Back from the mid west (CLEVELAND)

MID WEST SUPPORT: This kid is in high school and wrote this after we had one conversation about topsheets...what were you doing at 17? After all the technical insite he is cool enough to worry about social media..quality.

Ben Marconi (bigbenslax@hotmail.com)

Mr Liechty, I have been looking at dye sublimation printing, especially in regards to the press needed to transfer the image printed (using the special Epson printer and inks) onto the ski, or at least onto a sheet that could be used in the ski. Already having the printer, the only step needed is the heat transfer, which by looking at presses for t-shirt sublimation seems to work at around 400 degrees (Fahrenheit I'm assuming) for approximately 1 minute. I understand that these presses are far too small to cover an entire ski graphic (especially with larger all mountain powder skis) and I do not know if the graphic could be transfered in sections. The press used to transfer images to shirts, mouse pads, hats etc... is essentially just a large iron exerting sometimes hundreds of pounds of pressure for relatively short periods of time (you may know all of this already). As far as I can see, there are multiple possible solutions. For the first pair of skis you may just want to use an iron, yet this is obviously a pain and not practical for large scale production (hopefully soon). I suppose a press could be built at the length needed with an electric based heating element just like in an iron, yet this may honestly be more of a pain than just buying the machine. So, I figured that the process may actually be possible within the press in your kitchen. Depending on the minimum temperature required to initiate a phase change of the dye (solid to gas), it may be possible to use the heat blankets you are purchasing (or have purchased). By this I mean that the layers of the ski are stacked (p-tex, epoxy, fiberglass, epoxy, etc...) including the printed image for the ski graphic. (a negative cannot be used for this idea unlike when pressing t-shirts) Thus, the paper or fabric you printed the Grace graphic onto would be placed either face down onto the topsheet (negative must be used ) or put underneath the topsheet (not a negative) in which the paper would remain in the ski. Depending on the heat output of the heat blankets, this may on not work, as a minimum temperature may be needed to make the dyes change states. Because the press must be used for about 7-8 minutes to cure the epoxy, the lack of high end temperature may be made up in the increased time being heated (as shirts are only heated for around 1min). As stated earlier, a large press could be created if the heat blankets dont get hot enough, yet this may be expensive and time consuming-gotta get those skis outta the kitchen at low cost. I hope this actually is of some assistance to you, let me know if I can help you out in any way. I appreciate you meeting with we at The Winking Lizard a few days ago, and your offer about this summer. I'm trying to get at least 1-2 fans a day to like the Ski Grace Facebook page. Keep tightening your din-