Tuning Blog

Re-running a popular post from last year:

You may well have a couple races left (as we do), but for sure you are starting to put some gear away. Some people try to sell some really NASTY gear- don't be that person! Here is a list to make sure your gear is ready for next year whether you keep it or sell it.

Keeping OR selling it:
Clean and dry
Tune and wax
Wax the edges
Turn Down bindings
Repair and/or scrap

Clean and dry- you should really do this everyday, but it is hard sometimes I know.

Dry gloves and clothes before packing to prevent mold and mildew.


This is our drying rack. It is a little too full.


Separate Liners from boots and allow to dry for several days or so... nice and slowly.


Use Lysol to freshen up stinky liners. Your kids' roommate at camp will be glad you did!




These are NOT skis you want to buy!


Note the rust. NOT put away DRY.


So- this ski should scare you. They are in my "waiting for time" pile of things to do. I will have to replace whole sections of base... bad news. (update: these skis were completely restored for a later blog post)

HERE is what you want. These skis are trainers ready for the next training day (believe it or not): I consider this Race Ready condition for most races and racers.

Wouldn't you rather find bases like this when looking for a ski to buy? Or a ski that you (or your kids) were about to use?

Use Wax to preserve the edge. Wax DELAYS rust by keeping water and air away from the edge, but it will not prevent rust completely.



Rub the wax onto the edge:


Then buff the wax INTO the edge with a polishing cloth. Medium Hardness wax works best.


Turn the DIN (spring tightness) down to about 10% above the lowest setting. This prevents the spring from weakening during the off-season.


Once you have your skis clean, dry, tuned and waxed, mark what you did on Masking tape and put them away in your rack. Ready to go! 

Sometimes it is a good idea to leave a thick coat of Storage wax on the skis. I do this if I am sure they won't be used for a month or more.Use your warmest, softest wax for that.

I am available through the Summer if you need help prepping new skis, or if you want some tuning/waxing instruction. Use my email address on this article, if you do not have a different address for me already.

I AM getting CMAC Tuning Training completed. It will be rolled out a little before the Fall meetings.

See you on water, or maybe in the ballpark. Go Mariners!

Thank you for the questions. Writing the blog takes me away from repairing bases shredded by the gravel-laced snow we are so thankful for.

Anyway- the question was this: "Should I use a colder or warmer wax on Salt treated snow?" Good question! The quick answer is Colder- about 2 ranges colder than the ambient conditions (generally) indicate- because the snow is colder and MUCH more abrasive. If those 37 f temps were telling you to apply HF10 wax (a very good wax in wet mush), the salt should have you changing to about HF7, The salt made the snow colder AND more abrasive to the bases.

To explain why this is true, here is a short refresher on Wax Properties.

ALL ski wax has 3 general properties/purposes. They are

• Base Protection
  
• Friction Reduction (or Glide) and
  
• Cleaning (and dirt rejection)
  

When you are choosing which wax to use, you must consider what your priorities are, and what functions you want the wax to perform.

This chart is an example of what I am talking about.

NO wax can perform all functions at once perfectly, they each are a balance of available properties. Some properties are complimentary, some are opposing each other. And the application changes how the properties interact.

Properties that oppose (generally):

Glide and Protection:

Why? Because glide relies on softer wax components that "go away" as you ski- like fluro, silicone, etc. Protection relies of Harder wax components that are more durable

Properties that (can) be complimentary:

Cleaning and glide:

Why? Because dirt is slow, REALLY slow. Waxes that help keep skis cleaner also keep them faster.

Additives that "extend" the range and purpose of a wax:

Molybdenum, and Flurocarbons (fluro). Why? Because Moly is friction reducing, static reducing, AND it is (somewhat) of a hardener. Sounds ideal, right? Fluro is friction reducing and dirt-rejecting. It is possible to make a hard, yet pretty fast wax by loading it up with these 2 additives. One wax that does EXACTLY that is Swix Marathon.

Example 1:

• EXTREMELY cold day (-20f).
  
• Wax: SWIX CH4 with CH3 hardener.
  
• Properties:
  
• Protection: 70%
  
• Glide:        29%
  
• Cleaning:     1%
  

But on a VERY cold day, the abrasion protection provided by this extremely hard wax combo will actually ADD to glide by preventing the snow from cutting the base.

Eample 2:

30 f old snow, melting slightly in the sun.

