8/1/2012
Well, I haven't done much in the way of R/D in the off season until now. You may wonder why ski companies use such exotic materials in their skis. Does it make much difference? What am I really getting and what is it really doing for me other than emptying my bank account. I'll try to demystify some of those questions. Skis are very subjective. A firm ski for one person maybe soft to another. I've skied skis that had great write ups and were supposed to be a very firm "East Coast" skis but in my opinion were too soft for me. Bottom line is you don't know how the ski performs until you're on the snow.
Materials such as carbon fiber, kevlar, titanal (IE it's really an aluminum alloy, no titanium at all! Don't be fooled), some skis do claim to have real titanium. Wood core vs foam core (yuk, foam?? you're kidding me!!). AND what wood core is better than another?
Much of it depends on the type of skiing you do. If you are a back country skier you'll most likely want a lighter/wider ski that can have skins attached to them for climbing. So maybe a foam core is what you want. Weight is a huge concern for back country skiers. For the average East Coast skier you may want a ski design for carve-ability. Maybe you do a lot of glade skiing, that could be different style of ski. And if you're a park rat, that's another entirely different design and ski characteristic.
So back on topic.... The last couple days I made up some test samples of Carbon Fiber (CF) and compared those samples to a set of Fiber Glass (FG) samples I made last year. All test samples measured 3in x 36in.
The materials used for this test were:
Uni CF 9.4oz
Poplar veneer 1.6mm
QCM epoxy (resin EMV049 and hardener ECA032)
Ptex base
Fiber Glass 20oz
Cork .8mm thick
See my detailed write up on skibuilders.com, http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3868
Feel free to ask questions. That's it for now!
Well, I haven't done much in the way of R/D in the off season until now. You may wonder why ski companies use such exotic materials in their skis. Does it make much difference? What am I really getting and what is it really doing for me other than emptying my bank account. I'll try to demystify some of those questions. Skis are very subjective. A firm ski for one person maybe soft to another. I've skied skis that had great write ups and were supposed to be a very firm "East Coast" skis but in my opinion were too soft for me. Bottom line is you don't know how the ski performs until you're on the snow.
Materials such as carbon fiber, kevlar, titanal (IE it's really an aluminum alloy, no titanium at all! Don't be fooled), some skis do claim to have real titanium. Wood core vs foam core (yuk, foam?? you're kidding me!!). AND what wood core is better than another?
Much of it depends on the type of skiing you do. If you are a back country skier you'll most likely want a lighter/wider ski that can have skins attached to them for climbing. So maybe a foam core is what you want. Weight is a huge concern for back country skiers. For the average East Coast skier you may want a ski design for carve-ability. Maybe you do a lot of glade skiing, that could be different style of ski. And if you're a park rat, that's another entirely different design and ski characteristic.
So back on topic.... The last couple days I made up some test samples of Carbon Fiber (CF) and compared those samples to a set of Fiber Glass (FG) samples I made last year. All test samples measured 3in x 36in.
The materials used for this test were:
Uni CF 9.4oz
Poplar veneer 1.6mm
QCM epoxy (resin EMV049 and hardener ECA032)
Ptex base
Fiber Glass 20oz
Cork .8mm thick
See my detailed write up on skibuilders.com, http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3868
Feel free to ask questions. That's it for now!
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