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Manta Mold

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flattop
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 5:04 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Cocoa Beach,Florida
waxux wrote:
The air bladder is a length of fire hose clamped at the ends and attached to an air compressor.

It is a style of pressing that snowboard and snowski builders have used for years. I find it to be more effective than hydraulics because it provides equal pressure the entire length of the mold.

The trick is making a bladder that will hold the pressure without having to constantly run the compressor. The ones I use will reach and maintain a constant pressure without leaks which saves on wear and tear on the air system.

Alot of information can be found at skibuilders.com and grafsnowboard forums.



Mike


Hey thanks for sharing that info mike..
Those are 2 great sites.,I got sucked in to the whole ski building site..
Im very interested in that too..i lived in the mountains of Colorado for many years and used to ski 100+ days a year.

Do you have any close up shots of that air bladder and how you sealed it?
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waxux
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:01 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 16 Nov 2003 Posts: 142 Location: Outer Banks NC
The bladder is not overly complicated but I did ruin alot of them before I got the right recipe. I don't have any pics of one actually being built. I tend to just build stuff and not think to take pics until its done.

After many failed attempts I finally hit on a through the end clamp fill hose design that works like a champ.

The end clamps are made of wood and bolted together with cabinet connecting hardware that can be found at any decent hardware store.

The ends are sealed with PLIOBOND industrial contact cement.
What ever you do stay away from using silicone no matter what you hear it will only cause your head to explode from the stress of leaks and trying to correct them. BTW you can get the Pliobond at ACE hardware.

A most important feature to consider using is the black rubber air hose with clampless (push on) fittings. They are leak free up to and some beyond 300psi without the need for hose clamps. This hose is perfect for the fill tubing.

If you attempt a through the end clamp hose design be sure to account for the total thickness of the Firehose/Bladder material.
The most difficult part of this type of fill hose design is keeping the hole in the end clamp from leaking.

The fill hose going through the end clamp into the bladder needs to have a fitting inside of the bladder itself. This brass fitting helps prevent the bladders end clamp from pinching the hose shut and from pulling out of the end clamp when under pressure.

Also the part of the end clamp that has the hole for the feed tube is a prime area for leaks. What I do is cut thin pieces of fire hose and slip them in on the sides of the fill hose where it contacts the bladder hose. This allows the clamp to apply more pressure right at the problem areas. Glue everything very well with the pliobond and tighten the end clamps.

Good luck if you try it, expect a learning curve and lots of trial and error. Best advice is to buy more fire hose than you think you will need in case you have to build another.

I will try to get some pictures of this soon.

Hope that helps.

Mike
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flattop
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:48 am Reply with quote
Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Cocoa Beach,Florida
waxux wrote:
The bladder is not overly complicated but I did ruin alot of them before I got the right recipe. I don't have any pics of one actually being built. I tend to just build stuff and not think to take pics until its done.

After many failed attempts I finally hit on a through the end clamp fill hose design that works like a champ.

The end clamps are made of wood and bolted together with cabinet connecting hardware that can be found at any decent hardware store.

The ends are sealed with PLIOBOND industrial contact cement.
What ever you do stay away from using silicone no matter what you hear it will only cause your head to explode from the stress of leaks and trying to correct them. BTW you can get the Pliobond at ACE hardware.

A most important feature to consider using is the black rubber air hose with clampless (push on) fittings. They are leak free up to and some beyond 300psi without the need for hose clamps. This hose is perfect for the fill tubing.

If you attempt a through the end clamp hose design be sure to account for the total thickness of the Firehose/Bladder material.
The most difficult part of this type of fill hose design is keeping the hole in the end clamp from leaking.

The fill hose going through the end clamp into the bladder needs to have a fitting inside of the bladder itself. This brass fitting helps prevent the bladders end clamp from pinching the hose shut and from pulling out of the end clamp when under pressure.

Also the part of the end clamp that has the hole for the feed tube is a prime area for leaks. What I do is cut thin pieces of fire hose and slip them in on the sides of the fill hose where it contacts the bladder hose. This allows the clamp to apply more pressure right at the problem areas. Glue everything very well with the pliobond and tighten the end clamps.

Good luck if you try it, expect a learning curve and lots of trial and error. Best advice is to buy more fire hose than you think you will need in case you have to build another.

I will try to get some pictures of this soon.

Hope that helps.

Mike


hey thanks for all the advice Mike.
Especially on the pliobond, (I would have used silicone!)
I think I am going to research this a little bit more on the ski/snowboard site before giving this a try.Hopefully find some photo tutorials of one being built.
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yoyo
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:07 pm Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 2228 Location: Germany
waxux wrote:
The air bladder is a length of fire hose clamped at the ends and attached to an air compressor.

It is a style of pressing that snowboard and snowski builders have used for years. I find it to be more effective than hydraulics because it provides equal pressure the entire length of the mold.

The trick is making a bladder that will hold the pressure without having to constantly run the compressor. The ones I use will reach and maintain a constant pressure without leaks which saves on wear and tear on the air system.

Alot of information can be found at skibuilders.com and grafsnowboard forums.

Thanks for all these infos.

I just wonder how you can apply even pressure to the laminates when I see the gaps in the ribbed construction.
If you'd used thin plywood, I'd understand......




Mike
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waxux
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:29 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 16 Nov 2003 Posts: 142 Location: Outer Banks NC
Hey yoyo,

You are right there is top sheets to the mold. The whole thing is in effect an engineered I beam type of construction.
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