Ski Builders Forum

Hi,

my next skis will finally get ski ends like commercial ones. I already bought some, but the dimensions do not suit me well. Here you can see them:





Its just way too thin. I would like something with 3mm instead of 1.8mm.
So I thought about routing my own ski ends. But which material to use? As ABS is available in the right thickness and some fancy colors, its my best guess at the moment.

What do you think? Could it make the job or is it too hard to serve as a good end?

Cheers

I think its ok, you protect the laminat against hits.

I dont use any on my skis right now. But if i would id like to use aluminium ones. But no idea where and how to get (except get it cncd)

Hi,

its not the question whether to use some or not - I definitely want some.
Thought about aluminium as well, but its
a) too heavy
b) its not easy to bond

Thats why I want to go for some plastic. The ones I bought already are made from hard rubber. ABS seems a sensible choice as its a common material in ski building, so lots of information about how to make it bond well etc is available. And the material itself is easily available as well :) Just wonder if its too hard for the job.

what duro abs is it?
all abs is not the same especially at cold temps. If you are old enough to remember the old abs sidewalls that would crack and explode? Yeah, you dont want that kind.
isosport makes this material in the proper thickness although not listed in their online catolog and moq's are most likely insane.
I am trying urethane right meow...

Nice - I was thinking of how to do this as well - have you done your layup yet? To make this come out of the press nice you will need a clever way to hold it in place thats for sure. Also in the layup would you cut the fiberglass long and run over and under the end piece, or end it flush right before the core & end piece?

3D printing was one solution but never costed that out.

Where can you buy this stuff?

Try some sidewall abs and route it out as you need.

For Alu ... depends on the alu u use (weight) .. i know a lot of skis with it and no bonding problems. But it may be more heavy, did never compare it

What is the durometer of the abs?
Did you put it in the freazer and hit it with a hammer?

AL needs to be chromate or acid etched or primed and very high pressure and very high quality epoxy for a rilliable bond on the bottom of the ski.

Pmg always looking for improvement and petfection

Well,

will just buy a piece of ABS and try the freezer method. If its ok I will rout my ski ends from it. Already have a plan how to do that, you will like it (I do not have a big router thingy, have to do it by hand).

Cheers

What epoxy have you been using to bond your abs side walls? I have been trying to cut out the core profile, bond strip of abs sidewall then profile the entire core, the method is pretty similar to what is described on the happy monkey wiki.

I have been having a hard time getting the abs to bond to the wood core. It will generally seperate when I attempt to profile the core. All the profiling is being done on a 3axis CNC router.

I have tried flame treating the abs. Do you guys have an epoxy that you have had success with?

I'd like to use ABS as we have alot of scrap at work so it helps to keep the cost down.
Cheers.