Step by Step guide to painting skis!

cjgncjgn

Active member
I’ve seen dozens and dozens of posts asking how to paint skis and now after having done the process myself I’m going to walk everyone through this.

Needed materials: Sandpaper, Tape, Primer spray paint (I used plastic primer made by rust-oleum), Lacquer and finally the spray paint you are going to use to paint them whatever colour.

Step one

Begin lightly sanding the ski, you want to scratch up the top sheet, not remove the whole thing.

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Step two

Take a damp cloth and ensure the skis are clean post-sanding stage

Step three

Use painters tape to cover the toe and heel piece. To save tape a plastic bag can be placed over the heel piece tightly. (Skip if skis are un-mounted)

Use painters tape on the edges to ensure you do not paint your edges.

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Step four

Put ski in a well ventilated area and begin to put the primer coat on, ensure that you put this coat on LIGHTLY, it is better to put on 10 light coats then 2 heavy coats. Put coats on until the graphic of the ski can not be seen through the paint. (Ensure you allow the ski to dry in between coats)

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Step five

Let the ski dry for 24 hours before applying coloured coat

Step six

Put on light coat of colour, continue to put on coats until satisfied (ensure you allow the ski to dry in between coats)

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Step seven

Spray on lacquer, do so in thin coats as you do not want it to drip, apply a whole can between the two skis. (Ensure you allow the ski to dry in between coats)

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Step eight

Allow the ski to dry for 2 or more days before using on snow.

Step nine

Enjoy your new custom skis!

 
Haha, good thread. I love everyone trying to get a ski equipement forum thread stickied! It makes for good posts!
 
i actually started this before all the stickies. frankly i think we need an FAQ section, and although many people can figure it out themselves, now they dont have to and what makes you think that the average 12 year old on NS knows how to do this?! But hey spread the love not the hate , and make posts like this they make the site far better!
 
shit, all i did was :

1) tape off what you don't want painted

2) have at 'er.

and I think mine look cooler than yours, although they're chipped to shit.

I'll post a picture in a few moments.
 
word on the street is(or at least over at TGR) you can save ur self some time and a little cash by skpping the whole primer thing.... Just sand um down and hit them up with some krylon fusion then a few coats of clear. This will work just fine for bonding, as with any "custom paint job" on a ski its not gunna matter how good it is, its still gunna get hella scrached up
 
yeah you can probably skip the primer, but sanding is the key. some kid at my mountain was all proud of a paint job he did on his skis. He took one run and it was ruined. chipped off everywhere. I asked him how well he sanded the topsheet and he said "why would I do that?"
 
Too bad that after a day of riding them the paint will be all flaked and chiped off. You have to use flex agent so it bends with the ski.

~n~
 
last year i did a pair of slalom race skis ... sanded/adhesion promoter/primer/base/clear....

And it never chipped or flaked at alll.. as long as you prep it right the only issue you run into is any time something comes in contact with the ski ... ex:edge to edge contact... as with any painted surface it will scratch but as long as you sand so it has something to bond to it should be alright as far as chipping off... I did a pair of PEs this year and just sanded and sprayed some fusion.... then clear, so we will see
 
i did the 220 grit, 600 grit, primer, clear coat approach. time will tell if it stays.

i didn't need to add anything past primer because the skis are gonna be black anyways.
 
no, those are pretty horrendous.

sorry but, they just are, no thought was put into the design at all, just painted Christmas colors and threw a bunch of random designs on there
 
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