How to: cut the tails of your skis

[Shorty_J]

I got a sweet deal on some 187 Praxis Protest at the ski swap and I'm mounting dynafits on them.

I wanted a better skin attachment and slightly easier kick turns, so I decided to cut a few cm's off the tails.

Before:


Step 1: If possible, contact the manufacturer and ask how much of a tail spacer is in the ski.

I emailed Praxis and Keith confirmed what I suspected... that in this ski I have a lot of room to work with and if the sidewall isn't black, where it stops is where the tail spacer starts.

Tail Spacer:


It's pretty obvious where the yellow sidewall stops and the tail spacer starts.

Step 2: Mark your cut line.


The edge of the blue tape is my back line and the sharpie marks are the spot where I'll start the edge cut at an angle towards the back line.

Step 3: Use a dremel to cut the edge. First at the angle of your cut towards the back line...


... and then notch it out wider so you can get a jig saw blade in.


I tried using a metal blade on the jig saw and I tried using a hand hacksaw and couldn't get the cut started. You need to get fairly deep in to get by all the hardened edge.

It's kind of important to note here that Keith told me not to let the area heat up too much while cutting since the heat could affect the bond of the epoxy. So don't cut the whole thing on one side all at once... alternate sides, do a bit at a time, take breaks... don't let it heat up too much.

Step 4: The use a jig saw and cut in at an angle towards the back, and flatten out when you get to the tape line.


Even if you got through all of the hardened edge on the end, expect to hit some thinner sections of metal as you go through the framework of the rail of the edge that it's mounted to the ski with. I used a fine cut wood blade and that probably took it's toll on the teeth, but once you're through the edge and the framework, the cutting goes pretty quickly.

Do the same from the other side and meet in the middle.

Step 5: Clean up the cut and the edges with a dremel. I used the thick green disks... it worked well on the edge and put a polish on the exposed surface.

After:



The cut is pretty clean and the tail is still completely sealed and no core is showing. I think this will be pretty bomber.

My cut was ~4cm of from the very back of the tail, making the straight tape pull length of the ski 182cm.

The pieces I cut off will save me a whopping 26.5g on one ski and 26.3g on the other... and while weight savings was not at all the point, this check tells me I cut pretty much the same amount of each ski and is a good qc for me.

Now to get some wide-ass skins and find some powder!

[stuckathuntermtn]

That's awesome! I'd love to do that to the Rubys so the tails can sink.

[Shorty_J]

That's awesome! I'd love to do that to the Rubys so the tails can sink.

Do it! Not difficult at all.

[GeezerSteve]

Nice. Are you going to grind a notch for the skin tail fixture? I've whacked the tails off several pairs of skis, makes for easier kick turns and better ski-as-anchor. FWIW, it goes fast and easy with a metal cutoff blade on an angle grinder or circular saw.

[stuckathuntermtn]

It looks a bit over my head tool and skill wise. There might be a shop in town that can do it.

[Shorty_J]

Nice. Are you going to grind a notch for the skin tail fixture? I've whacked the tails off several pairs of skis, makes for easier kick turns and better ski-as-anchor. FWIW, it goes fast and easy with a metal cutoff blade on an angle grinder or circular saw.

Thanks.

I wasn't going to do a notch for now... maybe I'll see if I need one later... but the flat surface is so wide I don't think I'll have a problem keeping the clip on.

I thought I'd heard about a grinder before, but when Keith told me to be careful putting too much heat into the area I decided to go this route.

[GeezerSteve]

I was talking about a cutoff saw blade on an angle grinder

[That was Pontus]

Nice work, this is what tech talk shoud be about, not fucking lightsabers in the snow and whinning about frozen hydration bladders...

FWIW folks have been splitting boards with 46-50 tooth carbide tooth blades on a skil saw for +20 years with no ill effect. That's through steel edges on the nose and tail, possibly SS t-nuts, aluminum channels, whatever other garbage board designers like to throw in the mix and totally opening up the core. I'd echo Steve and hit it with a cutoff saw or some other big boy power tool just in the interest in saving time. Whatever you use in zipping off a couple inches of plastic and fibreglass, it is gonna go so quick it shouldn't have any large effect on the temperature and the epoxy cure.

[gritter]

Nice. I was just looking at a pair of Concepts and trying to decide on size. I'd normally shoot for 180 so was thinking 177 or go 187 and take 7cm out of the tail.
Do report back to say how they ski without the tail - I'd be keen to know if you can feel that they ski shorter as a result...