• WAX Swix HF8BW
  
• Properties:
  
• Protection:   25 %
  
• Glide:          55 %
  
• Cleaning:     20 %
  
• 
  

In this case, the HF (High Fluro) helps with glide AND dirt rejection.

The actual wax that I use most of the time on Salty course:

RaceWax X-2 (don't tell anyone- it's a secret).

As you can see in the chart above, it is a great blend of performance, cleaning, and protection.

Other suitable waxes include Swix HF7, HF7BW, and other similar equivalent waxes. 

In my post that follows, you will get a glimpse into how I decide these things.

I'm outta here!!

-John

So, some say I am obsessed with wax and glide. I thank you for that kind comment. Others consider me Completely Nutz!! I have some advice for those with that opinion: Take up Soccer. It is a much more simple sport without all these little "details." 

Yes- I do have a few waxes. No, I do NOT have all of the waxes ever made- or even all of those currently in production. Why do I have so many? Because I am naturally curious, and the answers that "experts" told me were often unsatisfying. So I started experimenting on my own. And I have never stopped...

Here are 2 of my kits. These (together) represent about 1/2 of the variety of base treatments I own, and only about 20% of the quantity of my waxes.

This is my main travel kit- exploded. Small amounts of a great variety of speed treatments, and a couple of spurious items added to the picture. Can you find the most expensive and the cheapest?

Two sides of the same fold-open kit.

Side 1: Hydrocarbon waxes

Side 2: Fluros and Fluro/hydro blends...

I show you these kits for a couple of reasons-

First- to come clean. Ty's skis are fast for a reason

Second- Ty has almost graduated CMAC now and it is High Time I start to pass on my knowledge to the Next Wax Geek- or 2. And I have a plan to do exactly that: detailed training for the kids. I will reveal the details soon...

Keep Turning!!

-John

About a year ago, Alan was telling me about how Blake Lewis (his tech on the world cup) would cut out damaged p-tex and replace it. I had never tried it, but after Ty tore 3 HUGE gashes into (basically) brand new skis- it was time for me to learn.

Disclaimer: This a difficult job. The first time I tried this, it was THE HARDEST ski repair I had ever done. I learned so much that the next pair wasn't too bad at all however. I am passing on a bit of what I learned to make it easier for you.

If you have a BIG core shot, this job is for you. When completed properly, the ski performs as well as it did before the damage occurred.

This is the big tear. I forgot to take a picture before I started, sorry.

And the small tear, pre-repair.

Mark with a sharpie, then cut against a straight edge.

Then pry out the out base material with a screw driver or oyster knife.

Clean out the damaged areas with screw driver and sandpaper, then blow out debris.

Ready for new P-Tex!

Measure the cut on the ski, and cut p-tex to fit. Test fit BEFORE mixing the epoxy.

Mask off the hole, apply the epoxy to both ski and repair, then put p-tex in place. This repair is ready for clamping.

Use the best epoxy you can find for this job. I use HySol 24 hour cure. It does cure faster in the hotbox though!

And here is the final result. This is AFTER extensive sanding, leveling, a bit of touching up the structure, and waxing with a low fluro wax:

 

Not bad eh? These skis will perform as well as they did before the damage.

See you on the hill!

-John

Remember- this is for the obsessive tuners looking for TOP performance.

In the Northwest, we are used to soft, abundant snow most of the time, with occasional periods of Ice. The wear produced by Man Made Snow is quite different, and must be compensated for in order to keep the skis in top shape. Man Made snow is ABRASIVE/aggressive, and ski flatness and bevels can change within 1 or 2 days of hard skiing.

Typically in NW snow, Bases are flattened at the beginning of the season, then (assuming no rock damage) they can be left alone for 10-15 days. Man Made Snow is so abrasive that base flatness must be checked (and maybe re-flattened) every couple of days.  Base and Side Bevels that normally last 10-15 ski days can need resetting very couple of days too.

So the bad part of this is that routine maintenance is much more involved now.  The good part of this situation is that your skis will ski very consistently day to day- assuming you’re doing all that the skis really require, not just the stuff you are used to doing.

Here is the order for Daily Maintenance in Low Snow/Man Made conditions:

1. Deburr base and side edges with diamond or ceramic stones.
   
2. Check flatness with a true-bar, light, and any auxiliary tools that are your standard process.
   
3. Flatten bases using Base File, Planer, Ray’s Way Flattener, etc.
   
4. Step 2 or 3 can sometime be skipped. If you flatten every day, you may not need to actually check flatness. If you check every day, you may not need to actually flatten. Snow is different every day at every area, so avoid assumptions.
   
