If you ever tried snowboarding? You will probably discover that these core moves are not quite as easy as the pros make it look.
Learning to maneuver a snowboard is a long and involved process and it is much the same when it comes to manufacturing the surfboards for snow.
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The snowboard is the delight of winter sports enthusiasts. Its course are made of a thin sheet of wood, various kinds of wood are used depending on the type of board being made.
Bindings have to be firmly attached to the board, holes are drilled for inserts to which bindings will be secure. A temp will allow the holes to be precisely drilled.
Plaiting reduces the board to the required fitness, a thick board is obviously more rigid than a thin one. A shaping procedure refines the board’s contours. At this point, the board is still perfectly flat with no curvature.
The boards are then stored upright to await the next step. Now, they must secure the aluminum inserts which will be embedded in the wood. This thin sheet of fiber glass will create better support for the inserts therefore they would be more solid.
To make working on it easier, the board is securely held in place by clamps. Epoxy, an extremely strong adhesant often used with composite materials is applied to the fiber glass at room temperature. It is essential to remove any access epoxy as well as eliminate all air bubbles for there will be a good adherence.
As for the top part of the board, it is made of resistant plastic applied by silk screening. In silk screening, the ink is spread by this little squeegee. This application is called the pass, colors have to be applied one at a time. The inks must dry for several hours between each coat.
Now, the board must be curved, a cover is placed on the mold. When the mold is closed, the board is given the desired curve. Heat trapped in the mold makes the epoxy set and hardened.
The board comes out of the mold and any excess epoxies in the wood are removed by a band saw. To achieve a perfect cut, the saw blade is changed every 50 boards. It is highly précised work and totally manual.
They apply again by silk screening another coat then another color, this time it is red. The snowboard must now be protected, a protecting varnish flows as a thin curtain, the board passes beneath this curtain and then move into a dryer for a 6 hour stay.
Sanding removes surplus varnish from the edges of the board. New holes are pierced into the board to locate the inserts installed at the beginning of production. This sander removes imperfections in the harden varnish and prepares the board for its second varnish coating then the plastic base is sanded to obtain the desired finish.
The board is checked to see that it is perfectly flat. A razor blade verifies that the different coats are well adhered to one another. Certain boards get an engraved aluminum insert, a luxury touch. The board is now ready for action. This facility turns out over 500 snowboards per day in 30 different models.
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