Putting a rocker in my Sumos?

[doughboyshredder]

The continuing lulz of this thread are priceless.

[bjorjost]

Made a bend in my Line 130's, green ones, about 2008 model? Gaping about 2cm with compressed camber now, I also applied unscientific amounts of heat with a heat gun after bending. Looks good, but wrinkled topsheet in the two places I bent them. Lol. They were worthless in our heavy pow and trees so I think the change should do them good. Dont know if theyre dynafit worthy though.

[Shorty_J]

The continuing lulz of this thread are priceless.

We can't all be craft builders I guess, huh?

There's probably a lot of stuff I know a lot more than you about too. I'll bet you can't process seismic data to save your life... man, that's fucking funny!

[doughboyshredder]

I applaud the ingenuity.

[bornincolorado]

when is someone gonna invent a rockering machine? the ski shops could have them and then just ask "you want rocker with that?"

BAM!

[XtrPickels]

Rockering machine would be ssiiiccckkkk.

Shorty- In my experience, you need to go much further than you want to allow them to settle in to the range that you want. However, I've only done this to non-metal skis.

DBS- If you got nothing to lose, why not experiment? I'm still skiing the Moments that I rockered (2 seasons ago?) and they're fun as hell. I didn't care if the ski broke or snapped and frankly it was a fun project to mess around with. If you're afraid of messing up your new skis, maybe you're making a bad choice but I've had a good experience.

[Shorty_J]

Rockering machine would be ssiiiccckkkk.

Shorty- In my experience, you need to go much further than you want to allow them to settle in to the range that you want. However, I've only done this to non-metal skis.

DBS- If you got nothing to lose, why not experiment? I'm still skiing the Moments that I rockered (2 seasons ago?) and they're fun as hell. I didn't care if the ski broke or snapped and frankly it was a fun project to mess around with. If you're afraid of messing up your new skis, maybe you're making a bad choice but I've had a good experience.

Thanks... I'll try more bend. How long did you let them sit like that for it to take?

[Bird Blaster]

Bump for a good thread.

I have passed on my home rocketed goats to mmmthtmskier. Hopefully they serve him as well as they did me

[TheDon]

Good bump,

It would be awesome if everyone posted all their results.

[wolfelot]

This is a sweet thread. I'm not sure if I have already posted about this and I don't have any pics at the moment, but I rockered some Atomic Powder +. I can't speak for how well this process will work for other skis with lots of skis in them and I think you are wasting your time if they don't have steel in them if you use this method.

Here is how I did it:

What you need:

1. You DON'T need any heat. NONE. I can't speak for other skis but you don't need heat for Atomic Powder + and probably most skis with steel in them. These things pretty much have rebar in them. Once they bend they won't go back.
3. You DON'T need to leave them bent for some specific period of time. Some people have tried leaving skis with blocks between them all summer, which doesn't work that well.
3. A dumpster
4. Bricks or a wood block (depending on the dumpster)
5. A yoga mat to protect the skis
6. A 6-inch level
7. A pencil

How to do it:
1. I figured out approximately how far back I wanted the rocker to go. Start conservatively since it is easier to add rocker than to take it out. With the bases pushed against each other the new contact points after rockering for my skis is 8.5 inches further back for the front tips and 4.5 inches back from the rear tips compared to before I rockered them.
2. I marked four bend points with a pencil across the topsheet using a straight-edge in the same spot on both skis so I could have both skis have a matching rocker profile.
3. I used a dumpster sitting in an alley. I put each the ski in the slot where the truck picks up the dumpster. The slot in this dumpster (and I think most) was too big for the kind of leverage that I wanted. I took two masonry bricks and duck taped them together before putting them in the slot. You could use wood blocks as well. Phone books just won't work.
4. I slid each ski into the slot wrapped in the yoga mat up to the mark I wanted to bend at. You will want to double up the mat because you are putting a ton of pressure that will ding up the bases and top sheets. While bending the skis I used a 6-inch level to keep them level while bending.
5. I did the same for each ski on each mark working from the tips and tail moving to the middle of the ski until I was happy with my rocker. I left the camber underfoot. You will be surprised how freaking hard you have to push. I weigh about 165 and had to use maximum force.

