Inverse Mold

The inverse or reverse mold is used to take up space in the ski press so that the bladder is evenly distributed over the ski.  The picture below shows an example of a pressurized ski press with the mold on the bottom, ski and bladder in the middle, and inverse mold on the top.

The inverse mold can be made in any number of ways and does not have to be precise as it does not mold the ski, but takes up space. This year I made my inverse molds from 2x4 lumber.  To start the inverse mold I traced the shape of the mold onto a piece of the lumber.

 The lumber is then cut to length with a chop saw and to shape using a jig saw or band saw and screwed together.

After some finish sanding the inverse mold is ready for use.  To prevent damage to the bladder you can place a cloth in between the bladder and inverse mold, glue cardboard to the underside of the mold, or glue another piece of hardboard to the mold to make it smooth.