Tuning and Final Modifications

This year I had a buddy at work, Matt, who happened to work at a local shop, help me tune the skis and mount the bindings.  Once this was done I waxed the skis; I used Swix all temperature universal wax.

Once waxed, I sealed the edges with epoxy; I do this because the sanding and tuning process can remove enough material near the edge to expose wood.  The epoxy prevents any water from entering the base.  I also repaired a few areas on the tails that had pulled up during the process of trimming the flashing.  To do this, I put epoxy under the top sheet using a toothpick and then used packing tape to hold the top sheet in place during the repair.

While I was at it, I patched up the top sheets of a few other pairs of skis that had been nicked during previous use.

The final step I took was to cut a small notch in the back of the ski to allow my climbing skins to hook onto the ski better.  I did this by measuring the hook on my skins and then marked the ski with a permanent marker.

 

I then used a belt sander to grind out the notch; once the notch was cut, I coated the exposed core area with epoxy to seal it.

The skis are now ready for use:

 

 

 



Post Processing

Once the skis came out of the press for the second time, the flashing needed to be trimmed off and the edges, tip, and tail needed to be sanded smooth.

The flashing is trimmed off using a coarse jigsaw blade.  The metal ski edge is used as a guide for the blade. Cutting through the epoxy, fiberglass, and top sheet generates heat quickly and so the blade must be periodically cooled with a wet washcloth or else it will lose its teeth quickly.   A large band saw would be perfect for this job, but I don't have one.

The edges are trimmed first and then the ski is repositioned to trim the tip and tail.

Once trimmed, a belt sander is used to remove excess epoxy from the edges and ensure a smooth transition exists between the beveled sidewall and the vertical edge.

The pictures below show the tip as trimmed with the jigsaw and then sanded into shape.

Once this is done the contact paper is removed from the top sheet and base.

 

At this point the skis are ready to be ground, sharpened, waxed, and have the bindings mounted.

 



Below is another of my Microsoft paint patch jobs; unfortunately I didn't hold the camera straight for each photo so the ski looks crooked, but you get the point.

Graphics and Press Stage 2: Aftermath

This year I decided to use paper as my graphics medium as i did last year with the Panjshirs and Arlias. Paper works well because it is a lightweight medium that is very easy to achieve great detail with. I have used cotton cloth in the past to get very opaque colors, but it adds weight to the ski and can be hard to paint on. Paper also becomes semi-transparent when wetted with the epoxy which allows the wood core to show through. The wood core I design this year has aspen (light), poplar (medium), and red oak (dark brown-red) which makes for a very nice look.

 Acrylic paint was used to design the graphics. Acrylic paint dries fast, is cheap, and seems to bond well to the epoxy. I recruited my sister Emily, an art major, to help me design the graphics again this year. The name of the ski and graphics theme is Aftermath. Aftermath is defined as something that results or follows from an event, especially one of a disastrous or unfortunate nature; consequence: the aftermath of war; the aftermath of the flood. 

In the case of my skis, a coniferous forest is being blown away, smoke rises from the forest and light from the explosion is being reflected on mountains at the tail of the ski. The theme of the ski is not destruction, but power. My initial concept is below and yes, I know I am not the greatest artist - that is why I brought in Emily.

After some internet searching I came across a certain video and took a screenshot. This became the main inspiration for the design.

 
Once Emily arrived, we rolled out the paper and began the design.

The paint was applied in stages.  Here you can see the background.

More layers were applied.

 And more layers.

Finally, after 8 hours of painting we had the graphic below.  Although Emily did most of the work, I did help with the painting (in case you wondered).

I used microsoft paint to patch together the full graphic. The hardest part about painting this graphic is that the paper was white; when applied to the ski, the trees and graphics will have a wood background.

Once the painting was done, I painted a line at boot center (for binding mounting) and I cut the graphic in half to apply to both of the skis.

 

The next step was the second press stage in which a layer of fiberglass, the graphic, and a top sheet would be applied to the ski.  In order to press the ski efficiently, I staged all the materials beforehand.  I also wiped down the core and top sheet to remove any dust.

 

 

 The 2 inches of foam shown in the image below was used to ensure that the top sheet wrapped around the contours of the ski.  I have used this in years past successfully. This year the skis have rails on the top and I was concerned that the top sheet might not wrap the full contour.

The pressing went very well and the topsheet wrapped around all the contours well.  Some excess epoxy and bubbles exist near the binding plate, but nowhere else.  The pressed skis are below.

 

 

After the epoxy has a few days to fully cure, the flashing will be trimmed and edges, tip, and tail will be sanded smooth.



 

Reinforcement

This year I wanted to make a lightweight ski with adequate stiffness; in order to do this I designed reinforcing rails to mount to the top of the core.  The rails are 5mm tall at the center and taper to 0mm at the tip and tail.  A binding mount platform was also added to the center of the ski (rails would not provide a flat surface on their own).  Adding the rails stiffens the skis by a factor of 2.7 (3.27 -> 8.88 lb/in).

The rails are made from oak to provide maximum stiffness to the core while minimizing the required height.  The rails were trimmed to 5mm thick and 18mm wide.  In order to attach the rails to the core, the outer edge was beveled to 30 degrees from vertical to match the sidewall profile and the inner edge was beveled to 45 degrees.  45 degrees on the inner edge provides a more gradual slope that the top sheet should contour to easier when attached.  The beveling was done using a table saw.

Next, the ends near the tip and tail had to be tapered. In order to do this I set the table saw to 3mm and then 1mm and cut the rails down.  This preliminary cut stepped the ends so that less sanding was needed.  The steps were then sanded to provide a smooth taper.

Once the rails were cut to size, they were sanded with a belt sander.

Next, the rails were glued to the core; the rails were bent to match the edge curvature of the ski and clamped in place.  The ends of the rails extend past the ends of the ski and will be trimmed of when the glue is dry.

Next a binding platform had to be added to provide a level surface to mount the bindings.  This was done by cutting several strips of oak and then beveling the edges to fit together.

Once the sides were beveled, a bevel was added to the ends of the binding platform to provide a smooth transition to the top of the core.

The binding platform was then glued and clamped in place.

Once this was complete, the ends of the rails were trimmed with a jigsaw to match the tip curvature.  The rails were then sanded to provide a smooth transition on the sidewall.  The top edges of the rails were rounded so that the top sheet would more easily fold over the sides.

 

The skis are nearly finished now; the final step is to design the graphics and press the fiberglass, graphics, and top sheet onto the ski.  Once done, the bindings will be mounted and the skis will be grounded, waxed, and sharpened.