Ski Repair/Tune Advice (Including Seattle Area Recs)

**spindrift** · 12-03-2016, 07:48 PM

I like Edge and Spoke in Redmond quite a lot. They have nice machines and keep them dialed in. Some of the earlier recs are good too. Edge and Spoke is small enough that if you called them end explained where you are coming from, they might set up an appointment so you could avoid the multi-trip drop off thing,

**XavierD** · 12-03-2016, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by MESH

Kitsap Sports should have stayed at their first Silverdale location.

Absolutely, the second Silverdale spot was way to big for them and they never grew into it. Always felt bleak and had a terrible soulless discount store feel. It didn't help that it was out of the way when compared to their first (Silverdale) place.

**tuco** · 12-04-2016, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by mtskibum16

Also if I remember right I never got full contact across the base bevel of the edge before contacting the base of the ski indicating the base was high but not caused by removing too much metal.

what do you mean by this?

**mtskibum16** · 12-04-2016, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by wasatchback

A base flattener is a complete waste of time. Good for removing p-Tex but that's about it. You may or may not need your bases ground. If it's just rust, use some fibertex to get the thick stuff off the use a course diamond stone (without your bevel guide) to get the rest. If there's some pitting who cares, it won't affect performance.

I seriously doubt your skis are base high, at least the Cochise if they've never been ground. Just because you don't get much purchase with the file and a base bevel guide doesn't mean much. They're most likely right around 1* or maybe .2* more.

It takes a lot of use with a diamond stone and an aggressive one at that to change the bevels with just a stone. You never really need to use a base or side bevel guide with a stone unless you're doing a lot of work. Just always finish with a fine stone to knock back any burr.

There is a huge difference between a good stone grind and what you'll get at the average shop. Just cause a place keeps their machine in decent shape doesn't mean they have any idea what they're doing. Seek out shops that specialize in race tunes or ones that have a nice new automated Montana machine. Those are somewhat monkey proof. Your average shop tech can press a few buttons and produce a decent grind with one of those machines.

Thanks for the info. Good stuff.

Originally Posted by tuco

what do you mean by this?

There were sections of edge that while using the 1* base bevel guide the stone would contact the outside of the base material and the outside of the edge, but I wasn't getting clean contact all the way across the edge.

Ok, update. I must have sill been high on pain meds, or my memory just really sucks. Dug the skis out and scraped the storage wax for an inspection. The Kiku really aren't bad, and thinking back I just cleaned up the rust and stored them with no real attempt as edge work. The Bibbys aren't nearly as bad as I remember either. Both went to REI yesterday for tuneups. The guy there agreed that the Kiku just needed edging, but the Bibby would get ground first.

The Cochise....well it had bigger problems. I pull out the true bar and it's super edge high on one side and I could tell as soon as I started scraping the wax. It has some edge separation along maybe 1/4 of the length of the ski. It was most definitely NOT like that the last time I touched it, because I would have noticed while applying wax. There must have been enough separation before for water to get in there, and the rust that formed pushed the edge out? That's my only idea. The largest separation measured with a feeler gauge is 0.022". I'll get some pictures up later. It doesn't move back in place with moderate to heavy pressure. Any ideas? I've had the worst luck with skis since moving here and buying new gear. My maintenance and storage habits will certainly change after this. Lesson learned.

**John_B** · 12-04-2016, 11:03 AM

Could you have separated the edge when you crashed and fucked up your shoulder. I would guess that is relatively easily reparable with some epoxy and clamps but wait for someone with more ski repair knowledge than me to suggest that.

**mtskibum16** · 12-04-2016, 11:23 AM

The crash was on the Bibbys, and as I said the edge was not like that when I cleaned them up and put them away last spring. That was my only thought on repair, hopefully someone can help.

**tuco** · 12-04-2016, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by mtskibum16

Thanks for the info. Good stuff.

There were sections of edge that while using the 1* base bevel guide the stone would contact the outside of the base material and the outside of the edge, but I wasn't getting clean contact all the way across the edge.

Ok, update. I must have sill been high on pain meds, or my memory just really sucks. Dug the skis out and scraped the storage wax for an inspection. The Kiku really aren't bad, and thinking back I just cleaned up the rust and stored them with no real attempt as edge work. The Bibbys aren't nearly as bad as I remember either. Both went to REI yesterday for tuneups. The guy there agreed that the Kiku just needed edging, but the Bibby would get ground first.

