Ski Tuning at Home?

[Greg]

Just curious to see who tunes their own equipment at home. I'd also be interested to hear what's involved and how to get started from the home tuners here (Charlie?!)...

How often do you tune? I get my skis tuned usually once before the season. I probably should have it done more though, and if I knew how to do it myself, I'd probably tune them quite often.

 

[thetrailboss]

I've been tuning my own skis since I took a course on it during College. I sharpen and wax my skis every 3-4 days and take them to the shop once a year to do other more serious work. As long as you know what you are doing and do not fiddle with anything else, you are fine.

 

[jwind]

I do, however it was easier in highschool...having a tuning/waxing room with clamps etc. was alot easier.

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

I have my skis professionally stone ground at the beginning of each season. Then I hand tune them myself the rest of the season.

At the end of each day, at the mountain I clean them off with a towel and travel with them in a bag. When I get home I inspect for base flatness, base scratches/gouges, edge burrs and binding operation.

Most times I debur and tune the edges with the appropriate stone(s). By stoning the edges often, I file them less often. Most of the time I clean the base, hot wax, scrape and buff at least each time I use them, however that is not always practical and will settle for two but never more than three days in-between waxing sessions. More days then three ski performance suffers and the equipment becomes more than a pleasurable chore to tune.

Believing that skiing performance begins with good boots, I spend $$$$ on GOOD boots and want to have them last as long as practically possible. I wipe clean my boots inside as well as outside each time I use them. I store them out in the open in my home office . I make sure the bottoms are flat and trim the any nicks that develop. I also lubricate the micro-adjustment spindle threads to keep them operable.

For me, tuning my equipment is part of the skiing experience. I am able to take better care of my equipment, permit it to operate near optimum performance, and last longer for less $$$$.

Tooling and materials needed can be purchased at local ski shops or on the web. I like Tognar Toolworks www.tognar.com as well as ARTECH Alpine Racing Technology www.artechski.com.

 

[Greg]

Just as an aside - I can vouch first-hand for Charlie's meticulousness in maintaining his ski equipment. In addition to that, he is one of the most solid skiers that I have had the pleasure making turns with. His style is almost methodical and a thing of beauty to watch. I always value his comments highly.

 

[GadgetRick]

Hmm...

I wish I could be so meticulous as any of you! I have the shop at the mountain do my skis. They always take car of us patrollers.

I just don't have the time/space to do all of this. It's certainly a good idea to take care of the skis like this but, with the amount I ski, I'd be constantly tuning. Just don't have the time for it all.

 

[jimme]

Got just about every hand tool needed to tune skis last season. Even got a base flattener, then found out it's best to have that done professionally. It was a bit unnerving scraping the based and then filing the edges knowing the amount of $$ spent on the skis. Now, it is getting to be second nature.

This year I will have the skis stone ground by a shop at the start of the season to see how well that works and will keep them in tune myself.

Because I got "free" wax with my Swix iron, I hot waxed almost every time I went out. What a differance a waxed ski makes! I read that they not only help you glide faster, but make the ski handle better and I noticed it.

Jimme

 

[thetrailboss]

At the end of each day, at the mountain I clean them off with a towel and travel with them in a bag. When I get home I inspect for base flatness, base scratches/gouges, edge burrs and binding operation.

For me, tuning my equipment is part of the skiing experience. I am able to take better care of my equipment, permit it to operate near optimum performance, and last longer for less $$$$.

Tooling and materials needed can be purchased at local ski shops or on the web. I like Tognar Toolworks www.tognar.com as well as ARTECH Alpine Racing Technology www.artechski.com.

Charlie is right on here with his opening and I think that it is probably the most important part of this statement and something you can do. I have seen first hand what a couple of minutes with a towel and some TLC can do to the life of your equipment. Just a couple of nights without drying off the water can lead to some nasty edges.

 

[Stephen]

We're suppose to tune them?

I may have my tuned in the hopes I actually hit the slopes this year.

-Stephen

 

[tree_skier]

I leave the base flattening and major base work to the shop with the proper equipment (Stone grinder etc). With todays base material it isn't as simple as lighting a P-tex strip and dripping it into gouges.

