Ski Press (Sorry if this has been done)

PM iggyskier he know's all about ski presses.

iggyskier is on NS!! i was looking at his stuff [ON3P], and if we could make a ski have as good as some of those, I would never buy skis again. hes amazing!!!

as conducive as that sounds...it probably won't end that well

http://skibuilders.com/

it would take as much money as you would ever spend buying new skis for life to do that.

Its alot more expensive and difficult than one might think. We have a press at our school for making snowboards, and even the best ones that we come up with are still pretty shitty.

think about all the trial and error one must go through to finally get the ski he/she wants.

Please note, that I understand this. I appreciate all the comments and responses received so far.

best bet would be talking to scott about this or visiting skibuilders, but the first thing scott will tell you is that it takes A LOT of time and money

also talk with powforbreakfast, i know he makes some skis

This one knows what he is talking about.

I'm working on the same thing right now. You should definitely do your homework. A lot of it. Read everything on the skibuilders.com forum.

I don't think you'll be able to get good results from a clamp press. Consider a vacuum press. It's fairly cheap and doesn't require you to have a bunch of tools to make the press.

I'm currently working on a pneumatic press. I'm trying to keep my project as cheap as possible as well, but without sacrificing any quality. I expect to come in at just under $200 for the press. I expect a pair of skis to cost me about $150 in materials.

But you should seriously read the threads and journals on skibuilders.com till your head hurts if you're serious about making quality skis.

btw, I'm posing my progress on this blog: [url]http://mytonskis.blogspot.com/[/url]

We have a ski press that we are trying to sell so if you're interested give me a PM or an email.

haha i didnt know iggyskier was famous.

He's the hippest thing since Facebook.

What is the best method? Spending $200 for press and $150 for skis is relatively affordable, and I could probably get the cash. Which is best and cheapest? Thank You

This has already been said, but all of your questions can be answered by reading the forums on skibuilders.  $200 for a press and $150 for skis is probably an unrealistic figure.  It can be done, but your press probably won't be constructed well and may end up failing which would be a waste of $200.  And you could probably do a ski with wood sidewalls, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, for a little over $150.  Also, depending on what you have in your garage, necessary tools including a router, jigsaw, beltsander, compressor, a ton of clamps will cost you at least $500.  Not necessary but extremely helpful tools including a planar and tablesaw will cost at least another $400.  Not trying to rain on your parade, just stating the facts that $350 will not get you very far in the world of ski building.

Now to answer your question.  The most inexpensive dependable method for pressing a ski would probably be a vacuum press.  As long as you are not at super high elevation this method should work fine especially for your first press.  The pneumatic press is a little better but also more costly.  It is possible to luck out and get press materials for free which would help you out a lot, so search for some free metal around your town.  There are many threads on this topic on skibuilders so just spend a few hours there and you should be on your way.  Hope this was of some help.  Best of luck.

My press is made mostly of wood (Pine 2x4/6s and MDF). It has 6" discharge hose to pressurize it and will be held together with heavy-duty cloth tubes. This method is quite cost effective, but it's not as sturdy as a press made from steel.

I think for someone looking to press skis on a budget vacuum pressing is probably your top bet. Especially if you don't have a ton of woodworking tools already at your disposal. The forces involved in vacuum pressing are much less than in a pneumatic press, so you don't need to build super strong molds. There's just less bulky, heavy objects to deal with. The most expensive piece is the vacuum pump, which you can salvage out an old refrigerator or buy from ebay. These videos give a great how-to guide for vacuum pressing. http://boardcrafter.com/content/category/4/32/44/

On the other hand vacuum pressing does have some disadvantages. It provides less pressure on the ski. This mainly equates to slightly heavier skis since you're not able to squeeze out as much epoxy. You'll also have to factor in some disposable items for pressing if you go with vacuum. There is special vacuum plastic and sealing tape that you lay down each time you press a ski, and you'll have to buy more for each ski you press.

Pneumatic presses have the advantage that they give you more pressure on the ski and that you don't need to buy any disposable materials for each ski you press. They also tend to end up more expensive than a vacuum press, but if you design everything carefully you can get away with not spending a ton.

Also to note is that if you were to copy what I've done you would likely not be able to finish for under $200. You'd need to factor in $50 maybe in materials that I already had.