Custom Skis

MastePoleWhackerHas anyone here ever made their own skis? I’m thinking I might give it a shot once I’m out of college and I have more money and time. I’m 6’7”, 250lbs so I want to try making some skis that are like 200cm long that are pretty stiff with a good bit of rocker on them, maybe like 110-115mm width. Basically a massive big mountain ski to terrorize the hill on

oh have i been waiting for this. first thing. design the desired shape on snow cad, DONT DO ROCKER PROFILE. research a shit ton. determine what core profile you want, this will affect the stiffness. go any where from 9.5 mm at center to 12mm at center. go check out skibuilders.com helpful asf. as far as power tools go invest in a table saw benchtop planer router and a jigsaw, or nicer bandsaw, not a shit one.... trust me. invest in the materials for a pnuematic press if u want long term to build skis. if not go the vacuum pump route. once more check out ski builders. make sure to rabbit your cores aswell or base will be concave. i reccomend buying materials from sandwich tech skis( they have a 3 quart entropy resins clr available and have the fastest shipping). make sure your mold is consitent and flat. make sure to not rush through the process or it will bite you in the ass. i rushed through my firt two and neither were skiable. 3 pairs deep and are now skiable. once they are out of press take them to a shop and tell the tech to get them flat as possible. as expensive and annoying as it is to do it is rewarding and fun as fuck so enjoy. ask if you have any questions. i also now @ajbski has built a few. enjoy and get ready to blow through lots of money

nOtyRmOm123oh have i been waiting for this. first thing. design the desired shape on snow cad, DONT DO ROCKER PROFILE. research a shit ton. determine what core profile you want, this will affect the stiffness. go any where from 9.5 mm at center to 12mm at center. go check out skibuilders.com helpful asf. as far as power tools go invest in a table saw benchtop planer router and a jigsaw, or nicer bandsaw, not a shit one.... trust me. invest in the materials for a pnuematic press if u want long term to build skis. if not go the vacuum pump route. once more check out ski builders. make sure to rabbit your cores aswell or base will be concave. i reccomend buying materials from sandwich tech skis( they have a 3 quart entropy resins clr available and have the fastest shipping). make sure your mold is consitent and flat. make sure to not rush through the process or it will bite you in the ass. i rushed through my firt two and neither were skiable. 3 pairs deep and are now skiable. once they are out of press take them to a shop and tell the tech to get them flat as possible. as expensive and annoying as it is to do it is rewarding and fun as fuck so enjoy. ask if you have any questions. i also now @ajbski has built a few. enjoy and get ready to blow through lots of money

This is a beautiful write up, thank you so much. Yeah I wasn’t thinking full rocker, but something rocker-camber-rocker

MastePoleWhackerThis is a beautiful write up, thank you so much. Yeah I wasn’t thinking full rocker, but something rocker-camber-rocker

thanks man. powder skis im working on are big sweepy rocker with high camber, kinda like the pescado. if u want im gonna drop the 3 threads i have of building these. this is a warning it will be a fun expensive learning experience. just used them to catalog progress so its there if u so desire


take 1: https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/928336/Designed-a-weird-fishtail--wanted-to-get-anyones-advice

take 2: https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/929525/Take-2

take 3: https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/929525/Take-2

nOtyRmOm123thanks man. powder skis im working on are big sweepy rocker with high camber, kinda like the pescado. if u want im gonna drop the 3 threads i have of building these. this is a warning it will be a fun expensive learning experience. just used them to catalog progress so its there if u so desire


take 1: https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/928336/Designed-a-weird-fishtail--wanted-to-get-anyones-advice

take 2: https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/929525/Take-2

take 3: https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/929525/Take-2

shit-this is the take 3 https://www.newschoolers.com/forum/thread/931975/Take-3--Something

dont waste your time or money. but if you really want to do both of those things, follow the steps below:

step 1: get a press together.

vacuum is just fine. you get 1 atm pressure and can make cap constructions. most recently, ive been using 8" packaging tubing/sleeves with a chip bag sealer, a home made bag coupler, and a old fridge compressor as the vacuum pump.

its cheap and doesn't take up much space.



step 2: get a mold together.

use a program like snocad-x or autocad to design the length/rocker/camber profile of the ski. you have to plot it out to scale on a big sheet at staples or you can print it on several sheets of a4. stick it to a sheet of ply wood/2x4/mdf and saw it out. make sure its nice and smooth. sand it a bunch. use that as template for the rest of the mold. for the width you want its gonna need to be about 8" wide. when you got all the pieces, glue them together and sand them flat again. use a straigth edge to check for any surface uneveness. when done with shape, apply thick wax over the whole thing so epoxy doesn't stick to it.



step 3: get a base template together.

same as previous step except its for the top down view of the ski. this will be your tip/waist/tail shape. when you have that done, you can router out your base material and start attaching your edges over the template with some super glue. try to use as little glue as possible, so epoxy can flow easy through edges. try to minimize the gap the gap between edges and base material. really try to spend as much time as you can here. dont rush it. you can soften the edges with a torch to bend them easier. as perfect of a fit as you can.