The Cochise....well it had bigger problems. I pull out the true bar and it's super edge high on one side and I could tell as soon as I started scraping the wax. It has some edge separation along maybe 1/4 of the length of the ski. It was most definitely NOT like that the last time I touched it, because I would have noticed while applying wax. There must have been enough separation before for water to get in there, and the rust that formed pushed the edge out? That's my only idea. The largest separation measured with a feeler gauge is 0.022". I'll get some pictures up later. It doesn't move back in place with moderate to heavy pressure. Any ideas? I've had the worst luck with skis since moving here and buying new gear. My maintenance and storage habits will certainly change after this. Lesson learned.

This was exactly what I thought you might be describing and was what I was gonna ask you next. The rust can advance under the base/laminate and delaminate it. Looks like that is exactly what happened. You can see in your last pick that your edge tabs have delamed(bulge starts right where the edge tabs end--linear to the edge shadows). Sucks.

**tuco** · 12-04-2016, 07:57 PM

Also, they can be fixed. Your gonna need more tools than clamps and epoxy. You might have to search. I was gonna post a thread on some very similar repairs I need to do(full ski length base patches on some Elan made skis

), but its not gonna be any time soon.

**oftpiste** · 12-04-2016, 10:45 PM

those things are fucked up! is it really worth all the effort to repair when there are so many decently cheap used skis around here?

**Chugachjed** · 12-04-2016, 11:20 PM

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/bfs/5889464808.html

Problem solved

**Chugachjed** · 12-04-2016, 11:26 PM

Originally Posted by mtskibum16

They're back in their original location in Bremerton after being in Silverdale for quite some time. Have you had stone grind at REI?

I've stoneground hundreds of skis at REI. I don't know about the shops here in the Seattle area but in Anchorage that's the only shop I'd take my skis to.

**Cabinfever** · 12-05-2016, 06:03 AM

Lesson learned is skis go in the car not on top. Salt, sand, grime = no bueno

**mtskibum16** · 12-05-2016, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by tuco

This was exactly what I thought you might be describing and was what I was gonna ask you next. The rust can advance under the base/laminate and delaminate it. Looks like that is exactly what happened. You can see in your last pick that your edge tabs have delamed(bulge starts right where the edge tabs end--linear to the edge shadows). Sucks.

Yeah that's what I figured. Super shitty. As soon as I saw that I figured they were done. Man my skis got way worse treatment than this growing up with way more use and I never had a problem. These probably only have 10 days on them (I realize it wasn't caused by use).

Originally Posted by oftpiste

those things are fucked up! is it really worth all the effort to repair when there are so many decently cheap used skis around here?

Well yeah that's what I was trying to figure out. My current plan is to buy some new daily drivers. I was thinking about replacing them anyways, now I just don't get anything back out of them. I may cut in to them and some point and see what I can do.

Originally Posted by Chugachjed

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/bfs/5889464808.html

Problem solved

HA!

Originally Posted by Cabinfever

Lesson learned is skis go in the car not on top. Salt, sand, grime = no bueno

Yeah well sometimes there's no choice. Car was full for a trip. Maybe time to buy a roof box though. Still, had I sprayed them down with fresh water when I got home they would have been fine. Expensive mistake.

**oftpiste** · 12-05-2016, 05:32 PM

FWIW, I have a couple pairs of decent, used, relatively cheap skis sitting around. Not sure what you want, but since you're in the PNW maybe we could do each other a solid. Off the top of my head there's a pair older of ON3P Wrenagades (187) and a pair of 177 14/15 Cochises. They're both well used but cared for and always transported in a box.

Holler if interested.

PS. always buy skis presuming they're going to be worth nothing when you're done with them. If you happen to be able to get something out of them consider it a gift.

**mtskibum16** · 12-07-2016, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by oftpiste

FWIW, I have a couple pairs of decent, used, relatively cheap skis sitting around. Not sure what you want, but since you're in the PNW maybe we could do each other a solid. Off the top of my head there's a pair older of ON3P Wrenagades (187) and a pair of 177 14/15 Cochises. They're both well used but cared for and always transported in a box.

Holler if interested.

PS. always buy skis presuming they're going to be worth nothing when you're done with them. If you happen to be able to get something out of them consider it a gift.

Neither of those is probably what I'm looking for. I do appreciate the offer though. That's a good rule of thumb on the ski values. I wasn't planning on getting money out of them, just hoping for it. At least I have some good bindings available now.