SmokeyTheBear wrote:UHMW has a large coefficient of thermal expansion. When we use it for undersea mounting fixtures we have to allow for significant thermal movement (The trade off is that is slightly positively buoyant).

I know nothing about Ski's but I would allow for some movement between the base material and the UHMW so the ski's survive the transition between summer storage and winter use.

I had to replace the bottom of one of my Datum skis, after having a close encounter with some jagged rocks just barely snow covered. They are secured with countersunk 1/4" stainless machine screws, and the drilled holes in the plastic are 1/4", so it would seem for at least ski use any thermal expansion and contraction is not enough to matter, near as I can tell.

Another use for the stuff: I had to move a 115 year old cast iron bathtub in a confined area, 1/4" thick, the sucker was HEAVY. At one point I was debating jacking it another several inches higher so I could get a dolly under it prior to rotating it 90 degrees, but then I remembered the extra ski UHMW I had (enough for another 2 or 3 replacements if ever needed) out in the hangar. It worked really slick....!

Here’s an idea for the old tub.

I had a wood fired hot tub years ago, a Snorkle Stove, back when I was off grid, it worked great BUT the lag time from cold to hot was long enough to eventually be a PITA. A girfriend cooked dinner once using the cooktop top part of the firebox, or at least reheated dinner anyway.

This chunk of 1/4" thick iron will be hauled down to my spring on my new property, and be used to capture the overflow so the wildlife can more easily have a drink.

The above hot tub is in the most remote place on Lake Superior that I know of, and was incredible for us.