[HHTELE]

I have always worried about cutting through the edge. For some reason, it seems to me that this could cause the edge to separate from the ski.

But, I have some older S3s, I would love a tail notch for.

According to my wife, those skis throw a plume of snow, right at eye height. Keeps folks from tailgaiting, but we ski at a fairly crowded resort. This means weaving through crowds, and if she can be believed, I leave a trail of blinded, crashing skiers in my wake. She might be exaggerating, but I have seen video, and they do throw some pretty good snow.

Any thoughts on how much tail I would need to trip to mitigate this? Not interested in a flat tail, as I do end up backing out of stupid places, and like not worrying about the tail.

[Shorty_J]

I never skied the protests before the mod so I won't really be able to comment on any differences in how they ski.

At the most I expect a bit more of the tail to sink into the snow... so maybe a slight decrease in their drifting property... at the most.

Regarding cutting through the edge... All that stuff is epoxied in there... i think the chance of a delam is extremely low based on what the cut area looks like.

[Shorty_J]

You'd have to cut must of the upturned tail to completely eliminate the rooster tail... but I'm guessing cutting a little off would improve it a bit.

I don't see how it's your problem, though.

[Vinman]

a dremel with a thin cut off wheel would make quick work of the steel edge. You could have also just cut a notch into the tail with your jig saw.

[GeezerSteve]

Grinding in a skin tail notch with a bench grinder is a < 1 minute job. Clean up with a hand file.

I've whacked the tails off 4 pairs of skis, no delams.

Not interested in a flat tail, as I do end up backing out of stupid places, and like not worrying about the tail.

You can whack off most of the tail and then grind a radius, resulting in a rounded tail w/ mild rocker a la Bonafide. That's how I've done it, most recently with Voile V8s.

[zeroforhire]

Solid work. Thanks for posting up the details

[Quicksilver]

Nice work, this is what tech talk shoud be about,

Agreed. This was a cool post Shorty!


FWIW - I seem to rooster tail everyone no matter which pairs of skis I'm on (twin tip, faux twin tip, flat tail, whatever). I agree - not my problem! If you don't like it, ski faster

[Bobcat Sig]

Might need to do this with my Vicik Tours ...
Thanks for the pictures and inspiration.

[XXX-er]

about 12-15 years ago before the twin tip craze my buddy had a model of rossi's called the "sprayer" and thats what the upturned tail did thro up a plume of snow we were amused

what cha gona do with the roach?

[HHTELE]

First off, thanks for encouraging me to stop doing what I was supposed to be doing, and mess with skis. I feel better now.


Now much easier to share one set of skins between S3s, Cham 97s, and Vectors.

But, I need to build up the courage to do this to my Vectors. They have a completely square tail. I live in the NE, and my skis frequently bang up against rocks, roots, and god knows what, which can knock my tail off. Steve, I know you ski Voilles. Have you tail notched any of them?



BTW- interesting laminate on the tail of the Rossis- anybody know what it is?

[single]

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-twin-tips-off

More documentation

Feel free to PM if anyone in bozeman area needs a hand. Will take 5 minutes or less.

[meter-man]

Excellent work.

[detrusor]

Definitely gotta do some notches this weekend...


Killing it with the 3-5 year old crowd!

[coldfeet]

I cut a snowboard in half using a hand hacksaw to cut through the edges, and a jigsaw to cut the body of the board. It was pretty easy although I blunted a cheapo coarse jigsaw blade, probably on the fiberglass - use a finer blade. If you have trouble getting the hacksaw cut started, try putting a nick in the edge with a file. You can seal the cut surfaces with varnish if that's a concern.

[rod9301]

It seems to me that you can mess up the balance of the ski in powder when you cut the tail.
On firm snow, the rockered tail doesn't make snow contact, so nothing changes if you cut a few inches.

But in powder, you float on the entire length of the ski, including the rockered tail, so the nalance will move to the tail.

This may not matter, but it's equivalent to moving the bindings back quite a bit (half the length you cut off).

??

[Shorty_J]

I totally disagree that this is equivalent to moving the mount back. I ski forward and I'm at the same point in the side cut and the same point relative to the tip rocker. I think the last 4 cm of the rocker in the tail is only engaged in a big sideways drift... where I'd have a bit less support from the tail.