how To: Stop Top Sheet damage??

[jsinger]

If you are up for a project requiring a little effort, you can reduce the amount of topsheet chipping on sidewall boards a lot by filing a vertical sidewall onto the board and then rounding off the edge of the topsheet as described elsewhere in this thread. The attached sketch shows the cross section of a Rossignol "Scratch" twintip ski. Notice how the bottom 3mm or so of the sidewall is exactly vertical and the sidewall above the vertical section "leans in". On most sidewall boards, the sidewall comes from the factory with just the "lean in" and no vertical section on the sidewall. If you take a good quality flat file and file the edge of the board until you get 2 to 3 millimeters of vertical sidewall at the bottom of the sidewall, the amount of topsheet chipping will go down, usually a lot. In addition, if you do the filing carefully you will end up with nice sharp edges.

[Manlenium]

Its not for the surface donut. Just to wear the edges smooth, so they are less likely to catch on ice etc. I Find the majority of scratches happen in line....

[airdonut41]

I just let my boards get nicked up; as long as the damage is superficial I'm ok with it. I do value aesthetics, but not to the degree that I feel I need to sand my boards.

Dan

[JamesM]

Originally posted by ///M3Matt
after each day I use very fine sandpaper to smooth out any nicks.....i might also put some super glue on any chips

tedious but worth it

I just spent this evening sorting out the nicks and chips in my boards. I got hold of some epoxy and superglue, went for the superglue :

To be honest, I don't think there would be much difference except the Sglue sets much faster. Easier for small nicks.

Worked nice (except for filling one big gash), so if it's a big'un I'd recommend epoxy.

James

[///M3Matt]

after each day I use very fine sandpaper to smooth out any nicks.....i might also put some super glue on any chips

tedious but worth it

[JamesM]

180.. Now that's fine!

[Mark]

I use a dual action air sander. 180 grit paper.

[slow]

I round the top edge using a fine tooth file, multiple passes, and a light touch. I find that it is easier to control and there is less chance of scratching the top surface than with the sand paper.

[Flying-Kiwi]

if only it could

[Manlenium]

I like to sand the edges (lightly) so they are rounded instead of square. This helps prevent topsheet damage, but wont stop it.

[Flying-Kiwi]

Is it true that very lightly sanding the edge of the topsheet will help stop damage to it?? any other tips out there??