 Poster: A snowHead
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rich, Tognar's tips and tricks database has been compiled from a lot of sources; some of them more accurate than others, interestingly that particular table is not attributed to a source. I'll email them and see what they say. Anyhow, 1.2 mm is on the narrow side of steel edges, I was trying to find out what the spec was for PM Gear's Bro Model, I think those were supposed to be thicker as is done with park&pipe skis.
rockyrobin, think of it as a one-time experiment, easily reversible, not a constant.
When Tinkerbelle had the B2Ws out for demo last season after lessons on her Omecarve 9s, she felt locked into turns with a long second half. She hated both those skis and the Dynastar SC09s, and clearly demonstrated a preference for skis with a high tail-to-waist width difference. I wrote about this in the Women's Skis thread (though then she hadn't tried the B2Ws). Ssh's response in that thread was what I was thinking of when I wrote about forward pressure in my response to you.
spyderjon, do you find it easy to control the extent of cut into the base material (ideally none) when setting base bevels with your tools?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| comprex wrote: |
| spyderjon, do you find it easy to control the extent of cut into the base material (ideally none) when setting base bevels with your tools? |
Yep, no problem at all. The Beast & the Toko World Cup base file guides are both great quality although I'd give the nod to the Beast as it accepts a wide range of file/stone widths whereas the Toko won't accept a 1" file/stone. However the Beast is a little narrow for my wide Metron b5's with their slightly concave base so I took Atomicman's advise & bought the Toko WC guide which fully spans the b5 base.
The best way to avoid cutting into the base is to use engineers blue on the edges rather than the usual marker pen, for a number of reasons:
- It gives a contrasting colour to the black p-tex & therefore defines the 'join' better so you don't accidentally
stray into the base. You need to be able to see the start of the p-tex to avoid it. Good lighting also helps.
- It's very easy to apply the blue consistently, unlike a marker pen which tends to go light then dark as you apply
it. This is important as it's the 'shade' of the blue during stoning which tells me how much I've removed.
- I've a load of the blue left over from my gunsmithing days.
If I've a major angle change to make I'll use up to three grades of file, namely coarse, medium & then fine. If it's just minor adjustment I'll just use the fine file. I'll always finish filing leaving a small amount of material to be removed.
For this last bit of material removal I use Moonflex diamond stones, going through the five grades. After the fourth stone I've taken all the metal off I want & then I just give the edge a final pass or two with the super fine 1200 grit stone which doesn't take anything off really but gives a super polish. This method means that I'm using the most 'minimum' cutting tools by the time I'm up against the base.
Obviously a consistent action & pressure is really important. With the stones I tend to do 6/7 overlapping cuts down the length of the ski & then one continual pass back down. I always use a cutting fluid with the stones to stop them clogging & to help ensure an even cut. To maintain the edges I only use the stones & never a file.
I do the side angles the same way.
Some would say that I'm being over precise but hey, I'm a perfectionist & I enjoy the work. I used to hand make/fit custom match trigger components so to be honest ski edges are pretty basic to me.
Oh yes, the most important tool, I now have a beer fridge under the tuning bench 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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spyderjon, am I correct that you're talking of Prussian blue (iron (III) ferrocyanide) that can be mixed with oil-based solvents not cold gun blueing that has to work on an oil-free surface?
One reason I ask is that I usually have leftover wax/oils on the edges from the last skiing day.
I never do more than ten passes either.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Wed 6-07-05 23:42; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rockyrobin, That's the stuff. It's design to rub on components to show up contact areas etc. Also works on loo seats 
Just notice that you've got you're accomodation sorted in Verbier. You lucky b******.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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comprex, rockyrobin, spyderjon, plentiful supplies of it in operating theatres. Very useful for stag nights. 
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rockyrobin, unfortunately I have a duty of confidentiality. Taking a camera on a stag-do is a bit of a faux pas isn't it?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Kramer, I guess your right. Also with people not always having a sense of humour would be a good way to lose your job. I wonder if anyone has ever been done for assault with methylene blue? With the current compensation culture I would think twice about doing it now.
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Bit late to this thread but bare in mind that there is only so much metal in the edge of a ski.
Radical bevels will reduce the amount of times you can 'service' that ski and hence shorten its life.
Unless you know what you are looking for, avoid it IMO or accept the shortened life iof the ski.
If the tune is deemed ok I would concentrate of your technique.
Detuning was used on the typically 2m planks of yore and I would then have only detuned the tips and tails by 100-150mm
back then. Skis are so much better these days and easier to turn so start with your techique and then maybe dull the tips by about 30-40mm. It is a much shorter ski..!!
The B2 should take you most places so don't look too hard at the ski
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I found that when sharpening my B2's it was much harder to get the curved ends as sharp as the straight mid sections. Never mind detune - I need to work at keeping the ends sharper hehehe
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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JT, Cheers for the advice. I will try and be patient and work on my technique with more vigour and will try them again in a month or two.
Scarpa, I'm not so sure its worth worrying about getting the curved bits sharp as i'm thinking they will never touch snow anyway.
A friend of mine picked his B2's up from a service at EB the other day and they detuned them about 4cm each end FWIW.
Myself I like to keep my curved bits sharp too but I agree it can be very tricky. Would be interesting to know if there is any benefit of doing this.
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FAQ
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