5. If you removed base material in step 4, edge bevels must be reset on both base and side- especially the base edge. So- remark the edges with a felt pen every 6 inches or so, then (using the appropriate file-guide and FINE or VERY FINE file) reset the base bevel.
   
6. Side file (using the appropriate guide and FINE file) the ski. But only 1-3 overlapping passes. DO NOT OVER-FILE!
   
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 using med-fine diamond stones on the side and fine stones on the base until the edges are consistently very sharp. 
   
   Optional (step 7.5). Repeat steps 5 and 6 with Ceramic and/or Arkansas stones and finally gummi stones unless the edge is both incredibly sharp and perfectly smooth.
   
   
8. Rub med-hard (red) wax ONTO the edges and polish the wax INTO the edges. This final step will delay rust formation, make the edge slightly safer to touch, and (possibly) save .01-.02 seconds a run on a race ski.
9. Scrape the bases lightly with a plexi scraper to remove surface dirt, exposed base-hairs, etc.
10. Polish the base to further remove hairs and clean
    
    Optional (step 10.5) Repeat steps 9 and 10 until your polishing cloth shows no further hair removal is possible. This is required for Championship Level tech skis and all speed skis used in a race
    
    
11. Wax Wash (Warm Scrape) using soft wax
12. Scrape, brush, and polish
    
    Optional (step 12.5) repeat 11 and 12 until scrapings are perfectly clean. If setting up for a cold weather wax, use progressively colder waxes as you warm scrape and repeat.
13. Apply wax of the day, either by iron or by Ray’s Way Waxer. If high fluro, I believe Ray’s Way is the ONLY way to wax.
    
14. If ironing, wait until cool (10-15 minutes for hard waxes, 2+ hours for soft waxes) then scrape and brush.
    
15. (Alternate to 14) If using a Ray’s Way, you are ready to ski… or if adding overlay, scrape and brush.
    
16. For most top-end races, junior level and above, you will probably be adding overlay if the conditions and discipline justify the expense. For training- no overlay!!
    

Pictures and possibly Sprongo video to be added soon.

This is a new series for Experienced Tuners who want MORE PERFORMANCE!

Home Tune vs. Shop Tune vs. Team (pro) Tune: I live less than 15 minutes from 2 Great Ski Shops. When I need help, they are there for me- which is awesome. But I can often do many tuning chores (even the top-end stuff) in less time than it takes to bring the skis in- much less wait for the work to get done and go pick them up. So it is actually easier AND faster for me to do the work myself most of the time.

The latest trend in Tuning is having a Team Tuner (at the academies). I suppose this may work for some- but what I am promoting is Grass Roots Performance: Knowing what your athlete needs, how their equipment is wearing, and how to get equipment to do what you want/need it to do.

The PNSA has a great tradition of producing great skiers and racers from volunteer and family-based organizations. If you count the number of National Championship, World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic Medals won by our skiers you will realize we have done Just Fine- without many of the fancy, high-priced academies, personal coaches, and other Gold Plated services that some seem to think are now required to make it to the top. This series is for those who have Big Dreams.

Series preview

1. Grass Roots Performance
   
2. Daily Top End Maintenance/Man Made Snow
   
3. Base Repair/ alternate approaches
   
4. Top End Edge Tuning
   
5. Bench/lighting
   
6. Top End Waxing
   
7. Travel Kits/Benches
   
8. Tool  use and maintenance
   

Blog outlook: there is a LOT of basic, intermediate, and advanced tuning information on this blog. 13/14 index: http://cmac.shuttlepod.org/Tuning/3057217 11/12/13 index: http://cmac.shuttlepod.org/Tuning/1149163

I have been hesitant to release much information on the High End of things for 3 reasons:

1. I feel many “over-tune” already, when what their kids REALLY need is more time in the gym, playing sports, and more time skiing with a good coach.  
   
2. I have seen some tuners try things they should not have tried- and it made their skis slower in the process.
   
3. This blog has readers all over and I was a little jealous about spreading this knowledge to some of my son’s future competition.
   

 I hope to complete this series before Christmas, and to get a few videos done. My Top-End videos I will only load on Sprongo however, so that I have some control over distribution.

