After many many exchanged messages with NinetyFour, I thought I might contribute with all of the help that he has given me, thanks man! This might be long we'll see how it turns out. BUT THERE IS PICTURES!!
So far I have just designed the press in AutoCAD, but I started with the tip/tail mold
NinetyFour brought up the point that If I leave my tip/tail molds squared off, the firehose might get bend, or it may have been that the ski material could go over the edge and then I wouldn't have so much of a flowing tip. So with his assistance of teaching me to use AutoCAD, I came up with this:
For each mold the green represents the curve that the tip would be touching, the red represents the outside dimensions of the MDF, and the yellow is where I measured the 3.5" length by 2" height (what I had measured approximately on my current skis just to have an idea) The red on the final mold is 4.1338" high by 5.25" long, you can round down to 4" if you like, I thought I had my computer must have changed it.
After the tip/tailmold I designed the top mold. It is adjustable as well because I wasn't going to buy and cut new mdf for each new ski I wanted to make. The red is also the outer part, the green represents the inner part and curved part. Each ski is 30" long, I may shorten in case I want to make shorter skis but I don't think I will. They are 4" tall and I accentuated the curve to make sure the fire hose would still contact the entire ski below (thanks again NinetyFour, always being critical!) The white lines are the original 2"x3.5" so they were just reference to me.
Here's a picture of the the molds matching up to double check that they fit:
As you can see, the white lines are gone but they are the same as the yellow lines so like I said, just for reference.
My bad, well I'll leave that up so you can see it, THIS is the one with the NEW tip/tail molds:
Anddd after being out of town for a week, I'm back to designing the ski press. My cavity height is 11.25" tall after adding up everything I expect to put inside, plus room for upgrades and ALWAYS rounding up to make sure I have extra space compared to less. I can always take up space inside the press, but I can't really make it bigger..
I started by looking all through this thread and all over google images watching numerous videos that had even just one second of a ski press in it so I could get a good idea of what would work better...and also give me ideas.
I went with the I-beam idea but more specifically wide-flange for a number of reasons. Its pretty much the same if you are wondering, I beams are just slanted inwards for cranes so they can move along them, that might make them stronger as well, I'm not sure.
My press is 8 feet long so hopefully I can fit skis close to that length, but those would be long skis so I assume I will be good. It was originally going to be 1 foot wide but NinetyFour brought up the point that two 8" layflat firehoses would cover 16" of surface wide sooo just like NinetyFour, I went with 8" wide flange. More specifically I used 8"x31# (31 pounds per foot) because the dimensions are 8"x7.995" and I figured that was pretty darn close to square and therefore making easier to work with. It is also thicker than lighter versions so it is stronger. The red is the wide flange, the blue is 5"x9# c-channel. It is 60" tall.
The yellow is just the mold for reference.
Next, I'm not sure If I did the top view, or the side view. It doesn't really matter. I'll just continue with the top view:
Well that's unfortunate.. it's standing up. I'll leave it in case you want to see it that way. Well the next picture is the exact same, but it is rotated. Am I purposely trying to make this post long? Hmm.....
Well..Pretty self explanatory, blue is 5"x9# c-channel, red is 8"x31# wide flange. The C flange you can't see the "C" in is stood up like [ [=========] ] if that was the press, thats what it would look like. The press is STILL 8 FEET LONG! WOAH! IT DIDN'T CHANGE! WHAT?? WOAH! and its STILL 15.990" LONG WOAH WAIT wait what..!? 7.995 times two is 15.990 because theres two beams. Oh ok, that makes sense.
Anyway here is the side view:
I'm just gonna let you figure out the measurements on this one ;)
AND FINALLY AFTER MANY LONG HOURS OF FIGURING OUT HOW TO DRAW IN 2D, I TAKE ON 3D MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, but they all fail. Many many times. But NinetyFour is a genius and teaches me how to draw in 3d and move objects and WOAH! KA BAM! I have a ski press in 3D to send off to whoever and whatever I want. No more confusing 2d drawings, only accurate, precise, 3D drawings!
Thanks, I don't know what to say about the length, but I hope it helped in some way! If you need have any questions, the pictures aren't working, you want measurements on something, a different view of any part of the 3d model, how to make applesauce, or anything that you are confused on don't hesitate to post in here with a question or shoot me a PM. NinetyFour is also very very helpful and I owe him. Learning to use AutoCAD was hard but he made it easy. The press is going to way about 1200-1300 pounds without welds. ALSO: I don't have a base or wheels on the bottom and DO NOT forget wheels..You might have some trouble
