Wooden Press Frame?
Moderators: Head Monkey, kelvin, bigKam, skidesmond, chrismp
i'm sure the press will more than enough.
but i'm curious, what's the reasoning behind the spacing of the i-beams? why not just put them side by side to get a 12" wide solid frame? i'm not sure, but if the spacing is too large i think the high pressure may do some damage to the molds.
but i'm curious, what's the reasoning behind the spacing of the i-beams? why not just put them side by side to get a 12" wide solid frame? i'm not sure, but if the spacing is too large i think the high pressure may do some damage to the molds.
- Kam S Leang (aka Little Kam)
perhaps Big Kam or Kelvin can jump in on this one because they have a press designed for 2 skis at a time.
my press measures about 8-9 inches for the inside width and it's just for one ski. i wish i had about 2 inches more room but that's just me. i'm sure 12 inches will be fine unless you plan on making super fats. remember that it's preferable to have your materials overlap the ski's edges a little bit during layup.
my press measures about 8-9 inches for the inside width and it's just for one ski. i wish i had about 2 inches more room but that's just me. i'm sure 12 inches will be fine unless you plan on making super fats. remember that it's preferable to have your materials overlap the ski's edges a little bit during layup.
- Kam S Leang (aka Little Kam)
Here are two pics of the steel. not all is the right size (I was sloppy while taking it cause I was worried about who saw me doing it). I have one less than I need, so I will go grab that sometime. some are slighty bent in places, but all have a flat side that is usable. I weighed them, and they weigh 60 lbs each. I will be using approx. 9 of them, meaning around 500-550 pounds.
-Pat
hey Pat. the press that Kelvin and i have is 16-inches wide, and it accomodates 2 ski. the widest we've made so far is around 150mm. if you're planning on making reasonably wide skis, i'd recommend making your press wider than 12-inches...melvs wrote:what I wanna have is a press that cam press 2 skis at a time. is 12in wide enough for that?
nice I-beams, by the way!
I'm thinking 8 inches per ski, for 16 inches wide total. I have enough metal for that, and if that's what you have and it works, I'm definitly doing that! The 12 inches was before I went and got another load of metal.
And ya, if you have a D.O.T. near you, go see if they have these i-beams laying around in the scrap pile, cause they're pretty stanrd for holding up gaurd rails in my area, so there are tons.
And ya, if you have a D.O.T. near you, go see if they have these i-beams laying around in the scrap pile, cause they're pretty stanrd for holding up gaurd rails in my area, so there are tons.
-Pat
Here is an album of today. We got the press frame all built today, and it's looking mighty fine. Gonna spray paint it so it looks nicer this week, and get some caster wheels and wood for a work surface, then I'm getting the hose this next weekend, and I should be able to start on the molds.
3.5 weeks till school starts, I'm hoping to be able to make a ski by them.
http://community.webshots.com/user/commodoremelvs
3.5 weeks till school starts, I'm hoping to be able to make a ski by them.
http://community.webshots.com/user/commodoremelvs
-Pat
Well, realized today that I'm a dded idiot. The length INSIDE of the press frame is 72 inches... or 180 cm. Definitly not long enough for making skis that are 182-185 cm long... SOOO... I'm left with the task of figuring out how the hell to rework it so that it works... I've got a couple ideas, and I'll be working on figuring it out today as my car broke down and I can't go to work...
all that work just to have it dded up.
all that work just to have it dded up.
-Pat