Full disclosure:

Yup, I am a very passionate tuning Geek. I have been tuning skis for over 40 years, and I am continually stepping up my game. My son has World Cup and Olympic dreams so I do my best to make sure he has the best prepared skis on the hill. If you want the same for your racer(s), maybe I can help a little.

Note: Famous Dare Devil, Speed Skier, and Ski Racer/Coach Caden Hendrix skis all over the world and knows a thing or two about Ski Tuning. Here are two of Caden's Top Tips for CMAC Racers and Wax Dads:

• A couple important tips. Always have a good sidewall planer. This is very important to rip down that sidewall so that you can get your (side) edge bevel true and to the accurate degree that you are comfortable. When you use a sidewall planer make sure that you don't take down too much material all at once because that can effect the integrity (of the ski).
  
• Tip #2. Buy yourself a heavy duty Panzar file to help take down the sidewall in the tip and tail section of the ski. They also come in handy for reworking the edge if you have damage to the edges from rocks. With a Panzar you can really rip down a lot of material, then move to a good chrome file with medium to fine teeth. Then from there to a series of wetstone's diamond stones, to get that nice sharp clean edge.
  

Gadget note: Make sure to wear a good pair of work gloves if hand-holding a Panzer file. They can cut into your hands really fast too.

Thanks Caden!

-John

Racer Parent: "I've seen the huge quivers of some of our racers- even the Mitey Mites. Must I buy ALL those skis?! It seems crazy to me!!"

Gadget responds: "You mean like 'racer/trainer' setups where the kids have 2 pairs of everything?"

RP: "Exactly! What's the deal with that anyway?"

G: "For sure, U-8s, 10s, and 12s DO NOT NEED Racer/Trainer setups. U-14, maybe; U-16 probably. By the time the kids are at the FIS level, they do really need them. But the Good News is there are tricks to get some of the benefits of multiple pairs, without the cost."

RP: "What?! There are ways to get 1 pair of skis to perform like Racer/Trainer sets?"

G: "Well- yes, no and it depends. Yes- for the youngest racers, 1 pair can perform as well as 2. No, at the highest levels, kids need more skis. And It Depends on how big and strong the kids are, how fast, and how much they ski.

Here are two tricks you can use:

1.) Mark one set of inside edges as 'Race' and the opposite as 'TRAIN." R and T also work. The racer then uses the right ski on the left foot (and vice versa) for training, and the right ski on the right foot, left on left for racing.  This keeps one set of inside edges in better shape.

2.) After ironing on the 'wax of the day,' leave it a bit thick- just a light scraping to smooth the surface a bit. The racer can train and slip the course before the race, THEN fully scrape and brush the ski. The excess wax  can help protect the thin layer of wax that is the fastest for the race itself."

RP: "OK, that is kind of cool, but I am still confused. When does my kid NEED multiple pairs of skis?"

G: So, when the differences in time between your kid and the other top kids gets much smaller, AND/OR your kid gets VERY strong, AND/OR the speeds get pretty high, AND/OR conditions really suck- then you need multiple pairs.

For Example- Warm Up Slalom 2014 u14 boys class. The spread from 1st to 10th place was nearly 10 seconds. It is unlikely that the Racer Trainers were much benefit. But in the 2014 u-16 Western Regional Championship GS, the spread was only 3 seconds. Can't let any speed slip away in that sort of race."

RP: "My u12 daughter only weights 81 pounds, and she barely skis the wax off of her skis in two days. She did get a 9th place once though. Does she need racer/trainers?" 

G: " I really do not think so,"

RP: " My u-14 tears it up though. He is 145 pounds and keeps bending skis. He has won a couple of races and skis over 100 days a season now. Does HE need more than 1 pair per discipline?"

G: "Yup, I think your son can benefit from racer/trainers."

The bottom line is this: When your kid's coach says they need better equipment, they probably do.  If unsure, you should ask a coach or two. You do not need to follow the lead of the other parents.

Full disclosure: We DO have more than one pair per discipline, and have for a while. If you can stand having more than once pair per discipline around, it can potentially prevent a few headaches. This is because multiple pairs makes it easier to keep one pair nice and fast- and you also have a spare should something happen to 1 pair of skis. If the athlete is skiing over 100 days/year, they probably do need multiple pairs. And yes, RP is also me... but I am a RP, so this just reveals one of my many alternate personalities.

