind. the way i figure it I have to make 30 pair just to break even. that's a long ways away.

[rightsideways]

IF you want to take a look at mine let me know, it will at least give you an idea of size and proportion. and like Twizz, the first time I fired mine up i was like holy crap this think could kill me... made sure there was no loose clothing anywhere when operating this beast.

the amount of time and money you are going to drop on making this thing might be way more in the short term than paying 30bucks for a base grind. the way i figure it I have to make 30 pair just to break even. that's a long ways away.

how far away from Medford are you? I wouldn't mind checking one out if it's not too far. for now i'm really just looking to get something set up to grind the epoxy and bits from the base before flattening them with my new hand tool. when i get a pair worth the trip I can bring them for a proper grind.

[skimann20]

I'm in Framingham.

[pmg]

Hi,

also built a belt grinder some years ago. Its much more work than one thinks at the beginning. Spent more than 100 hours and 600€ for it. But it works ;)

You need to decide what you want to spend your time on: Building skis and skiing or building a machine. If the time for your hobbies is scarce, I'd skip the self-build and watch out for some cheap used one. If you have a lot of time, why not?
But for building a machine, you need to be more the perfectionist type than the bumbler type (hope you get that right, dictionary told me). You need to work very precise, otherwise the machine just won't work in a usable way.
Also keep in mind that a powerful belt grinder is a dangerous machine: Anything that gets stuck between the belt and other machine parts is crushed. So if you decide to built one on your own, think about safety and potential dangers a lot.

[MadRussian]

Build complex machinery is no fun or at least for me.

Good point about safety. Afto-feed making world of difference and I think it safer to work with base sander this way.
I have old Montana base sander. If you travel to Rhode Island can help with sanding

[rightsideways]

Build complex machinery is no fun or at least for me.

Good point about safety. Afto-feed making world of difference and I think it safer to work with base sander this way.
I have old Montana base sander. If you travel to Rhode Island can help with sanding

Thanks for the offer (again) I really appreciate it. I have a lot to learn from a lot of people here on the forum. I may just have to take you up on that offer... what kind of beer do you drink?

[rightsideways]

I'm in Framingham.

sweet. PM sent. I know what beer you like but i don't think we get it in MA...