Base Bevels Beyond 1 Degree

[XXX-er]

back in the day i used a 6" piece of 2x4 ish wood and a c-clamp

of course i checked to make sure it was 90

a skill I learned in grade 8 shop class

[Core Shot]

back in the day i used a 6" piece of 2x4 ish wood and a c-clamp

of course i checked to make sure it was 90

a skill I learned in grade 8 shop class

Which would leave a 91 degree edge if your base has 1 degree.

Side edge guide and pony clamp is $25 from the link above.
And it lets you get 1 degree 1 degree for a 90 degree edge.
Or. If ice coasting you go one degree two degree for 89 bite. Or buy another guide and go all in for one and three.
But the more angle the more vulnerable. Rock hits on 88 degree edge is brutal.

[XXX-er]

my base didnt have a 1 degree so i was getting 90,

I was more worried about losing ski than hitting a rock

[Mustonen]

Standard aluminum side bevel file guides in 88* and 89* from Swix/Toko/Racewax etc.
"The Beast" 1deg base bevel guide
spring clamp
bastard and a nice mill file
extra credit- a series of diamond stones from coarse to fine

keep it simple MFer

That’s the stuff I use, but I usually skip the clamp because I have these clamps here on the end of my arms. Mostly just wondering if there’s some cool tool that I’m missing out on. I thought there was when I purchased that plastic abomination, but even after I sort out which arrow points to which angle base or side it still doesn’t seem to do as good as the basic tool.

I probably just need to invest in a quality file, no more of this hardware store bullshit. That and ride my outside edge a little more.

[yeahman]

This thread is fun. Every now and then I worry we’re turning into epic ski, but the general callouts and shit slinging in this thread put my fears at ease….

Definitely bringing the lulz

[Core Shot]

Angles are funny. One degree is so small over the width of a ski edge.

But no base bevel is savage. Maybe on a 65 or 75 waist. But on wider skis I found a half to be hooky.

The great and exalted wizard of Marshall Olsen posted somewhere here he runs two and two on any ski over 100. I guess it makes sense on a wider ski. I just try to keep it simple with one and one.

[Hood26]

Good reading.

I like these guys. Good tools and good videos;

https://us.sidecut.com/

Ace and TrueValue are franchised and you can sell whatever the fuck you want in addition. I want to see this Truckee hardware store. My hometown Ace was practically an armory.

It was said we don’t need edges out here in the West; Mt. Hood and its Cascade brothers and sisters say otherwise.

I am also another crazy person who likes factory angles and mount points.

Maybe we need a whole thread where thick skinned people post pictures of themselves skiing and get all the advice the PSIA folks are too nice to say?


Dude who posted the photos of skiing. I got a metaphor for you. Think of each foot as a cup and you are pouring water back and forth into. Pour the water too much, too fast and you are going to spill it. Keep skiing like that and you are about spill yourself. You got two feet for a reason make them both carry weight (not equally) through your turn, and for fuck sake get your hands where you can see them. Carry on and have fun.

[Cork7 Belly Flop]

I’ve been tuning skis for a long time, using a variety of methods, but find the Orb as simple and effective as I’ve tried for maintaining a 1 degree base and 2 degree sidewall bevel on multiple pairs of skis.

https://www.tools4boards.com/orb-8-w...edger-kit.html

It’s a full three stage process to get each pair set up and then again at the start of the season, otherwise it’s just an every few days of skiing pass with the Diamond stone puck to keep the edges and bevels perfect.

Is it made of plastic or metal? I've had my eye on that tool for a while but I wasn't sure how securely the pucks were held in place.

[chewski]

Thanks for the pointers. The tools4boards combi-cut special steel file is most excellent and is cheap ($28), as are their hone duo diamonds. If you're open to buying some dedicated metal angle guides these are super worth it considering how noticeably more efficiently they cut than other mid-priced files and diamonds. The green and pink ski visions stones that slidewright sells are a game changer for edge touch ups too

[kootenayskier]

Is it made of plastic or metal? I've had my eye on that tool for a while but I wasn't sure how securely the pucks were held in place.

It’s all plastic, and the pucks just click into place. However it’s so convenient, more than accurate enough for my non-racing needs, and seems to handle my volume of tuning ( a couple of touch ups and perhaps one full tune a week) just fine. I did break an orb after a few years use, but they sent me a replacement fast and free. It’s obviously not a shop/comp/high production setup (which I’ve used lots in the past), but it works great for my needs in the limited multi-use space I have.