Please write if you need further clarification.

-John

This ties into the post about Ski Tuning Education.

WARNING: New Ski Prep is one of the most advanced tuning jobs to do, and the performance of the New Skis (that you just paid so dearly for) hinges on Getting The Tune RIGHT!!

So considering that (and the fact that most people have neither the time nor the proper tools for this particular job), I suggest you do the following:

Take the New skis (or quiver of skis) to Your Favorite Tuner (if you need suggestions, please write).

BUT- lots of skis come into the shops this time of year. You want your racers' skis tuned Better Than Average (if not great) right? How do you ensure the best possible tune for the $$? By being Picky with how you specify the skis to be tuned, and Checking Their Work, that's how!! 

Here are the specs for you- by age and ski type. I will suggest settings for all these:

• Base Specs: (Flatness and Structure)
  
• Edge Bevels: (Base and Side)
  
• Wax: (Scrape or no-Scrape)
  

Bases:

Flatness: All Ages,All Ski Types- Tell the shops you want the bases Dead Flat- not almost flat or flat here and there. Be willing to pay extra money if they seem resistant or hesitant. If they are unwilling or unable, Walk Away. Change Shops. Flat bases are CRITICAL to the performance of the ski, and very few skis (especially on Junior skis)  are shipped with flat bases.  I have to give a shout out to Fischer here however- they simply have the finest New Ski finish on the planet, day in, day out.

Structure: Most skis come with a pretty good structure these days, but often the skis must be re-ground anyway because they are not flat.  If the shop is using hand tools to flatten the bases, they may not need to grind the ski. BE VERY PICKY with the structure on Speed Skis. Ask the advice of your shop or of one us coaches. If you do get speed skis ground, ask the shop to break in the bases and wax them for you too.

Edge Bevels:

U-8, U10, some U-12; all ski types: 1 degree base bevel, 1 degree side bevel.  This will create a 90 degree edge that holds well, but is very forgiving and very durable. 

Advanced U-12, U-14: 1 degree base bevel, 2-3 degrees side bevel. The ski will hook up and carve harder with a 3 degree bevel. I suggest you move at u-12/u-14 straight from a 1 degree side bevel to a 3 degree and not bother with a 2 degree.

Advanced U-14 and U-16: 

• 3 degrees side bevel for all race skis. It just makes things easier to use the same setup, and there is no good reason to use less than 3 degrees bevel for any discipline.
  
• .7 base edge bevel for Slalom, 1 degree base bevel  GS. Speed skis should have a 1 degree base bevel with a progressive bevel at the tip and tail (progressing up to 2 degrees). Write if you want to know how to do this.
  

FIS: 

• Slalom .5 base, 3-4 degrees side. 4 degrees only for the iciest conditions and strongest racers.
  
• GS      .7 base, 3 degree side.
  
• Speed  1 base (progressing to 2) and 3 degrees on the side.
  

Wax:

Always have the shops finish the tuning job by waxing and scraping. This way, you can check the skis with a true bar while still at the shop. If there is a problem, leave them or get a refund. If they are great, make sure you tell them. A little Positive Feedback goes a long ways.

Hotboxing:Baking skis in a waxing oven is a great way to help make skis faster. It is a nice option for tech skis, but it is almost a requirement for Speed Skis these days. If you want to know more about hotboxing, please write.

If you want to know more, I have much more posted here in the blog, and I will continue to research and give you my best guidance.

Side note: In case you are wondering, I have experimented with base bevels from .25 degree all the way up to 2.5 degrees and with side bevels from 0 degrees up to 10. The bevel settings I am suggesting here are the result of those experiments and due to multiple conversations with great racers, techs, and coaches about bevel angles. These settings WORK!

See you on the hill!
-Gadget

I am currently developing a curriculum for 3 levels for Tuning Certification for CMAC. I am not sure exactly the direction it will go yet (and I would love some input), but my gut feelings is for 3 levels of classes/certifications starting with Daily Maintenance, then Heavy Tuning, and finally Speed Ski Prep. Each level will have its own medals/awards, recognition, etc.

My ultimate goal is that our Juniors will be able to go to regional competitions without parents in tow as a support crew- and be the best prepared racers there! This sort of training is standard at academies, and I hope to match or better their quality. 

For parents- not only will you know your kids are well prepared, you can also have more free time- instead of Tuning Time! Let's get the Racers doing the tuning again!!