Ski Building

 Today I spent the morning cutting out another core for one of the pairs of skis that i am going to be making this weekend. This was by far the most complicated project that have had with the cnc machine. Everything failed at the last minute and nearly destroyed the entire thing. In the afternoon I took the skis out of the ski press and mold. When they come out they are in one combined piece that I need to cut in half. I then cut any extra fiber glass and epoxy off the edge that was left over from the molding process. I used a drill to cut everything away. I had to be extremely careful because if i slipped I would cut right through the edge. I spent the day working on my dads skis. i will start working on mine and my brothers tomorrow.  Hours-6

 Today was another day that I spent running the cnc machine. I cut a core out in the morning which had multiple problems while cutting. The drill bit was not properly centered so part of the core was not properly cut. It is difficult to restart the program so I had to correct my mistake using a hand planer. Once the core was completely planed out I was able to cut the n]ends of it to fit in the nose and tail pieces. I cut a half circle out of each end of the core. Once the cores were properly cut I was able to combine them with the nose and tail pieces as seen in the photo below. I used glue to hold them together. I then started the process of layering and pressing my first ski. I layered the epoxy, fiber glass, wood core, and base to create the ski. I then placed it in the mold for 12 hours so that the epoxy can completely dry and stay in the proper shape.  Hours- 6

 Today I worked on creating more cores for my skis. I am also helping my dad make ski cores for the skis that he is going to be using in his class. It was the first time that I hade created the core on my own. I have had my father by my side for every other day and carving accept for this one. It did not help that the board was completely lop sided. I had to add roughly ten pieces of carpet tape to ensure that every corner was secure and not lifted off the table. Once the piece was completely secure I was finally able to run the program. Although I had taped everything down properly a corner of the wood managed to become unsecured. This cause the entire board to shift in the middle of the process causing one of the sides to be significantly thinner than the other. I am still going to be able to use this core it just me be slightly softer than the other core used in the other ski. Hours-6 Total Hours- 39

 For the final day of the week I glued most of the sidewalls onto the core. The core is a combination of maple and poplar. I had to glue special cut pieces of maple sidewall onto the cores. The sidewall is the side of the ski above the edge. I glued the sidewall using wood glue and I clamped it to the core for 30 minutes before it dried. Once the the glue on the core and sidewall is dried it is ready to be cut by the cnc machine. I also examined one of the bases and edges that I had created earlier and I did not do it properly. I had to re cut an edge so that it was long enough to fit into the slot. In the afternoon my dad continued to help me with the cnc machine. I learned how to cut the cores out. It is an extremely complicated process that can have a-lot go wrong.  Total Hours-33 Todays hours- 6

 Today I spent most of the day preparing most of my bases and edges. I have to do all of the background work before I can start layering and pressing the skis. I started off the day by putting the edges on one of the skis that i started yesterday. Today was the first day that I spent on the cnc machine alone. I usually have my fathers help but today I cut out two pairs of bases on my own. It was a very complicated process and one of bases came out the wrong way. Because it was my first time I had multiple mistakes but those mistakes gave me a better understanding of the machine. Once I had the bases cut I had to put edges on them. I glued edges onto a pair of bases. I combine the edge to the base by clamping the edge down then gluing it with super glue.  Hours Today- 7 Total hours- 26

 Today was the third day of our senior project and I spend most of my day creating the base layer of my skis. the base layer is the plastic layer that glides along the snow. I had to cut them out using a cnc machine. The cnc machine had a razor blade attached to it which cit the base out of a larger piece of plastic. The cnc machine that I have is not big enough to make out 182 cm base so I had to improvise. I cut out the maximum amount that the cnc would cut and then I cut the rest by hand.  After I had the base cut I needed to attach the edges. The edges are what allow the ski to carve through the snow. I attached them using super glue and clamps. 

 I started off the morning by finishing the designs for my top sheets. I created a top sheet for myself and one for my brother. I then went to another one of my fathers ski building classes. Him and his class were layering a ski and placing it into the press. a ski ha s multiple layers of fiber glass, a wood core, the base layer, and the top sheet. The top sheet is the fancy design that you see on ever ski. all of these layers are held together by epoxy. After his class we came back to my house where were are currently running the cnc machine. The machine cuts the wood cores. It takes roughly an hour to cut each core. The machine takes an extremely large amount of programing and attention to run properly.