I try to file (base and edges) and wax every 3-4 trips but don't allways succeed and deburr at the end of the day. Whenever a file is applied to an edge it should then be stoned and polished. A sharpening type of stone is run along the edge to remove any file marks and then the edge is polished by rubbing it with a gummi stone.

Before the wife and kids came along I religiously sharpened and waxed daily but time is the issue now.

 

[trailbiscuit]

I take my tele boards to a professional tuning outfit at the beginning of the season. Then I fluff and tweak them myself throughout the season depending on how much snow time they see.

I nordic ski at least 4 days a week, so I usually spend 3-4 nights in the winter in the "Salle de Fartage", i.e. my basement, waxing them. To paraphrase a quote from a book I recently read: "The amount of brain power a cross country skier uses for wax is similar to that which a normal person would use for money or sex. Maybe both."

Tuning skis is fairly easy, and pretty fun IMO. It's also a good way to protect your investment. There are a ton of online resources for tuning, and you may find a clinic or demo every now and then. I would definitely recommend getting some expert advice and instruction before you dive in with irons and such...again, protect your investment.

The flip side is that if you read any of the wax manufactuters brochures, guides or websites, it would seem that you need to spend millions of dollars. But, it can be done on the cheap. Remember, you're not racing on the World Cup circuit, just trying to get the best performace for you.

 

[severine]

I don't know enough to tune myself. We had the shop do ours last year; I think we had it done twice in the 16 or 17 times we went skiing (and we started with new skis at the beginning of the season that I assumed were tuned, but we noticed a huge difference after the 1st time we had them tuned so probably they weren't). Waxing does make a huge difference and if I had the space to do it (I rent a 4-room apartment...no room), I would wax every time.

 

[gmcunni]

i tried sharpening my skis last night. they hadn't been done since last fall. i have the handheld thing that does beveling.

i used the same settings as previous year (1 base, 2 sides).. the file hardly touched the bottom of the edge but when i did the sides there was a lot of metal coming off. 1/2 thru i was sure i'd screwed them up. i finished up with the diamond debur thing. i couldn't get them really sharp (finger nail test) but i skied on them later that night and they weren't horrible.

 

[vdk03]

I just got my board back from the shop, AMR in Breckenridge did a full tune on it as well as fill in a few nasty gouges. Looks good and I am excited to try it tomorrow, this is a new board and has never been tuned so we will see if there is a difference between strait from the factory and a good tune.

I don't tune my own board, but I do wipe it down with a towel when I load up at the end of the day.

 

[goldsbar]

Even got a base flattener, then found out it's best to have that done professionally. It was a bit unnerving scraping the based and then filing the edges knowing the amount of $$ spent on the skis.

Hah, same here. I bought that base flattening tool but never had the guts to use it on a pair of skis that I care about. I tried it on older skis and it's really not that easy to use well.

Otherwise, I've collected a good assortment of tools over the years. I generally use an SVTS 92 or 93 (i.e. 2 or 3 degree) fixed side edge tool with a progression of diamond stones anytime I expect hard snow conditions. I use an actual file far less often.

Waxing also depends on the snow and how motivated I am. If I'm motivated, I'll scrape and brush. If not, I just leave the wax on and let the snow take it off. Not racing in the world cup. If you want to know the difference between the NE and UT/WY, the excess wax will come off in a couple of runs around here. Out West, it'll stay caked onto my bases all week in spots (not a good plan, obviously, but really can't tell).

 

[goldsbar]

i tried sharpening my skis last night. they hadn't been done since last fall. i have the handheld thing that does beveling.

i used the same settings as previous year (1 base, 2 sides).. the file hardly touched the bottom of the edge but when i did the sides there was a lot of metal coming off. 1/2 thru i was sure i'd screwed them up. i finished up with the diamond debur thing. i couldn't get them really sharp (finger nail test) but i skied on them later that night and they weren't horrible.

Never touch your bases except for a very mild stone. Use a 1* base on a base that's already 1* will make it more than 1*. It's not the same concept as a side edge. The "degree" on a base edge is how much lower the end of the base edge versus the ski base. No matter what your guide says, you'll continually make the edge lower if you continue to file. It's only useful after a flat grind where you higlight the flat edge with a magic marker and file until there's no more marker - that's 1* (or whatever your guide says).

