Razor-Tune Test (With Photos)

[skifastflylow1]

Yes. Sidewalls need to be cut down and reshaped to properly use the RT. I probably have to do it once a month. I ski primarily on the east coast and ski at least 4+ days a week.

 

[AlpsSkidad]

Just received mine in the mail the other day. I'm hoping it speeds up the process a bit with all of the family's skis and can focus on the mountain more. Will test it out in a few weeks.

 

[Zrxman01]

BTW. I picked of their Li-ion battery set up at the end of last season.
I just started using it to touch up edges. I cannot say how many skis you can do on one charge however it spins up perfectly fine for at least two pair.
I really like not having to use the cords as they always seemed to get in the way.
Edge touch ups now go so much more smoothly.

 

[Wade]

I ordered a Razor Tune yesterday afternoon and it was delivered today.

I read reviews, watched the video tutorials and read the instructions and it all seemed pretty straightforward. I had some spare time this afternoon, so I pulled out a pair of brahmas that I don’t ski much anymore and that hadn’t been tuned for a while, and went at it.

The learning curve was very short. I did a couple of dry runs without the motor spinning just to get a feel for the tool and the pressure required to properly engage the wheel. I fired it up and made three passes on each edge with the coarse stone and three with the medium stone.

It really couldn’t have been easier to use, and while I obviously haven’t skied them yet, the quality of the edge seems to be fantastic.

We’re not a race family, but there are still 9 pairs of skis between the 4 of us, and I like to properly maintain our equipment. I think I generally do a pretty good job of setting and maintaining edges by hand and my skis always ski well, but the Razor Tune seems to be significantly quicker and almost certainly puts a sharper edge on the skis than I can get to in the time I’m willing to spend on tuning.

It’s too early to provide a full review, but the initial test was certainly encouraging. I’m looking forward to getting on some Razor Tuned skis soon to see how they ski.

 

[Dave Marshak]

Three passes with the coarse stone and three with the medium might be over doing it. Most of my friends do one or two with the medium every couple of days. Some of them finish with a fine stone in an edge guide. I don't think I know anyone who even has a coarse Razor-tune stone.

FWIW I recently got a Swix EVO with medium and fine stone. I think I'll be using mostly the fine wheel. I'm not sure how that compares with the Razor-tune medium and fine.

dm

 

[KingGrump]

A lot depends on the initial condition of the ski.

If the ski have never been tuned with the Razor-tune. I usually use a coarse stone to set the angle. However many passes that take to get a full new edge. Then follow up with one or two passes of the medium stone. The coarse stone does make things go much faster.
For skis that I maintained. One or two quick passes with the medium stone is all that is required.
Used the fine stone when I first got the unit. Didn't really feel all that much difference for the free skiing we do. Haven't used it much since.

 

[Wade]

Three passes with the coarse stone and three with the medium might be over doing it. Most of my friends do one or two with the medium every couple of days. Some of them finish with a fine stone in an edge guide. I don't think I know anyone who even has a coarse Razor-tune stone.

FWIW I recently got a Swix EVO with medium and fine stone. I think I'll be using mostly the fine wheel. I'm not sure how that compares with the Razor-tune medium and fine.

dm

Three passes with the coarse stone felt right for the shape the edges were in on the skis I was tuning and in what was needed after checking the edges following each pass. I gave them one extra pass than was probably necessary with the medium stone, but I was more interested in getting some practice with the tool on some skis that I don't really use rather than doing the minimum needed to get to a sharp edge.

I expect a pass or two with the medium stone after each ski day or two (which mimics what I was doing by hand up until now) will be the norm going forward.

FYI, from the Razor Tune manual:

Coarse - The coarse wheel should be used anytime the ski edge has lost sharpness. The coarse wheel cuts quickly, but it still removes less than 0.0005” per pass. Edges in good condition may only require 2 or 3 passes to sharpen. A dull ski will require more passes depending on condition.

Medium - The medium wheel is best suited for restoring a sharp edge after a day or two of skiing. One or two passes is frequently all that is required. The medium wheel only removes about 0.0001” per pass, so you can do a quick tune every ski day and still get long life out of your skis.

Fine (Final Polish) - The fine wheel is only used to hone and polish after the edge has been sharpened with other wheels. Make a single slow pass with the fine wheel for a silky-smooth edge and almost mirror finish

 

[Steve]

I have an Evo and I usually do one very slow pass with the medium and it really sharpens the skis. Two at the most. Get rid of the hanging burr and done. But I only do that every 10 days or so, between that I use diamonds.