Graphics and Final Details

It's been a slow ski-building season but I finally finished the Aftermath 3.0 in early February. My sister again helped me with the graphics.  I had wanted to do a printed graphic, but realized that the dark basalt layer would wash out a printed graphic, so we used acrylic paints again this year.

The goal of the graphic was to tie basalt into the design while keeping with the Aftermath theme.  Basalt is formed by the rapid cooling of lava and can form a hexagonal crystal structure.  As a follow up to last years Revelation theme, a red dragon eye was used (vice last years white horse eye).  Here are a few photos that show the development of the graphic.

At this point all the layers of the ski were nearly ready.  The quad-axial basalt  was cut into strips for the layup.

This pair of skis are the last planned use of the wooden ski press.  My goal for next year is to have the steel press ready; this will allow me to press two skis at once or even a snowboard.

I cut the flashing off again this year with a jig-saw which isn't ideal.  The blade angle can change during cutting and produce an edge that is not perpendicular to the base.  Next year I hope to have a bandsaw.  This year I built myself a spindle sander from an old air compressor motor so that I could more easily finish the ski edges, tip, and tail.  I used a 6" diameter expander wheel and sanding belt for the spindle.  The sander worked very well, especially compared to the belt sander I had used in years past.  During edge sanding it never bogged down and I didn't even have to change the belt.  This turned out to be a very good investment.

The final ski is below; I didn't use tip or tail spacer material this year, but ran the core the full length of the ski.  I did cut the core about 5mm narrower than the tip and tail so that no wood would be exposed; this is shown below.

Overall, the skis have a good flex and a relatively low weight; they are the heaviest of the Aftermath, but also have the best overall flex. A summary of the three generations of Aftermath is shown below:

	Stiffness (lb/in)	Pair Weight
Aftermath (AMH-12)	17.34	8 lb 10 oz (3912 grams)
Aftermath 2.0 (AMH-13)	7.95	7 lb 0 oz (3175 grams)
Aftermath 3.0 (AMR-14	12.22	9 lb 0 oz (4082 grams)

Press Stage 2

In past years I have created the graphic on cotton cloth or on paper, but this year my sister (Emily) and I decided to create the graphic directly on the wood core.  In order to do this, we wanted to first stain the wood to get a deeper background color.  I wasn't sure if this epoxy would still stick to the stain, so I performed a test.

The test showed that although the epoxy didn't stick as well on the stain as on bare wood, it would be sufficient to keep the top sheet on during use.  Based on the successful test, I stained both skis.

Next, my sister, with a small amount of help from me, painted the ski graphic.  The graphic is based on Revelation 19:11-13:

¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
  
The graphic was intentionally made with great detail on the tail of the ski and with much less detail at the tip.

Next the skis were put in the press. A full sheet of fiberglass was not place on the top of the ski, only a narrow strip was placed on each edge of the ski.

The flashing was trimmed off with a jig saw and the edges were finished with a bench top belt sander and hand belt sander.

The final step was to peel off the tape that was protecting the top sheet and base.  This was done relatively easily, but it would have helped if the tape was a little thicker to prevent it from tearing.

 

 

Prior to pressing the skis, I placed a nameplate at boot center on each ski.

 

 The only thing left to do is mount the bindings and tune the skis.

Press Stage 1

This year the base material is transparent so I added a simple graphic to the bottom of the ski with acrylic paint. To prevent the paint from bleeding underneath the stencil, I applied spray glue to the stencil first.  I bought this glue not realizing it was only "general performance"; this just means it's not actually sticky - which was perfect for this application, but not for actually gluing things.

The next step was to layup the ski and press it.  Since it had been a year since I last used the press, I tightened the bolts, perform a pressure test, and verified that there were no cracks in the wood members.  This year I went back to a MAS FLAG epoxy (medium viscosity resin and hardener).  I used this epoxy for my prototype and year 2 skis and it has performed well over the years.  I have used the prototype skis (Goliath) on a nearby fly ash dump several times.  This is kind of an accelerated damage test for the skis.

The image below shows the skis after removal from the press before the flashing was cut off.

I used my jig saw to cut the flashing off; however, someday I plan to have a more powerful band saw to do the work.  I purchased a new belt sander over the winter with a 6" x 48" belt; this made quick work of cleaning up the edges.  I still used my hand belt sander to smooth the edge bevel.

The skis are now ready for graphics and top sheet which will be applied during the final press stage.