www.grafsnowboards.com is dedicated to snowboard building. This site gives an insight into methods suitable for home and garage use - anyone with a reasonable set of practical skills, a bit of ingenuity, and most of all a passion for snowboarding should find a way into making their own board here...
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10th May 2010, 12:05:08 : Updated Layup and Finishing sections
The Layup and Finishing sections of grafsnowboards.com are extended with new photographs and text showing our current practices. The old information was getting very out of date and no longer reflects what we do.
^ Using the jigsaw to cut away the tip areas
10th May 2010, 12:05:50 : Dan Crump new board
^ Very shiny indeed !
^ Wetting out the base with Epoxy
Another twintip from Dan Crump built for his sister. This board is identical to the one built back in February except this time Dan (Crump) did most of the work by himself with only a little guidance from Dan (Graf). Good effort Dan !!!
19th April 2010, 07:04:54 : 160 Twin
^ JT 160 twin
^ JT 160 twin
^ Attaching sidewalls to the core
^ Busy day in the workshop
Busy weekend in the workshop : Uwe and Dan Crump were in building skis and a snowboard respectively. I cracked on with a 160 twin for a mate of mine, using a core block that has been hanging around in the shop for far too long. Put it to good use - the board came out very nicely indeed, seem to have the pressing stuff well set up - waxed cassettes with no crap left behind, the poly sleeve which catches the excess resin did not melt - think the temperature is now just right.
8th November 2009, 14:11:07 : 4 Pairs of Skis !
So....4 pairs of skis finished - we did one pair on Friday and three yesterday in one session. 2 pairs of GS skis, one pair having a stiffer build for fast ski action. The other 2 pairs are 166 twintips, built for mucking about on, and designed by a snowboarder...
All these skis use an innovative graphic technique. The graphics are reverse digitally printed directly onto clear topsheet material. We used texalium behind the topsheet to illuminate the graphics and show the weave through. The topsheets are corona treated after printing to get a good bond.
.jpg "2 pairs of GS skis. 27 and 17 refer to the number of laminates in the cores used. The 27 ski has a stiffer layup (more carbon and stiffer UD glass). - view original size")
^ 2 pairs of GS skis. 27 and 17 refer to the number of laminates in the cores used. The 27 ski has a stiffer layup (more carbon and stiffer UD glass).
.jpg "166 twintip with a black graphic finish - view original size")
^ 166 twintip with a black graphic finish
.jpg "166 twintip with texalium finish - view original size")
^ 166 twintip with texalium finish
.jpg "Detail of graphic on the black 166 twins - view original size")
^ Detail of graphic on the black 166 twins
Minor mishap ! During the pressing of the first pair of skis, the press upper mould disintegrated. Luckily we still under pressure and it had no effect on the ski. One hell of a bang though !
1st November 2009, 17:11:01 : Base & Edge
Cutting the base material using the steel template - we used ceiling props to hold the template to the UHMWPE - this gives free access to the whole edge - no clamps to move around.
.jpg "- view original size")
Using the angle grinder with a cutting disc, we got the edges to the correct length. We are doing a partial edge, stopping with a tucked edge in a position up in the tip, off the snow.
.jpg "- view original size")
The tucked edge on the tail of one of the GS style skis...
18th October 2009, 21:10:08 : Brrrrrr !
.jpg "- view original size")
Wow - some real life actual snow, today just above Glarus, Switzerland. Good job we now have 8 profiled cores waiting to be laminated....
.jpg "- view original size")
We profiled these using the planer and crib method with a dab of hot glue to hold things in place. Worked beautifully - on one pair the cores matched to the exact gram which was really unexpected !
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