Side Edge Grinder's Performance Vs. Return On Investment

[James]

Any opinions on the grinder cups? Protek's are double sided, $300

 

[Dwight]

Any opinions on the grinder cups? Protek's are double sided, $300

Not yet, I have't had to purchase a new one yet. I don't see any wear yet either like they describe can happen. Though I'm totally a neophyte with these machines.

Full discloser, I got this one for $200.

 

[BGreen]

Stick with the grinding wheels that Black Diamond sells. They last a very long time and are reasonably priced.

 

[Dwight]

Stick with the grinding wheels that Black Diamond sells. They last a very long time and are reasonably priced.

Do they sell direct or from Sidecut.com only?

 

[BGreen]

Do they sell direct or from Sidecut.com only?

Direct and through Sidecut.

 

[hbear]

I think the media is pretty much the same everywhere, just the the shape between machines differs (e.g. protek different size/shape from snowglide from what I can tell.)

As for grinding dust, some compressed air cleans the magnets really well. (Keep your mask on!)

 

[James]

Well Protek wheels are double sided. Max grit seems to be 400.
125/200, 300/400 -$300

Black Diamond sells wheels 400, 600, 1200. $185 I think single sided.
Finer grits because BD spins more slowly?

Snow Glide single sided, $300
Hard to tell grit levels.

https://protekskiracing.com/ski-tuning-equipment/ski-grinder-and-accessories/

https://blackdiamondinnovation.com/shop/
http://www.verdonkracing.com/shop-2/

 

[hbear]

Think a few guys have mentioned that only a small number of companies actually supply the grinding media (e.g. the magic dust) and then various companies put it together into a disk/wheel.

For the snowglide medium disk is the finish used for Tech at WC typically....fine for speed skis (but most techs for speed use hand tools now I think). I want to say it's a 400 grit but forget what Thor mentioned to me to be honest.

 

[Snuckerpooks]

This might be reviving an old thread so I'm sorry.

Interested in investing in a machine grinder but I don't know which wheels are actually necessary for a general racer.

Would it be best to get course/medium and then finish it off with my own diamonds and files by hand?
Or get the medium/fine and get anything beyond a touch-up done by a shop?

Any comments or recommendations?

Shorthand, will a medium cut it for most people as a finish? Or go the full way to fine?

 

[hbear]

Fine is overkill. Medium is all you need for tech. Fine if you do speed but most people finish speed skis by hand using diamonds.

Medium finish needs no additional work...take the burr off if any and then ski.

 

[BGreen]

@Snuckerpooks What machine you are getting will define what media you need. For Swix, medium and fine (you’ll use fine almost exclusively). Discman, coarse will do most of what you need. Protek, Carrot, Snowglide, TriOne, Blackdiamond all operate a little different from one another, so recommendation varies by device as much as application.

 

[Snuckerpooks]

Thanks for the tips. I'll be looking into fitting it into my budget this coming season. Thank you!

 

[BLspruce2]

Whichever small edge grinder you use I have found a few issues you need to plan for. No one mentions it and that reviews gloss over it but these are grinders and they produce fine metal grinding dust. You need a decent respirator, a large thick apron and use them every time your working on your skis because its fine suspended metal dust. Also plan on getting some magnets to help cleaning up the machine, bench, clothes, floor etc. A good vacuum cleaner needs to close by. You will find these machines produce more fine metal grinding dust than anticipated. No one talks about it but It gets over everywhere and is hard to clean up. I think these grinders work great and are worth buying but the fine dust they generate is like using a small sander. I say this and I have a Swix evo and its the smallest, least powerful, lowest priced unit available. I got it on sale but works fine for my needs. If you have a small area to tune skis you need to take extra precautions. Plan on covering anything close by. My 2 cents worth

 

[hbear]

Respirator mandatory for sure.
The machines do kick up a lot of dust but easily cleaned up with a good vac or wet cloth. It’s relatively heavy dust so I don’t find it’s lingering in the air too long....that machined metal smell however....

Lots of guys also put a good magnet strip on the bench to collect particles as well.

I have a sink on my bench so I run water when I clean my machine with compressed air, find the water does a great job at catching the dust getting blown off.

Best to not have others around when you are grinding unless they have a respirator on as well.

 

[jzmtl]

Two hard drive magnets on my edgetune catches pretty much all the steel dust.

 

[Jacques]

^^^
And to think of all the metal grinding I did on the farm as a younger for so many years!
Never used any mask of any kind! Kinda scary.
Then again I also washed my greasy hands in leaded gasoline back then.
All that may explain things about me!
Thank god I only hand tune and am proud of that.

 

[Deadslow]

Whichever small edge grinder you use I have found a few issues you need to plan for. No one mentions it and that reviews gloss over it but these are grinders and they produce fine metal grinding dust. You need a decent respirator, a large thick apron and use them every time your working on your skis because its fine suspended metal dust. Also plan on getting some magnets to help cleaning up the machine, bench, clothes, floor etc. A good vacuum cleaner needs to close by. You will find these machines produce more fine metal grinding dust than anticipated. No one talks about it but It gets over everywhere and is hard to clean up. I think these grinders work great and are worth buying but the fine dust they generate is like using a small sander. I say this and I have a Swix evo and its the smallest, least powerful, lowest priced unit available. I got it on sale but works fine for my needs. If you have a small area to tune skis you need to take extra precautions. Plan on covering anything close by. My 2 cents worth

Hi skiwhmts and hbear,

I did a bit of a write up of my experiences with a ski edger -
https://www.pugski.com/threads/best-edge-tuning-tool-s-or-help-fix-my-tuning-process.9023/page-2

I agree with all your dust and safety comments - very important if you want your lungs to work in the future.

Happy almost turkey day!

 

[Fishbowl]

Well I guess I'm never getting an MRI again