Fixing a monster core shot along edge?

[stupendous-man]

Got a huge core shot last spring riding some low tide snow in tahoe. About 9" x 0.25". I've done simple ptex candle repairs before so I figured I would try my first base weld to repair this.

Got some metal grip wire and real ptex and followed my man DominatorJacques video (

) melting first a layer of metal grip and then layers of ptex until it was flush with the base. Unfortunately, I skied it for the first time yesterday and it mostly ripped out.

Looking on the internet, seems I might have more luck cutting a geometric shape out of my base and patching it with a sheet of ptex and marine epoxy (https://www.tognar.com/p-tex-ski-base-patch-material/ and this thread on TGR).

Thoughts? Here's a pic from today after most of the repair ripped out.

 

[No.Quarter]

Walk us through your surface prep routine for the metal grip. I've found that scuffing the surface of the metal teeth of the edge is very important typically I use a wire wheel on a dremel. I've also had luck doing a thin coating of epoxy on the edge, letting fully cure, and then scuffing and applying metal grip. Also very important to get the ptex weld to high temp as well, which can be tricky with a drip candle, I use a base weld gun which helps to get the entire repair up to temp
https://www.slidewright.com/ski-mender-rp105-base-repair-pistol.php

It may be a good idea to do a base patch, and surface prep is also extremely important for this repair as well. Getting the patch to match the shape of the cutout is also very important and takes some precision. VERY IMPORTANT: the patch material may be thicker than the base material and protrude from the bottom of the base. I highly recommend planing the patch down to close to the height of the base material yourself before passing it off to a shop if you plan on getting a base grind. I did a big base patch and the patch material protruded a lil less than a mm from the height of the base material, the shop tech just went straight to the belt grinder and tried to get it flat, causing material to be removed on the opposite side of the ski as the patch material was worked away and went through the machine kinda cockeyed due to the excess thickness. They went all the way down to the wood core on the non-repair side before they realized the fuckup.

Base patch repairs are still susceptible to peeling out if they get damaged at the front of the repair, the fit of the patch and bond of the epoxy is very important, I recommend Devcon 2 ton epoxy

 

[No.Quarter]

And just a note on marine epoxy, I think that means it can bond wet surfaces, not necessarily that it is any better than standard epoxies for bonds that will have to withstand being in the snow. I've found that some marine epoxies are too thick for my preferences.

 

[stupendous-man]

Walk us through your surface prep routine for the metal grip. I've found that scuffing the surface of the metal teeth of the edge is very important typically I use a wire wheel on a dremel. I've also had luck doing a thin coating of epoxy on the edge, letting fully cure, and then scuffing and applying metal grip. Also very important to get the ptex weld to high temp as well, which can be tricky with a drip candle, I use a base weld gun which helps to get the entire repair up to temp
https://www.slidewright.com/ski-mender-rp105-base-repair-pistol.php

It may be a good idea to do a base patch, and surface prep is also extremely important for this repair as well. Getting the patch to match the shape of the cutout is also very important and takes some precision. VERY IMPORTANT: the patch material may be thicker than the base material and protrude from the bottom of the base. I highly recommend planing the patch down to close to the height of the base material yourself before passing it off to a shop if you plan on getting a base grind. I did a big base patch and the patch material protruded a lil less than a mm from the height of the base material, the shop tech just went straight to the belt grinder and tried to get it flat, causing material to be removed on the opposite side of the ski as the patch material was worked away and went through the machine kinda cockeyed due to the excess thickness. They went all the way down to the wood core on the non-repair side before they realized the fuckup.

Base patch repairs are still susceptible to peeling out if they get damaged at the front of the repair, the fit of the patch and bond of the epoxy is very important, I recommend Devcon 2 ton epoxy

I probably should have done more for prep, I think I used a wire brush just to get it clean but didn't really rough it. Then I used a wood burning tool to melt in the metal grip and the ptex, like at 15 min in the video I linked above.

Thinking about roughing the edge better and then doing epoxy -> roughen epoxy -> metal grip -> ptex for the next attempt. Thanks for the input!

 

[RudyGarmisch]

And just a note on marine epoxy, I think that means it can bond wet surfaces, not necessarily that it is any better than standard epoxies for bonds that will have to withstand being in the snow. I've found that some marine epoxies are too thick for my preferences.

Marine epoxy is choice because its high strength and durable as hell. It also bonds extremely well to fiberglass.

G/flex is my choice for epoxy repairs on skis - it flexes a little and keeps layers bonded through some expansion/contraction if any water gets into the damaged area and freeze/thaws.
https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/gflex-650-toughened-epoxy/