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Home Base Grinding, Anybody?

KingGrump

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Any alternatives out there?

1678840363913.png
 

Scruffy

Making fresh tracks
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For Debate Today: Is this structuring tool best utilized with a longitudinal or crosscut orientation?!

And is it best when pulled or pushed?! :geek:
My ski buds like to tease me, because they witnessed me this one time halfway down Outer Limits, Killington, I pulled up to a granite rock on skier's right and took my left ski off and started "stone" grinding al fresco. I had some hanging material from hitting a prior rock that need addressing. I believe I used the push method :ogbiggrin:
 

KingGrump

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For Debate Today: Is this structuring tool best utilized with a longitudinal or crosscut orientation?!

And is it best when pulled or pushed?! :geek:

Calling on @crgildart!

Pulled in a diagonal in short strokes should yield a pattern commonly known as broken diagonal. Works very well for the colder mid winter season. :ogbiggrin:

Pushing the ski pass the structuring media should yield a deeper structure more suitable for spring skiing.
 
Thread Starter
TS
W

WhistlerGman

Booting up
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Whistler, BC
There is absolutely zero chance you will achieve truly flat with a belt sander.

Completely aside from big-picture questions like "What is flat - if it isn't a straight line average between the current height of the edges?" , any pressure you put on the belt will cause both elastic rebound inaccuracy (both from the base and from the belt/pulley system) and thermal (overheat) inaccuracy.

And that's just looking at the ski crosswise. There will be longitudinal humps and waves aplenty. And plastic hairs.
In carpentry, you have a "jointer" to transform a twisted wooden plank evenly flat. Too bad modern skis have evolved from 100% wood to maybe just 50% or so in the core. Let me run to a local junkyard, salvage an old machine, and slap on a belt or drum sander. Voila!

For pattern structuring, a laser engraver will do a nice job. Check this out -
 

pais alto

me encanta el país alto
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Super-intriguing, but appears unavailable until further notice.


Any alternatives out there?

Buy from that guy - he’s cool.

I’ve been using the skivisions for a long time now (and buying from Terry/Slidewright), do recommend.
 

Tom K.

Skier Ordinaire
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Buy from that guy - he’s cool.

I love both Slide Wright and Tognar.

Can't quite get to free shipping with S-W since he's out of the stones I want.

I'll just wait for fall restocking.
 

justplanesteve

Getting off the lift
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Mar 6, 2021
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Elmira, NY
@justplanesteve , make it a challenge, you should make your own skis

You know i'm slouching in that direction.
Bought all the materials, got some poplar boards out of the loft.
Then it started snowing and i started my old age/junior instructor gig.
Thought it would not affect my energy on days off, but it does. Plus less time to keep up with "life" (chores, etc).

Don't want the snow to stop (15" last night :) )
But maybe get back to this after it does.....

Thanks for the encouragement!

smt
 

Yo Momma

Making fresh tracks
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I've had only one set of my numerous skis (too many to count) stone ground in the last 15 years and that's at 60+ days per yr on skis. I only do simple universal wax jobs, sharpen and ptex gouges now. Nothing complicated like base grinding anymore.

While living out west, after seeing how me and all my buds who were semi pro, ex ski patrol, ex instructors & guides got absolutely TOASTED via finesse and speed... any time my ex brother in law visited from the Ascutney VT area, came skiing w/ us on his 25 yo hand-me-down skis that were never tuned, delaminating and the metal edges peeling off, I learned that it really doesn't matter unless you're clocking for a team.

We learned that we had to hike him into submission to slow him down. Since then I wax, sharpen and an occasional tune up. When I got my Bones bases done at Edgewise in Stowe (amazing tuning shop that closed), they looked amazing and skied really nice.... but in the end... it wasn't worth the $$$ for recreational skiing.... more cash for trips and skis. IMHO :beercheer:
 
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Miller

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Feb 3, 2016
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145
I am looking at going with the Ski Visions Base Flattener/structuring tool this summer. I have been sharpening my side edges for 10+ years, but have never touched a base edge. If I go the the base flattener, what is the best/easiest way to set that base bevel after doing that?
 

Crank

Making fresh tracks
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I've had only one set of my numerous skis (too many to count) stone ground in the last 15 years and that's at 60+ days per yr on skis. I only do simple universal wax jobs, sharpen and ptex gouges now. Nothing complicated like base grinding anymore.

While living out west, after seeing how me and all my buds who were semi pro, ex ski patrol, ex instructors & guides got absolutely TOASTED via finesse and speed... any time my ex brother in law visited from the Ascutney VT area, came skiing w/ us on his 25 yo hand-me-down skis that were never tuned, delaminating and the metal edges peeling off, I learned that it really doesn't matter unless you're clocking for a team.

We learned that we had to hike him into submission to slow him down. Since then I wax, sharpen and an occasional tune up. When I got my Bones bases done at Edgewise in Stowe (amazing tuning shop that closed), they looked amazing and skied really nice.... but in the end... it wasn't worth the $$$ for recreational skiing.... more cash for trips and skis. IMHO :beercheer:

I am a minimalist when it comes to working on my skis. That said I did get a basic tune and wax at a shop early this season and noticed a difference. Not necessary, but nice.

I mostly just sharpen edges and repair dings as well though. I just use a file and sometimes a little sand paper. When I was learning, back in the day, a #10 bastard file was all you needed.
 

dovski

Waxing my skis and praying for snow
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I agree with you about the down side of grinding. However my boys are on the slopes 4 times a week for 16 weeks straight each season. Naturally towards the end of season, the skis are in rough shape and require reconditioning.
My kids ski Freeride which means we are at the hill all the time for a good 14-15 weeks plus travel to comps. We probably get their skis tuned once or twice a season and then do all the edge and base maintenance ourselves. Unless you are amazing at race tunes and have a home tool that can give your kids proper race structure on their bases, you may find that grinding the skis yourself is counterproductive. Just saying that when fractions of a second determine the winner details and tune quality matter. We typically only do a full tune when we have base damage which has been known to happen with Freeride. Regular waxing and edge polishing with a diamond stone negates the need for multiple tunes/grinds per season. Regular ski maintenance and upkeep may negate your need for a home grinding solution. Also remember every time you grind you will need to reset the base edge, which is also super important for a good race tune.
 

BLiP

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It seems to me that the time, money, and effort that would be required to figure out how to properly base grind at home would be better spent on finding a shop/technician that you can trust. If you're local shop isn't doing a good job, expand your search. Do it yourself is all well and good, but some jobs are better left to the professionals and their specialized equipment.
 

GB_Ski

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Since OP has 3 kids with 3-6 pairs each, that's easily $700-$1,000 per tune on all the skis (say 15 pairs). Couple of times a season, would be really costly. Yea, I wouldn't mind finding a DIY solution.
 

BLiP

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Couple of times a season, would be really costly.
(1) It is unlikely that they all need to be ground multiple times per season (particularly skis that are just used for training). I assume we're talking about juniors, not racers about to break onto the WC. Technique and good instruction (and edges and wax) is going to shave far more time for most juniors than a base grind.
(2) Do it wrong once or twice, the replacement value of the skis will be much more than the savings of DIY.
(3) To each their own - simply my thoughts/experience.
 

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