step 4: core.

you have lots of options here too. some guys use a cnc if they have one, some use a surface planer with a crib/mold, some guys use a router sled.

cheapest and easiest (although not as accurate) is just an electric hand planer. out of laziness ive been doing it this way on the last two pairs of my skis. i set the planer to 1/32" and just go at until im happy with the profile. using calipers and a tape measure every couple of passes to make sure i dont take off too much. but if you do, not a big deal. just add a little more glass during layup.

use your base template to take out appx 1/16" from the bottom of the core where you edges will sit. they call this "rabbeting".

most people use a solid piece of poplar on their first couple of skis.



step 5: lay up

this is where things get stressful. i would do some mock lay ups before going for the real thing. make some test cores and bases and just become familiar with the process. yea you use up some epoxy, but its a worthy investment instead of wasting hours of work just to screw up the lay up.

pre cut cut your composite layers (fibre glass, carbonfibre w.e)

mix up your epoxy (i find west system to be the most forgiving). do a bunch of small cups. a big pail will literally catch fire.

tack your base down to your mold. usually i just put two staples/nails through the base mid foot. (go for the thinnest nail possible since this will be a hole in your base after)

put down your epoxy and your glass. then your your core. i usually nail the core down to the mold too. you can use off cut base material as the tip spacers and epoxy scrapers. just sand and heat treat the shiny side. then your glass, put some extra in the binding area to keep your brindings from ripping out. throw it in the vac bag. seal it up. turn the pump on. while its taking out the air, you can gently help everything seat properly. pray everything will come out good.


step 6: flashing and finishing.

use a saw to carefully cut out your tips and to remove excess from edges. you can use an angle grinder with a flap disc to add a chamfer/bevel to the side walls. I strongly recommend getting finished at a shop. base grind and edge tune. put on some protective coating to the wood sidewall. i usually just paint brush on some epoxy.


step 7: ride them.


Are they durable? not really. as a home builder you will have a hard time matching the quality of those who make skis full time. i would use a pair of home built almost every year. ive experienced basically every kind of failure known. binding and edge tear out, delamination, snapped cores, water logging etc... it took me about 10 pairs to really have to process dialed in and know what i'm doing on every step of the way.

people notice home builds. youll get plenty of props and lots off attention on chair lifts and such. its kind of embarrassing when your edges are sticking out in every direction (not that it doesn't happen with big factory skis either)






TLDR

- going the cheapest possible route, your first pair is gonna cost you about $1000-$2500 dollars. after the learning curve, each subsequent pair will be around $150-$200 if you don't change the shape.

- you learn a lot about composites manufacturing. after building some skis, you will have a much better idea of what a quality ski is and how shapes/profiles/materials effect your skiing.

- don't underestimate the time required to put a ski together. my first time, when i was in high school, it took me about 4 months before i had something (barely) skiable. i was proud of them tho.

Yes I've built a few, I don't really have time to write a ton right now but I'd say there are some decent sized capital expenses associated with tooling (mostly building/buying a press and use of CNC machine to make precise molds and jigs) as well as a learning curve for designing and building skis that don't suck. But, if you are committed, decently skilled, have the space to build, you can build some cool stuff. Oh, the other thing is materials can be somewhat hard to source if you want anything non-standard, like extra thick edges and bases or fancy composites and core materials. If you are only trying to do a few skis, I'd see if there are any maker spaces or friends you have with CNC machines to help keep costs low. Also, being or knowing a welder can help to build a really solid press.

There are a handful of forums for people who have built skis, skibuilders is the main one, I think there is an old one on NS as well, if I remember correctly the ON3P founder used to be regularly post on there years ago.

Building skis is a big commitment if you want to do it well, but it is definitely doable, and there is nothing like skiing your own ski. I would say go in with the goal of building, bare minimum maybe 5 pairs, or don't do it at all. Your first ski probably won't be great. You won't really save money unless you build a ton of skis btw, you are looking at maybe $400-500 in materials per ski plus tooling (press and CNC can be thousands) plus a "factory" initial tune (edge bevel, base grind, trust me you cannot afford the machine for this) plus quite a bit of your own labor.

If you're committed to it though, do it! My advice is learn every step of the building process start pricing out the tools you need. Add in a little extra budget for unknowns. If you are happy with your cost estimate, get building and keep us updated, always love to see the home builds, small companies, and just unique stuff.

ah noticed a typo, meant to say $400-500 per *pair* of skis. This is definitely conservative, you can to go lower by using no sidewalls or tip fill (which will negatively impact durability), cheaper base material, (slower and less hard), woods that are available cheaply to you, just generally buying in bulk, etc. etc. but I would err on the side of expensive for planning purposes, plus the consumables people tend to forget about