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Build your own skis

Apparently a (perhaps?) surprising number of people do.

I was searching supply houses for sources for new edges and soles for my ancient Dynamic VR 17's. Second pair of skis i owned, bought new at Hechinger's lumber yard, spring of 1970 & skied sporadically ever since. Multiple pairs of boots over the years, but only tried other skis this Feb.

One of the supply houses included links to this site.
Ski Builders Forum - Index page

On that note, (Dyna)mics were hand built in that era & tested on a "dyno" to match the results into pairs of equal fore-aft flex characteristics, and overall stiffness.

Now I want to build a pair and re-saw a crappy 2 x 4, complete with grade stamps, to use for a top sheet veneers. :)

smt
 
Now, smt, if you can get comfortable skiing planks newer than 1970 skinny/long, you’ll need at least 2x6’s for top plate ;-)

Can’t comment on how they feel, but love the designs of Kindred Snowboard of Vancouver Island. My excuse, other than being cheap, is I tend to be on powder deep enough that I have no idea what my skiis look like... (currently Seekrs w Dynafit bindings)

Best,
L7
 
I find it very interesting that no matter what you can think up there is a forum out there with a bunch of folks talking about it, sure wish we had such thinge at our fingertips as kids, but then again I guess we would have missed out on doing stuff much like kids today.
 
My experience, which is almost entirely backcountry, is that carbon fiber skis break easily. Not a good thing when your gear is survival. Maybe at the resort people are using carbon fiber?

L7
 
Although i did not much keep up with skiing and ski technology between about 1980 & Feb 2021, It seems that at either end, the "best" skis always had wood cores; though there were outliers and the long run of quite good Head skis before they, too embraced fiberglass. Foam cores and such have often been used, but tend to be dead, and weak. (As is being discovered with wind turbine blades). But technology marches on...

Modern skis seem to use the options of E-glass, carbon fiber, and "titanal" which is somehow supposed to relate to titanium but i have not figured it out. (Is it a screen? fabric? etc) Makers mix & match over wood cores (or foam) depending on desired ski characteristics for flex & torsion.

Emmanual - I started skiing in leather boots ca 1965 but even then long thongs were mostly gone. Turntables: my old skis have Marker toes, but the heels were re-purposed from an earlier, cheaper ski set since they could be adjusted for different size boots, yet have a very "rotomat" style roller heel hold-down. I skied out of them on the bumps recently, and need to find a more compliant modern set if the initiative continues to use them at times "aggressively" (aggressively for an old guy :) ).

Lucky - I've seen pictures of powder like that. :) Or Warren Miller movies.
On the ice coast we get vertical frozen ponds with bumps. The Dynamics were my choice at the time because they had a reputation as ice skates. They still hold better than the modern Atomics i've been trying to get comfortable on. But the Atomics are easier & they don't punish you for small mistakes and aged quickly tiring legs.

This poster came out a few years after Lange bought Dynamic. Seems like good advice.
(topicality: If you eyes are on the skis, they have wood cores)

Nevermind, My toaster & PM seem to continue to be incompatible with posting photos.
Here's a link, recommended for teenage boys and mature audiences.
https://www.skitalk.com/attachments/keep-those-tips-up-jpg.127924/

smt
 
Who was the person selling carbon fiber pulltruded rods for spar caps ?
Much better than wet layups of uni fiber, trying to get the fiber content higher.
These IIRC were 1/16" dia (came rolled up in a box) and you laid them in the glass & resin
for the outermost tension/compresssion area's.

IIRC they were located in Ox's backyard.

Can't find it anymore, I think "Marske flying wing" was the place.
 
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On this forum I would expect metal skis not wood. military grade billet.
Bill D
Military grade skis in Norway in the long past where wood. This is what I learned on.
Did anyone make a ski from solid metal? I do not think this would work very well.
There is a whole feedback loop to the skier that is needed along with the flex.
If making a wood ski now do you put in thin steel edges as a add on?
Given icey a full wood ski looses the edge fast but some like this feel of a very dull ski. I do.
Bob
 
Military grade skis in Norway in the long past where wood. This is what I learned on.
Did anyone make a ski from solid metal? I do not think this would work very well.
Bob

Steal some of those corvette single leaf crosswise fiberglass springs....might work well...:D
 
Stephen -

You and others got me laughing so hard I about fell out of my chair.

First time I was on skis was winter of 66/67 and I learned cross country and downhill on 2 by 4s without the marks, painted white. At that point the US Army was still using the leftover WW2 skis. Complete with bear trap bindings. Couple years later moved up to slightly better wooden skis, still wood based and with edges that were not exactly sharp. After 1970 I've only done cross country sporadically and my skis were 'modern' 40 years ago.

But as I'm older than you by a few years I will leave it to you for the downhill - unless my grandkids get me crazy enough to go with them. The sledding this year might have been a warm up for the 10 year old to entrap me.

Dale
 

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Is it best to learn on old bad or latest new tech?
If you get reasonable good is using old style fun or a pain?
I think there is similar in machining.
Bob

Bob -

So is that why my 1945 lathe and 1966 mill are so uncooperative to this retired engineer's attempts at abusing metal? I do hope to get reasonable good - at least the stuff over the past 20 years is hanging together in a functional manner. Spent part of my life as a computer programmer - to me a CNC would not be viewed as fun, but that's just me.

Guess it is up to each of us as to what is 'right' for us.

Leave it to Stephen to take us down this philosophical trail.......

Dale
 








 
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