Ski Press: Steel - Peripherals

Dollies:

To mobilize the ski press, I purchased eight 330lb rated swivel caster wheels and built two dollies with four caster wheels each.  The dolly frame was built from 2x8 lumber that I had left over from my deck. One dolly is situated under each brace of the ski press.

I used a jack and blocks to raise the ski press up and onto the dollies.

Air Bladder:

Since this ski press is double the width of my old press, I had to build a second air bladder.  To do this I purchased 6" diameter lay flat discharge hose (60psi max) from McMaster-Carr Supply. The hose is roughly 9.5" wide when it lays flat.  I also purchased angle iron, 5/16 cap screws, nuts, and washers.  These are used to secure each end of the air bladder. Five holes were drilled through the angle iron and discharge hose to facilitate the screws.

 

 I purchased a through-wall fitting in order to attach the air supply.  I made washers for the fitting from 1/16" thick EPDM rubber.  A generous amount of silicone calk was used around the fitting and inside the hose at the ends to create an air tight seal.

I cut four small pieces of angle iron to link the old and new air bladder together. I then attached two air hoses to a manifold along with a pressure gauge and ball valve.

Ladder:

I built a ladder in order to evenly distribute the pressure from the two air bladders.  The ladder consists of  88 cross members made from lumber cut to 1" square by 22" long. I then drilled holes in each side of the cross members.  The cross members were strung together with 1/16" steel cable; a spring was added to each end of the cable to allow the ladder to flex along the length of the ski.  Square aluminum tube would be more ideal for this job, but would have been expensive (88 x 22"= 1936" = 161.3 ft, roughly $630 vs. $20 for the lumber) not to mention more time consuming to machine.

Work Surface:

I built a work surface for the compression side of the press so that I could easily slide the ski and mold in and out.  I used 3/4" inch MDF for the surface which I later finished with three coats of polyurethane.

Using three hinges I attached a fold-up work platform to the side of the press that I plan to use for layup of the skis.  This is ideal since my space is limited.

 

Work Bench:

I built a work bench/shelf to store my ski supplies.  The bench has a 6" wide raised platform on the backside which can be used to attach ski edges to the base.  The bench top is attached with three hinges that allows it to be opened; the opened bench serves as a waxing station which will collect all the dripped and shaved wax.

 

It doesn't look like I'll get to use the ski press for this ski season, but I have several ski designs planned for next season.