Base Protection Tape While Edge Tuning -- Special Purpose vs Blue Painter's Masking Tape?

[Primoz]

@Juha simply because diamond doesn't give you same sharpness as file. It works but nowhere near same as file. I'm waiting for new SL skis and current ones have less then nail thickness of edge, so I don't even dare to come close with file, so I know how good diamond works, but honestly I'm happy that friend will ve bringing me new SL skis before next week races are coming, as I feel super uncomfortable on icy WC tracks with skis done only with diamond.

 

[Juha]

@Primoz Thanks, but I really do not understand how file makes edge any sharper than a diamond stone. Sure it removes more metal so if you sharpen infrequently file is the way to go, but my experience is that I cannot tell the difference if using diamonds frequently. Can you help me to understand better¿

 

[Sibhusky]

It might be a difference most of us wouldn't notice because we're not trying to negotiate a World Cup race track. Your standard issue hardpack has got nothing on an injected course when it comes to hardness and slickness.

 

[oldschoolskier]

I sometimes get longitudinal lines on the base, even with fairly light pressure against the base. I think the marking is possibly from the metal filings falling down, and/or the black gunk that sometimes builds up on the angle guide. I can't really predict when marks will appear. It may be more noticeable on freshly ground bases with good structure than on older, more worn, bases.

If I wipe the angle guide clean with a cloth every few strokes, and scrape the gunk whenever it appears, I can really minimize the issue, but it's pretty time consuming. I suppose always cleaning the base first might help eliminate the black gunk, but I don't always have time to do an edge tune and a wax on the same evening, which might be my error.

This is worse with the orange Multi Tuner (Mountain TEK, but I've seen it rebranded elsewhere) which I only use when working the base edge, as it concentrates the downward sharpening pressure in a half-dozen narrow stripes. Thankfully I rarely need to get into that kind of work.

Your file teeth are set to lift the scarf to the base it should be in the other direction.

 

[Jacques]

@Primoz Thanks, but I really do not understand how file makes edge any sharper than a diamond stone. Sure it removes more metal so if you sharpen infrequently file is the way to go, but my experience is that I cannot tell the difference if using diamonds frequently. Can you help me to understand better¿

Diamond stones are for polishing an edge. Files are for sharpening.
Let's see what the Primoz has to say for you.

 

[cantunamunch]

I'm looking for for down the road.. It'ls looking like I'll probably get some fixed angle stuff.. Not sure if it will be soon or in the fall, but I'm going to be changing over.

It doesn't matter which tool you're using - the clamping direction is the same. FWIW, Home Depot do carry the exact yellow painters tape Primož is talking about. Also FWIW - sealing tapes like Nashua FlexFix 555 are very close to the tapes available from Swix BUT they have a very aggressive adhesive that will leave residue on unwaxed bases.

 

[Primoz]

@Primoz Thanks, but I really do not understand how file makes edge any sharper than a diamond stone. Sure it removes more metal so if you sharpen infrequently file is the way to go, but my experience is that I cannot tell the difference if using diamonds frequently. Can you help me to understand better¿

I'm not sure I can actually explain this. From what I have read here on forum, there are actually guys that can explain technicalities of metal processing, and for proper explanation they will be way more competent them me (and especially my English). I don't know why is so, but from real life experience, it's just not possible to get same sharpness from diamond. I'm sure someone with more technical knowledge of metal processing will correct me if I'm wrong, but I would say that even in single run on aggressive snow makes your edge gets rounded. Not as rounded as if you ski half season without ski service, but still rounded. With diamond, you hardly take any material off the edge, so in theory I'm quite sure diamond would work too, if you would be dragging it along the edge for long enough, but I'm sure noone would be doing this for hours (or days). Point of filling (or using diamond) is to make edge sharp, that means removing that rounded part, making true 87, 86 or whatever angle you are using, angle between side and base side of edge down to last minimum part of edge, without having and round edge between both sides. How big that radius on edge becomes depends on many things. First there's snow. Deep powder won't do a thing to edge, even if skiing for week (not to mention sharp edges don't play a role there), injected icy snow on race courses is way more aggressive and will make edge dull in single run. More sliding/slipping will make edge more dull then pure arc to arc carving etc. And more dull edge is, more material you will need to remove to get sharp edge again. Normally, at least for race skis that I ski on hard stuff, this round part is way too much on end of the day, that it would be possible to make it really sharp just with diamond.

 

[Dakine]

A file removes metal and leaves scratches in the cut surface.
Honing is an operation where you use an abrasive to remove those scratches by abrading away the peaks until they are level with the valleys.
Honing tools are for polishing and files are for cutting.
That's it!

 

[Noodler]

All of these tools accomplish their work by REMOVING material from the edge. The only difference is the rate of the removal of that material. File vs. stone is about the choice of how fast you want the material removed. Once my edge bevels are set in the initial ski prep, I use a 100 grit Moonflex stone (or now a 120 grit KGS stone) for sharpening. This is followed by progressively finer grits for improving the level of polish on the edge. The idea that a 100 or 120 grit stone cannot sharpen is simply not true. It's just a trade-off between how quickly you need the job done versus how much edge material are you willing to remove in each tune-up. I choose to go a bit slower, but keep more of the edge.

 

[Juha]

Fully agree with Noodler’s comment and I actually do the same - first I use a coarse diamond stone 180 grit or so to sharpen. After that I polish with a finer one. Just a few strokes is enough, since I tend to do this often. I seldomly run in injected slopes, the slope where I practice most is injected only once or twice a year just before bigger race. So this may be reason I seldomly experience a need for using a file. Thanks for comments all and sorry for hijacking the thread from tape discussion into an other topic.