 

[gmcunni]

Never touch your bases except for a very mild stone.

i think i'd received similar advice in the past, i should have listened.

i had a coupon for 1/2 off a full tune so i decided to have a professional fix my mistakes for me.

 

[drjeff]

Hah, same here. I bought that base flattening tool but never had the guts to use it on a pair of skis that I care about. I tried it on older skis and it's really not that easy to use well.

Otherwise, I've collected a good assortment of tools over the years. I generally use an SVTS 92 or 93 (i.e. 2 or 3 degree) fixed side edge tool with a progression of diamond stones anytime I expect hard snow conditions. I use an actual file far less often.

Waxing also depends on the snow and how motivated I am. If I'm motivated, I'll scrape and brush. If not, I just leave the wax on and let the snow take it off. Not racing in the world cup. If you want to know the difference between the NE and UT/WY, the excess wax will come off in a couple of runs around here. Out West, it'll stay caked onto my bases all week in spots (not a good plan, obviously, but really can't tell).

A base flattening tool(Ski Visions Base flattener), when used with the sk/board properly secured in a good vice and on a stable tuning surface is really a piece of cake to use as long as you keep even pressure on it throughout the length of the pass over the base. I make a quick pass or 2 over the skis i'm tuning every time I tune. Just regular wear and tear over use will cause the wearing away of some base material by the edges which can cause the base to go from the ideal flat to a slightly convex cross section which can effect glide and performance. Also, if it's been a while since a ski/board has had a tune, you can get into the situation where the edges might actually be sticking up above the base material which can also effect how the ski/board turns.

The biggest thing that I worry about while using my base flattener isn't doing damage to my base, but doing damage to my finger(s) as the cutting bar is VERY sharp! I've learned the tough way that have a pair of tuning gloves on while using it/handling it is a good idea!

 

[thinnmann]

I love to tune my own skis at home. A freshly sharpened and waxed ski is almost a work of art leaning up against my workshop wall!
With 4 people, one racing, and a dozen pairs os skis, it would cost a mint to have them all done at a shop. Especially the race tunes.
Over the years I have realized you don't need the overly pricy tuning stuff. Buy the side and base edge tools specific for skis, and the wax and ptex, and vise. Everything else is available at hardware stores and Target. For example, just use an old clothes iron, files are cheap and easily replaced when dull, sharpening stones are nothing special, wrap a small one with 600 wet/dry paper and you can polish the edge. For base brushes I use a wire brush meant for cleaning barbecue grills and a nail brush for the final buff-out.

By the way, most shops do a crumby job and don't even know what a 2 degree side bevel is! (or 88 degree, depending on how you look at it...)

 

[drjeff]

I love to tune my own skis at home. A freshly sharpened and waxed ski is almost a work of art leaning up against my workshop wall!
With 4 people, one racing, and a dozen pairs os skis, it would cost a mint to have them all done at a shop. Especially the race tunes.
Over the years I have realized you don't need the overly pricy tuning stuff. Buy the side and base edge tools specific for skis, and the wax and ptex, and vise. Everything else is available at hardware stores and Target. For example, just use an old clothes iron, files are cheap and easily replaced when dull, sharpening stones are nothing special, wrap a small one with 600 wet/dry paper and you can polish the edge. For base brushes I use a wire brush meant for cleaning barbecue grills and a nail brush for the final buff-out.

By the way, most shops do a crumby job and don't even know what a 2 degree side bevel is! (or 88 degree, depending on how you look at it...)

As an avid tuner myself. let me tell you one thing. If you ever see a deal on a "real" ski waxing iron, BUY IT!!! I never realized just how much of a difference (both interms of speed and quality of the finished product) that it makes. Having a temperature guage that is designed for ski wax, not for "silk, cotton or permanent press" makes a difference and the extra thick heat plate on the iron holds the temperature and makes the melting and ironing in of the wax so much easier! Quite simply the $50 or so I got mine for (Swix's basic waxing iron) from one of Reliable Racing Supply's "Wacky Wednesday" E-mail specials they send out each week was close to the best $50 i've ever spent on a long lasting piece of tuning equipment!