refinish an old wood ski

[Edge180]

I've got an old wood topped O'brien ski that is showing it's age and would like to refinish it. It looks like the varnish is at the end of it's life and I would essentially like to re-finish it.

If I sand it down I'm afraid I'll loose the logo stickers and was wondering if there is a place I could get new ones. Also, any suggestions on new varnish? or sanding techniques?

 

[skibrain]

Re: refinish an old wood ski

We have a '75 O'Brien wood top and I used polyurethane for some touchup. I pulled off the bindings and did selective sanding - not on the graphics but they the finish was really fine there.

You could probably have a sign shop cut new vinyl logos but that gets to be a lot of hassle for a one-off. You might contact O'Brien and see if they could help you. Our's is a red bottom ski with yellow graphics. Green bottom with green graphics were pretty common too.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: refinish an old wood ski

If you can get new logos, you may want to consider this. I refinished a very old pair of Cypress Gardens skis by sanding off all the finish, saturating the wood with epoxy and then varnishing. They really looked good and should be much less prone to rot over the years. Yeah, I know this will make them a little heavier, but they were already much heavier than newer skis anyway. We don't use them anymore, but they really look good as a wall decoration at our camp.

 

[Edge180]

Re: refinish an old wood ski

Thanks for the responses. Selective sanding may be my route. Yea, mines a green bottom, green lettering so if I get desparate, I'll get a hold of O'brien.