gas money for the ski team

Well the word got around that I had made some pretty decent looking adirondack water ski chairs so I was recruited to make one for the ski team. They were throwing out some pretty well used old skies that had come to the end of their usable life. Some had 4 coats of paint on top of the original and all had several sets of bindings through the years. There was even some good old rot in a couple. The kids are going to raffle it off this coming summer at one of their shows. My guess would be one of the parents will go for it!

Reid, did you ever make your's?

Pete when in heck do you find time for all you do...being on here and all the research you do for all of us?

john

Hollywood wrote: 8122pbrainard wrote: They were throwing out some pretty well used old skies that had come to the end of their usable life. How is this decided?

Kevin, If you notice, most of the chair was made from the forward ends of the old skies. A lot were split from so many sets of bindings being screwed on. It also probably didn't help that it looks like the kids didn't drill large enough pilot holes. Some of the tails were also split and screwed back together with steel strapping. The rot in some was around unsealed binding screw holes.

See you Tuesday.

Gary, The skis from the ski club came to me without bindings. The kids have boxes of them that they recycle but most are in the same shape as yours. Torn or split rubber was typical with the old bindings. You may get lucky and find NOS on Ebay. Are your skis wet or did someone do a quick job on varnishing?

Edit: Gary, I just did a ebay search and found this listing. He does state that he has lots of the rubber parts for bindings available.
Ebay listing

I find the old wooden skis are much better for teaching skiing. They tend to be wider and have nuetral boyancy, so they're much easier for the skier to control while in the water. I have a pair of Northland Speedsters that were given to me 41 years ago that I put modern HO bindings on that have been used to teach many kids. New bindings are pricey, but they're so much better and easier to deal with than the old ones.