:: View topic - Core Profiling and design questions

I'm about to take the plunge into building my own skis, after a few months of reading the forums, and I figure a good first step would be to make the cores. But first I have a few questions about them, I'm planning on using mainly maple and mahogany for the cores, with a little bit of cherry, but I'm a bit worried that the mahogany will make the ski way too stiff. Should I probably make the profile a bit thinner than a standard 1cm underfoot linear taper one?I'm 6 foot and around 180 pounds and like a fairly stiff ski. Second, since I'm not going to be making very many skis, would there be any major drawbacks from planing the core to it's maximum thickness, and then going in with a handheld belt sander, and just sanding it down to shape? Third and this is more of an opinion question, but are putting binding inserts worth the trouble?

Thanks for any help!

I think hand sanding the profile is a pretty bad idea. It'll take forever, be messy, won't be accurate, and the skis won't match. 1mm of error here can either give you unsuitable noodles, or unsuitable 2x4s. You've got to be pretty precise, some might argue this is the most important part of the process to be precise.

As for inserts... For your first pair, might not be worth it. But if you ever plan on making more - and you will - then its worth it. At only 50 cents a piece they're cheap, and it really isn't that much extra work.