GTSnoware

Introduction

GTSnoware, an application being built upon the CAD X11 CAD system, is a new ski/snowboard/split board design platform to support the growing number of 'micro-ski factories' being set up in the USA and elsewhere. Clearly state of the art ski and board design has outpaced the traditional board/ski design and fabrication concepts in the current low cost software. This new application will provide the user the opportunity to implement geometry designs according to on-going trends and give greater consideration to using simple or complex tooling.

Newer designs including progressive side cuts, early tip rise, extensive camber, rocker, mini-rocker combination in the profile and 3-arc tips/tail will be addressed. GTSnoware has already been developed for flexibility to design according to the radius offered by simple edge bender tools or the more complex results obtained form using a CNC edge bender.

Guidance on the capabilities provided in GTSnoware has been, and is being, offered by a team of experienced custom ski and snowboard builders.

The sample above shows a snow board from the actual program.

Comments, advice and questions are invited and should be sent to Mr. Richard Barnes ( )

Features Completed

Tip: 1) conventional Bezier curve but with constraints. The slope at the edge of the tip is parallel to the board axis so the tip width is always the widest dimension in the front. The transition curve to start the side cut will take care of user needs to blend the tip into the sidecut zone (no required slope aids). The front of the bezier will be restricted so that the tip on the center axis of the board/ski is, in most cases, the farthest point forward. A preset option easily allows the user to shape the Bezier tip as an ellipse or quad curve; 2) 3 arc tips to match common fabrication requirements. The user can define the radius at the side of the tip or the center radius that goes thru the nose of the tip, depending what bending tools they have at their disposal.

Tail: same as the tip yet the Bezier curve option will be allowed to go back of the tail length for designer effects.

Sidecut: classic single arc with short automatic transition curves into the tip/tail

Tip/Tail Profile: conventional single arc either defined by a specified radius or specified by a tip height at the nose.

Effective Length Profile: conventional positive camber arc with blending curves into the tip/tail.

General Features: table driven user interaction, split screen view of plan/profile, thumbwheel zoom, panning by tracing the cursor about the board geometry

Features in Development

Functionality under development is not posted here. As changes are made they will be posted in the above section and we sincerely expect you will be pleasantly surprised with monitoring this new application and becoming a user in the near future. The goal is to provide sufficient functionality that only a Solid Modeler will surpass for snowboard / ski designs. Please contact Mr. Richard Barnes with comments and questions.

How to acquire a GTSnoware License

First access to GTSnoware will be through become a CAD X11 Pro user and you should expect to have access to functionality that will surpass current low cost design systems. Some of the more advanced planned features will require a GTWorks intermediate license.

Output

• Printing to scale (multiple standard printer pages with registration marks) or one page,
• PDF output (one page),
• DXF output (Lines/Bezier/Arcs. The origin of the DXF output is currently defined as the lower left corner of the tip of the board/ski design. This is a sample from the program with arcs and Bezier curves GTSnoware DXF Sample