Now that this is open, I invite you all to give me ideas and feedback (keep it serious rowen - NORTON).
I'm only doing one layer of carbon fiber, and its not pre-preg, so it won't be all THAT much stiffer than an equivalent layer of fiberglass.
I have a few options here. My original plan, was doing two full wraps of fiberglass around the core. One with the fibers oriented parallel and perpendicular to the ski (for lengthwise rigidity), and the second wrap being oriented at 45 degrees, for torsional rigidity.
Another option, is instead of wrapping the core, just sandwiching it with a layer of fiberglass on top, and another on bottom. This while have half the fiberglass as before. With wrapping, on any given side of the core, there is TWO layers of fiberglass, where as with sandwiching it, there is only one on top, one on bottom. This won't seal up the core as well, but will be lighter weight, and not as stiff.
For the topsheet, I can either do a flat lay on top (sandwich) or wrap the whole top (cap-construction as the buzz-word is). Doing the cap will make it VERY stiff, because of the carbon fiber that is vertical on the side. Doing just the flat lay on top won't be quite as stiff, but then I have to deal with sidewall, and am more likely to de-laminate or get water in there.
The optimal weight-to-stiffness option (which I kinda want a light-stiff ski), is thus:
Single layers of fiberglass top and bottom, with cap carbon on top. BUT, this way I'm putting most of the flex absorption in the carbon fiber and not the fiberglass, which is a bad idea. I don't want to depend on the carbon for the flex rebound, I want most of it taken up in the fiberglass, so I don't crack the carbon.
So, the other option is doing full wrapped fiberglass with sandwich top. This is probably the best, but again, I gotta figure out the sidewall.
But tyler, you're right about the hoods. I've seen videos of hoods being driven over, jumped on, etc. They are very resiliant(sp?). As long as I do a good job of the layup, I shouldn't need to worry. The problem comes from having any air bubbles, cause that's where the weakness will come. And unfortunately, I won't be vacuum bagging it, so I REALLY gotta do a good job to ensure no bubbles.
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Dont worry, its a controlled slide.
