Help repairing a waterski

[Brian Hale]

A friend ask if I could repair a waterski for him. It an old one made of 3 strips of plywood and one seam is beginning to separate. My plan is to make a quick jig for the bandsaw and so i can rip it along the glue and put it back together. Having nit done this before I'm sure there's something im not thinking of. What glue should i use ? Any tips? Brian :)

[Bill Ryall]

Glue- Marine grade epoxy. West System3 or equivalent.

[Ole Anderson]

Epoxy, yes. One of my starts into woodworking involved my favorite waterski as a teen (50+ years ago), a narrow tail Northland slalom ski that needed some TLC. Sanded it down and varnished the top and put a crazy orange paint on the bottom and added a bigger fin. Can't believe I got rid of it when the fiberglass Jobe came out (which I still have).

[Art Mann]

Of course I haven't seen the item and my opinion is just an opinion. I don't think trying to separate the lamination by cutting it apart with a band saw and then re-gluing the thing is the best approach. Even with a very thin blade, you are going to destroy at least one and probably two of the veneer layers. I would try separating the lamination by hand or possibly with a wedge far enough to cover the delaminated surfaces with epoxy and then clamp well.

If you do try the bandsaw method, I recommend using a mixture of epoxy and wood flour to the consistency of peanut butter rather than just epoxy. West Systems, System Three and several other epoxy manufacturers have more specific instructions. This mix will replace some of the thickness and strength you have turned to sawdust and will fill any gaps and inconsistencies that mayresult from the cut.

[John Schweikert]

Marine grade plywood to start. Marine epoxy and following good practices for epoxy work, fillets, etc.

If you've never done it, I'd suggest going to a dedicated forum on boat building. While there is a subforum here on the topic, there is an even better one done by Wooden Boat magazine. Can't link it because, well, that would be too practical and not allowed by SMC.

[Tom M King]

I grew up on a lake waterskiing in the '60s. I don't remember seeing any made from plywood. The old Cypress Gardens wooden skis had the curved tip resawn back to the flat part, then bent, and glued back together in the curve. They probably used to use resorcinol, but I'd use West Systems today.

[Brian Hale]

Thanks guys!

The split runs about half the length of the ski and they actually asked me to put a couple strips of wood or metal across the split to keep it all together but cutting and regluing it seemed like a better choice to me. I've got plenty of West System here and the split is wide enough that I could just work some into it if you think it will hold. I don't have it with me so now pics but it is quite old. They say it's easier to get up on these old ones than the newer ones they have so any repair is good with them regardless of how it looks....

Brian :)

[Art Mann]

I think I misunderstood the nature of the split.

[Tom M King]

Me too. What make and type of ski is it?

[Brian Hale]

Just got the ski and sure enough it's not plywood but 3 pieces of solid wood.

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[Tom M King]

I remember those. They were cheap skiis to start with. Cypress Gardens knock-off binding hardware with some sort of stiff synthetic rubber. I think the "rubber" on those has been replaced. I believe they were white originally. My family ran a campgrounds on the lake, and we sold waterskiis. We probably sold many more of these than anything else just because they were cheap. If I'm remembering right, they went for about 35 bucks for the combo pair in the '60s and very early '70s.

[Myk Rian]

Now that we know the split is lengthwise, and not a de-lamination, it's a whole new story.

[Pat Barry]

Now that we know the split is lengthwise, and not a de-lamination, it's a whole new story.

I agree.

Are you going to try and save the cool logo? Do you think they have a spline running the length of the split?

So simplest approach I can think of is coax it apart, clean up the edges and reglue. Not sure what is the best glue for the job though

[Brian Hale]

The ski is ~66 long and the split is about 19" long that starts under the front rubber and runs forward. The areas in front of and behind it seems very stable. I was able to push a card scraper into the split and slide it back and forth to clean out about 15". At this point I think pouring epoxy into it will fix it without much work. I can put a clamp on the ski and close the gap as much as I like.

So here's what I'm thinking....

Tape the bottom
pour the epoxy into the split (no coloring or filler)
lightly clamp to close the gap some till some the epoxy begins to get pushed out
Give it back to them tomorrow

Sound right?

Brain :)

[Myk Rian]

Give it back to them tomorrow
Are you going to clean up the squeeze-out first?
You can draw the epoxy into the crack by using a vacuum from the other side that you put it into.

[Brian Hale]

Yes, i'll clean it up first but maybe i'll tape the top and pour from the bottom. any excess i'll just spread out on the bottom. Overall the ski is in pretty bad shape and i'm not sure they want me to do any more then prevent water shooting up through the crack when skiing....

The vacuum is a good idea