After all was said and done I had a rocker profile that looks like the ski was manufactured that way. I did not crinkle my top sheets and the skis are within about 1/32 of each other across the whole rocker profile in the front and back.

It was a lot of fun!

[el penoso]

Really a dumpster? No thanks.

[TheDon]

I rockered some Atomic Powder +

Pix or it didn't happen.

[el penoso]

I think this is what he's referring to. On powspatupus thread

[wolfelot]

I think this is what he's referring to. On powspatupus thread

Not my pic, but that is exactly where I got the idea from. That guy ended up breaking one of the skis after getting too aggressive and doing too much at once. I took bits and pieces of what others did and found a pretty successful method as described previously above. Do it!

[Like a Boss]

^^^^Sick! I'm in the process of destroying my Rossi 82s on rocks/stumps/etc this winter so I might try this method, as the downside of screwing them up is diminishing by the day. The skis have two sheets of metal and my goal is to have a skinnier 2012 Volkl Mantra (tip rocker) type ski.

[Nordic75]

I have a pair of coreupt Richard permin pro model from 09/10 (pre Born to Drop) these skis have insane amounts of positive camber and a pretty massive tiprocker. I wanted to take away some of the camber to create a more smeary ski as i felt that the ski was kind of unbalanced and the tail did not release as easily as I wanted.

Strapped them together and wedged a piece of wood between the tips and the tails, nothing dramatic. Then I stuck it in the sauna and heated to 70 - 80 deg Celcius for a few hours and let it cool down overnight. The heat is just enough to make the epoxy in the ski soften up a little bit. It needed 3 of these cycles, but now it is as good as flat and suuuper nice in the deep.

I don't know if I have compromised the ski by heating the whole thing, but they seem to hold up nicely.

[Smoova]

Just adding my data point. I put tip and tail rocker on a pair of 192 Elan M777s using 2x4s and clamps. Wanted a little more smear in the soft snow and a little more quickness in the bumps.

Laid a piece of metal lawn edging along the top of the ski to distribute the clamp pressure and make the bends a little smoother. Three bend iterations on the tips working my way back and two iterations on the tails. No heat. Left the ski in the clamp for 5 minutes on each iteration.

Did the bending two days ago and the rocker has not relaxed at all.

Skis have two layers of metal and started out with no rise/rocker and a significant amount of traditional camber. Pictures are with bases pressed together. For some reason, the skis look slightly uneven in the pictures, but the rocker/bend is within 2 mm in each ski.

[1000-oaks]

Wonder if the tips could be rockered by clamping them to the shape you want, then lay a strip of fiberglass (soaked in epoxy) from the binding toe to the tip and let it set. (Might have to use a little extra rocker to account for the clamping force.)

Maybe it would delam when skied unless the top sheet was perfectly prepped, but maybe it would work, without structurally damaging the ski levering it in a dumpster.

[GPP33]

This is a sweet thread. I'm not sure if I have already posted about this and I don't have any pics at the moment, but I rockered some Atomic Powder +. I can't speak for how well this process will work for other skis with lots of skis in them and I think you are wasting your time if they don't have steel in them if you use this method.

Here is how I did it:

What you need:

1. You DON'T need any heat. NONE. I can't speak for other skis but you don't need heat for Atomic Powder + and probably most skis with steel in them. These things pretty much have rebar in them. Once they bend they won't go back.
3. You DON'T need to leave them bent for some specific period of time. Some people have tried leaving skis with blocks between them all summer, which doesn't work that well.
3. A dumpster
4. Bricks or a wood block (depending on the dumpster)
5. A yoga mat to protect the skis
6. A 6-inch level
7. A pencil