[J. Barron DeJong]

If anyone’s looking to put together a full tuning set up from scratch, it may be worth looking into ordering from a place in Europe, like SnowInn. Haven’t checked recently, but their prices on Swix and Toko stuff are usually much lower than North America.

Just don’t order a wax iron from them.

[twat]

The most important tuning video. The Q & P
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi4N4duxwgk

[turnfarmer]

So if one of the functions of base bevel is to allow the ski to roll over onto the edge easier, would a higher bevel like 2 degrees make a wider ski easier to got on edge?
Anybody have thoughts/experience with this?

[chewski]

So if one of the functions of base bevel is to allow the ski to roll over onto the edge easier, would a higher bevel like 2 degrees make a wider ski easier to got on edge?
Anybody have thoughts/experience with this?

I would say no. It doesn't allow a ski to get on edge easier it allows it to do so more smoothly/predictably on variable or grabby surfaces. The width of the ski will not change the fact that it takes more angulation to get 2* base bevel up on edge than 1*. However the difference in how much angulation is needed between 1* and 2* base bevel will be less noticeable when tipping a wider ski over than a narrower one

[Core Shot]

Exactly. A wider ski with more base bevel needs even more knee angle to bite.

It’s reducing grabby or hookiness.

[farmguy]

I have been using these guys for my tuning needs. They are west coast so I like to support them. Also, here is a base level meter, I bought it one a day where I had beer money left over at the end of the season.

http://svst.com/

http://svst.com/Shop/Edge-Tuning-Sup...vel-Meter.html

[SumJongGuy]

Ballet Skis FTW! Turn all your skis in to ballet skis..

[turnfarmer]

Did a deeper search-
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ing-base-bevel

[turnfarmer]

And -
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...greater+than+1

[goran]

sidewall planer

Since this thread has an extensive conversation about the minimum tools required for a tuning kit (not just base bevel) I think it's worth mentioning that a sidewall planer is 100x more important than whether your file guide is metal or plastic. If your file is hitting sidewall, the file is not cutting your edge cleanly at the intended angle and the edge is not getting sharper. Full stop. If you're going to spend more money on tuning stuff, pick up a good sidewall tool and a panzer file (to deal with tips and tails where the sidewall tool doesn't work as well).

I'm not a pro but I've tuned a whole lot of skis and taught many people to tune, and the two most common mistakes I've seen are to file the base edges more than once per grind, and to try to sharpen side edges without cleaning up the sidewall in advance.

[PhishingME]

Since this thread has an extensive conversation about the minimum tools required for a tuning kit (not just base bevel) I think it's worth mentioning that a sidewall planer is 100x more important than whether your file guide is metal or plastic. If your file is hitting sidewall, the file is not cutting your edge cleanly at the intended angle and the edge is not getting sharper. Full stop. If you're going to spend more money on tuning stuff, pick up a good sidewall tool and a panzer file (to deal with tips and tails where the sidewall tool doesn't work as well).

I'm not a pro but I've tuned a whole lot of skis and taught many people to tune, and the two most common mistakes I've seen are to file the base edges more than once per grind, and to try to sharpen side edges without cleaning up the sidewall in advance.

This is spot on. Took me some years to figure this out. I start prepping new skis by planing the sidewall. Fibertex to clean them up too.

[jbrine]

I’m in the same boat of the side wall planner and panzer - first thing I take to with new skis
Or anybody’s that I am tuning. Requirement is to be able to actually work the wage cleaning.

The worst is when you get a stone or file full of ABS or shit from the sidewall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Steffenator]

I recently got a 0.5deg bevel tune and it was a nightmare. Even after aggressive detuning and eventually blunting they were skittish to engage the edge and when they did it was as if on rails. Amazing for max speed green carving, disastrous everywhere else.

Got the shop to retune for 1deg base bevel - wow - totally different ski experience. Back to normal basically. Can actually feather the slave into a carve or vs.

Maybe they messed up the tune at first... or maybe the base bevel makes a massive difference..?

[Core Shot]

Only race skis and ice skates are 0.5 base

[djhutch]

https://www.evo.com/guides/ski-edge-bevel

In case you were curious about the manufacturer bevel in your skis.

I wonder how often the manufacturer's tune sucks, or the base warps in shipping.

My newest pair of skis are Atomic Backland 95s and they felt like a 0 degree bevel, not the 1 degree in that table. I had to detune the tails a lot to get the skis to release better.