Repair job for a significant edge tear - how sketchy is this?

[Doug Briggs]

To put things in perspective, I'm still skiing this ski, 6 years later. Skis are remarkably durable. The damaged edge is the outside edge. Surprisingly it was the outside edge when the damage occurred.

My heavily damaged Fischer Ranger and repair.

Before:

 

[Uncle-A]

I assume the bad edge will be an outside edge therefore if it fails you shouldn't be standing on it very hard in the first place.

I agree with @Doug Briggs, it would be best if you always use that ski so that the repair is your outside edge. You can correct me if I am mistaken but it looks like it would be the left ski if you make it the outside edge. As a left ski it would carve on the good edge when making a right hand turn.

 

[Eric Edelstein]

I'm wondering if anyone has a more informed opinion on the safety of this quick rock ski repair. Are these good for some more rock bashing, or should they be tossed?

About ~40 cm of the edge delaminated on the skis. I cut away all of the loose base material (these skis have seen many base grinds and there isn't much base material left.)

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Drilled some small screws in to anchor the edge. Above the edge is the sidewall material, which is not very dense and doesn't have that much grip on the screw threads. Still, I put plenty of screws down and the edge seems to be anchored solidly.

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Lots and lots of ptex. After scraping the screw heads reappeared, but I was able to sand everything level. Definitely not possible (or worth it) to do a base grind.

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For something like this, once you have the new edge secured into the core/sidewall. Don't use PTEX..it won't adhere to the metal and is not intended for this type of filler situation.

I'd use some GFlex 650 or GFlex 655 (thicker) epoxy from West Marine (better than DIY home improvement store epoxy or JBWeld), cut some base repair material you can order on-line (example: Wintersteiger base material from Artech or ask your local ski builder for some scraps in exchange for a few sixpacks of craft brew) for the wound, (be precise in your cuts and make sure the patch(es) fit perfectly...) then clean and heat the afflicted area thoroughly with a good hairdryer or heatgun on mellow setting (do not overheat...just make it toasty warm.. .do not melt anything on the ski and do not heat your mixed epoxy...just warm the wound thoroughly). Fill the wound with epoxy....then use a metal plate (a couple metal scrapers would do) and several clamps to press the patch in a level fashion into the wound with the plate (use a baggie or saran wrap between the metal plate and the base material so you don't glue the plates to the bases!)... keep in a toasty warm area for 24 to 36 hours... unclamp, scrape the epoxy residue away (start in the center of the patch and work your way outward toward the edge and the center of the ski). Use a sharp scraper or tool like SkiVisions base flattener to level the patch with the rest of the base... hand-finish as needed...go ski. Much cheaper than a new pair of skis.

I learned a huge amount from reading the details from Tuco at TGR HERE.... (lots of pics... read the whole thread...good info and examples for the DIY ski repair geeks). Practice on an old pair of unused skis first to build your confidence.