Hi folks! I've been reading these forums for a couple seasons & finally decided I need to make an account.
I've recently started tuning my own edges & I've run into an issue someone here might be able to diagnose. It's somewhat hard to describe, but I'll give it a shot. I started with my older pair of skis, figuring they could really use the love & if I messed up, it wasn't a big deal. When I would make any sort of turn after I tuned the edges, the skis would just start bouncing/skidding over the snow. It felt like how I imagine riding the ABS brakes in my car across an ice rink would feel. I basically turned my skis into the most chattery skis I've ever been on, but worse. For a run or two, I thought it was my technique, but I took some really slow, gradual turns & it was still terrible. The edges would rapidly bite and release. It's sounds similar to what I read in this thread https://www.pugski.com/threads/what-is-going-on-with-these-kendos.13360/
A grind, tune & wax from the shop 100% fixed the skis, so I figured I did something wrong with my tune & needed to do some more research before I tried again. I had my other pair of skis ground flat & started the tune from there. I took them out, and, for a run or two, I thought the chatter was just because I was using a pretty fat (105mm) & heavily rockered ski on a day that didn't really call for it. Then I remembered how the first ski felt after I tuned it myself. I took another run super slow with very gentle, gradual turns & the issue was still significant.
I can think of a handful of likely causes for this issue:
I'm going to describe how I tuned the skis (after being ground flat) so someone can hopefully figure out where I'm going wrong.
I've recently started tuning my own edges & I've run into an issue someone here might be able to diagnose. It's somewhat hard to describe, but I'll give it a shot. I started with my older pair of skis, figuring they could really use the love & if I messed up, it wasn't a big deal. When I would make any sort of turn after I tuned the edges, the skis would just start bouncing/skidding over the snow. It felt like how I imagine riding the ABS brakes in my car across an ice rink would feel. I basically turned my skis into the most chattery skis I've ever been on, but worse. For a run or two, I thought it was my technique, but I took some really slow, gradual turns & it was still terrible. The edges would rapidly bite and release. It's sounds similar to what I read in this thread https://www.pugski.com/threads/what-is-going-on-with-these-kendos.13360/
A grind, tune & wax from the shop 100% fixed the skis, so I figured I did something wrong with my tune & needed to do some more research before I tried again. I had my other pair of skis ground flat & started the tune from there. I took them out, and, for a run or two, I thought the chatter was just because I was using a pretty fat (105mm) & heavily rockered ski on a day that didn't really call for it. Then I remembered how the first ski felt after I tuned it myself. I took another run super slow with very gentle, gradual turns & the issue was still significant.
I can think of a handful of likely causes for this issue:
- Burrs I didn't manage to remove - I don't think so because I did go along the edges with the files/stones to remove burrs as videos on tuning show, but it's still #1 because it's what was mentioned in the thread I linked above
- Not removing any sidewall and thereby causing the side edge to be wonky - I didn't get the sense the sidewall was preventing my work, as the file took metal off the full width of the side edge
- My tuning tool - I've been using the SKS multi-tool file guide from racewax (https://www.racewax.com/base-side-bevel-file-guide-sks-multi-tool-5-dmt-diamond-stones-with-file/) & I've read about how unreliable the multi-tools can be
- My ski base is slightly concave - even after a fresh grind, the bases of both pairs of skis are still VERY SLIGHTLY concave. This would slightly affect the angle my tuning tool would create (specifically, it would lessen the angles, so, instead of 1 & 2 degrees, it might be .75 and 1.75 or something)
- My tuning technique - I'm new to this so obviously there could be something in how I'm going about the tuning the causes the problem
I'm going to describe how I tuned the skis (after being ground flat) so someone can hopefully figure out where I'm going wrong.
- I set the tool to 1 degree for the base & 2 degrees for the side (same edge angles the manufacturer shipped the skis with)
- I started with the metal file and progressed through the diamond stones (using a 50/50 water/alcohol mixture) going from coarse to fine
- I did the base edges before the side edges (I went metal file base > metal file side > coarse stone base > coarse stone side etc.)
- I worked in only the tip to tail direction
- for each file/stone I would do three progressions down along the ski, pulling the tool toward me in short, overlapping strokes & doing my best to maintain consistent, moderate pressure, keeping the longer part of the tool flat along the base and the short part flat along the side edge & sidewall
- I checked & cleaned the file/stones frequently with a brass brush