When the cure time has elapsed, if you are cold-curing, check any remaining epoxy in your pots / brushes to make sure it has set. If you are hot curing, then ensure that the pressed snowboard has cooled sufficiently to not warp during extraction. Then open the press or reflate and remove the vacuum bag, and carefully extract the snowboard. It may have stuck down to the mould in places. Do not force it out, since epoxy will not yet be at full strength (can take 2 weeks) and could delaminate if you over-do it. Peel off the barrier layers, and check out the topsheet and base for smoothness and major problems. If something drastic has gone wrong it may not be worth bothering to finish the board, rather use it to investigate what went wrong and get it right next time.
^ Remove the cassette from the press and unpack the plastic sleeving
^ Crack open the cassette and see what we got...
^ Looks good !
Trimming is the process of removing all the excess material outside the perimeter of the edges. Cutting through layers of epoxy and glassfibre creates a very hazardous dust. Wear gloves, long sleeves, an apron, good quality dust mask and goggles. The cut fibres are sharp and can irritate your skin, eyes and lung linings !
We use the jigsaw around the tips - cut as close to the steel edge as possible to reduce any grinding afterwards. Along the rails we use a bandsaw to cope with the thick UHMWPE sidewalls we use. On the bandsaw you can either go base-up or base-down - the steel edge guides the blade. We prefer base up as it makes it a little easier to spot blade drift and compensate.
^ Using the jigsaw to cut away the tip areas
^ Using the bandsaw to cut along the rails
^ At this point the new ride is finally snowboard shaped !
^ Grinding the remaining epoxy off the base
You may or may not have access to a proper base grinding machine. Try to convince a local ski shop tech to help you. Persuading can be a bit hit and miss - if they`re fascinated by your board building exploits you may get a freebie. Sometimes a slab of beer gets the job done - and otherwise you gotta pay... A base grinding machine gets you the best flattest finish. However if you cannot access one you can use hand tools to do the job - good old fashioned sandpaper, scrapers and elbow grease.
The principle is the same - beginning with aggressive belts (80 grit) we remove the surplus epoxy and get the base flat. Then we progressively move through 120 grit all the way down to a polishing belt or stone-grinder. At the end, the base should be flat, free of excess epoxy, and smoothly ground (with structure remaining).
^ Further passes on the grinder, finishing with the polishing belt
^ Iron filings make insert location very easy when magnetic caps are used to block the inserts
Locating your inserts can be a bit of an issue. Sometimes if you look carefully in the light you can see the impression of them in the topsheet. Other times you may need to wax the base to find the marks left during cooling. Using inserts with magnetic caps makes it very easy to locate.
^ Carefully drilling out the inserts
^ The roughly drilled insert holes
^ Polishing the insert holes with a stone polishing bit
Usually the sidewalls are cut to an angle. This prevents them from dragging too much in the snow when on edge, makes it much easier to service the side-edges of the board, and to be honest looks a bit nicer ! We use a router with a 22 or 45 degree cutter which follows the steel edge on a bearing. Carefully adjust the router height so that the bearing covers the steel edge and a very small section of the sidewall (you are routing with the board upside down running the router along the base). Move the router gently along the sidewall and keep it as steady as possible - any wobble will be transferred to the sidewall.
^ Modular router bit with 45 degree cutter and bearing to follow the steel edge
^ Using a 45 degree router bit to angle the sidewalls
^ Using a 45 degree router bit to angle the sidewalls
^ 45 degree sidewall having been trimmed with the router. Note the small area above the edge which is left vertical
There are a few little finishing details to do before riding the board. We like to run the upper edge of the board (the very rim of the topsheet) carefully over the polishing belt on the grinder. This just angles off the edge of the topsheet and gives a smoother finish. Where the inserts were drilled out, we use a razor blade to cut off the slight raised ring created by the drill. Where the angled sidewall transitions into the tips we use the polishing belt just to blend the angle into the straight cut tips.
Then we wax the base, scrape and brush ready for the snow.
The final stage is the most satisfying - peeling off the protective topsheet cover to reveal our finished snowboard !
^ The moment of truth - peeling away the protective layer
^ Very shiny indeed !
^ Bag it up and take it to the hill...!
^ It's all about this. Mannlichen ridge, Grindelwald Switzerland after the powder dude came by...