How to do it:
1. I figured out approximately how far back I wanted the rocker to go. Start conservatively since it is easier to add rocker than to take it out. With the bases pushed against each other the new contact points after rockering for my skis is 8.5 inches further back for the front tips and 4.5 inches back from the rear tips compared to before I rockered them.
2. I marked four bend points with a pencil across the topsheet using a straight-edge in the same spot on both skis so I could have both skis have a matching rocker profile.
3. I used a dumpster sitting in an alley. I put each the ski in the slot where the truck picks up the dumpster. The slot in this dumpster (and I think most) was too big for the kind of leverage that I wanted. I took two masonry bricks and duck taped them together before putting them in the slot. You could use wood blocks as well. Phone books just won't work.
4. I slid each ski into the slot wrapped in the yoga mat up to the mark I wanted to bend at. You will want to double up the mat because you are putting a ton of pressure that will ding up the bases and top sheets. While bending the skis I used a 6-inch level to keep them level while bending.
5. I did the same for each ski on each mark working from the tips and tail moving to the middle of the ski until I was happy with my rocker. I left the camber underfoot. You will be surprised how freaking hard you have to push. I weigh about 165 and had to use maximum force.

After all was said and done I had a rocker profile that looks like the ski was manufactured that way. I did not crinkle my top sheets and the skis are within about 1/32 of each other across the whole rocker profile in the front and back.

It was a lot of fun!

I've been keeping an eye out for a good option to pick up to use as a rock ski. I have some 09 K2 Work Stinx which are in great shape but I was really hoping to get something with some early rise. After giving up trying to sell a 90mm waist tele specific ski with traditional camber for anywhere near what even a used rockered ski would cost I decided I was going to follow in your footsteps. Only I was going to class it up and build a jig to go into the receiver hitch of my truck instead of a dumpster. Before I got started though I got a hair brained idea to simply try standing on the tip where I wanted to start the rocker and crank up on the tail. Well after falling on my face a few times (I tele so I'm totally good at that) this is what I ended up with. Pics are taken next to my RMU Apostles. Both skis are exactly the same and have a nice gradual early rise in the tip and tail. The tips were a bit of work but the tail set in pretty easy. I'll keep measuring them over time to see if they relax back at all but I don't expect them to since the metal should have plastically deformed. I'll update this post after I get a chance to get them out for a few runs.

I also took a quick go at some Dynastar Big Troubles I have lying around but didn’t get the same result. They are a much burlier ski though.

I got too excited and forgot to mark the original contact point but it looks to be about 3mm (1.5 per ski).
Tips


Tails

[1000-oaks]

Unless the skis contain metal, not sure how these skis are taking a rocker without something breaking internally. Topsheet, sidewall & edges become the new structural elements?

[GPP33]

Unless the skis contain metal, not sure how these skis are taking a rocker without something breaking internally. Topsheet, sidewall & edges become the new structural elements?

The work stinx have 2 layers of metal. I'm sure it's not good for them and I'll see the effect in a couple of seasons even using them as a early season only ski. But then with the rate of ski development what good will a 5 year old traditional camber ski be in a couple of years? HOA probably won't let me do a ski fence.

[Nic.A]

I'll update this post after I get a chance to get them out for a few runs.

freak tumble one of my mt. bakers...13/16 early rise over 15" or so in the tip, very gradual. I clamped up the other for a few months and tossed some heat its way to obtain 15" of 3/4" rise. still fun in the corn, much more enjoyable on early season pow on the snowfields [inches of wet, manky pnw snow]. The one ski i purposefully altered is holdin' its rise...maybe has lost 1/16th or so.

[Jacolac]

I realize this thread is really old by now but wanted to add my attempt at changing ski camber/rocker. Picked up a pair of 2014 volkl nanuqs for cheap and didn't like the profile of them. Using some clamps and pieces of wood to wedge between the skis and leaving them in front of the fireplace overnight gave me this result. Before on the left, after on the right.



Removed a lot of camber, added more tip rocker and flattened out the camber in the tail.
They still seem to flex the same by hand but I haven't skied them yet.