BATES COLLEGE SKI BUILD Welcome to the University of Gnarnia

[nelsonelson]

On the 2nd day of riding the skis they broke in 1/2 just behind the heel after a jump turn. DO NOT BUILD YOUR SKIS OUT OF STOCK PINE it seems obvious, but when face with expensive poplar or whatever, pine seems reasonable. Despite being 1cm thick, double layers of carbon fiber, they broke, and my heart broke, too.

[G-man]

Sorry to hear about your skis breakin'. Those were real beauties. I reviewed your thread and noted that you said at one point that the lay-up was carbon fiber/pine/carbon fiber. As you may recall, I build my cores exclusively from pine. I have passed my skis around to a number of friends who are a lot bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than I am, and I always say to them, "Go ahead and try to break 'em... I need to know where that failure point is". So far, all skis are intact. Also, for many years, lots of factory skis have been made with foam cores, and in terms of durability, foam core skis have a pretty good track record... except for the foam core/carbon fiber skis... there's lots of reports of those breaking in half. Foam/fiberglass skis seen to do pretty well (Atomic, BlackDiamond). Obviously, pine is certainly much stronger than foam.

So, I'm just thinking that the pine core might not have been the true source of your ski failure. I'm not a composite expert, so I'll step back and wait for those folks to check in.

Any photos/other details of the break?

G-man

[rockaukum]

I would second that. I have built one set using 2x4's That had been lying around. Have skied them may days tele, although I don't "huck" they have worked great. No failures due to the wood.
rockaukum

[krp8128]

I've got 3 or 4 days, including some hard landings, on the current pair. Cores are cherry+pine, from Lowes (in Auburn).

There is a reason that the pine and carbon breaks. I need to remember it though, and I'm supposed to be studying for an exam (heat transfer) right now, so I'll try to get back to you.

EDIT: Can you post a picture of the failure? Did it occur right at the srcew holes for the heel?