Materials
Processes
Design.
The Glyde Snowshoes were the product of a project for ME203, Stanford's Design and Manufacturing Class. Over ten weeks, I explored different ideas, constructed various prototypes, and ultimately manufactured a product that fit my vision for an interesting snowshoe. These snowshoes were designed and manufactured to be ultralight, appear aerodynamic, and most importantly, be excellent at moving over snow.
Manufacturing.
The frames of these snowshoes were bent from thin-walled 6061 aluminum tubing. The ovular front was achieved by using tooling for larger sized tubes, allowing the metal to deform appropriately. The crampons were made from mild steel sheets. Their strength comes from short flanges along their sides. Areas on these were milled out to minimize weight without sacrificing the necessary strength. These metal pieces were powder-coated to minimize wear in the great outdoors. The front crampons were attached to the frames using a flexure system made from a coated nylon strap. Finally, the decking was cut from a neoprene-coated nylon. The decking design allows for minimal fasteners.
Gallery.
Initial Sketches
Comparing to the Prototype
Tube Bending
Milling the Crampons
Iterating through Decks
The Finished Product