Ski Production Video

Was browing youtube and found an interesting clip on the production process. I thought it was pretty interesting. I didn't know they actually paired final skis by their flex patterns after a batch to make sure both skis were near identical.

Great Vid...thanks MojoMan

Yeah, it was pretty interesting. I would assume most manufacturers have similar production setups. The only thing I wondered about was the claim that their skis are all hand-crafted. I guess it depends on what is meant by hand-crafted. It looked like the crafting part was simply placing the layers on top of each other before heat-pressing the mold. Everything else looked machined. Would it even be possible or practical for a machine to perform that step anyways? Perhaps that is standard in the industry.

I was wondering the same. The only real (non indie) hand-crafted ski's I had heard from are Stöckli, mostly used as one of the arguments to justify their price.

There's a discovery channel clip on snowboards somewhere on youtube iirc, I seem to remember those being much more "hand-crafted" while not even trying to boast with the term.

I just quickly skimmed the clip, it's a board from Burton:

edit: I'm quite sure it's possible to automate the layering step though, pretty much everything you can do from manual labour can be automated, especially in a factory like that. It may not be the most cost-effective way possibly.

Interesting video.

Here is one from Icelantic production. It looks like they are really hand-crafted most of the way.

You might want to turn down the volume on this one..lol.

 

 

While on the subject of production, I wonder what advantage, if any, hand-crafted production has over automation. I know it certainly is cost-effective for a small operation but what advantage this gives to the consumer is something I don't understand. It is often used as a marketing tool -- "Hand-made in Switzerland or Colorado etc.."  I don't know anything about ski production but I would think a machine can be a lot more precise. I would guess it has nothing really to do with quality but is more a matter of a small operation not able to justify the expense of automation.

I was considering this as well, but then Rolls Royce popped up in my thoughts, so I suppose it has its merits. Though frankly, I can't see it.

Anyone know if the Karhu videos from the Cowansville shop are still anywhere on the nets?