Base flattening / grind on new skis

[Wade]

I’m getting ready to start tuning and waxing for the new season, and checked out 5 new sets of skis for base flatness before I start.

Which of these would be acceptable to you to put right into the rotation with just edge tuning and waxing, and which would you want to send for a grind to get the base flatter? (Apologies for the shitty photos - these were a bit tricky to take with an iphone).

1 - J Skis Fast Forward

2 - Moment Countach

3- Volkl Revolt 95

4 - Kastle Mogul X

5 - Zipline junior mogul

 

[pais alto]

Product Details - SlideWright Ski & Snowboard Tools, Wares & Tips

Skivisions Ski File Base Flattener

www.slidewright.com

Or

Scout sd

Automatic service station for skis.

www.wintersteiger.com

Might want to check your edge angles after seeing to the bases.

 

[mdf]

Oooo... I'll play. I'm far from an expert at base flatness, but I do check my skis and have had to guess what "good enough" looks like.

My totally untrained thoughts:
1) looks bad, but it's flat near the edges so might ski fine.
2) yuck
3) sort of like an antique center groove. Aesthetically bad, but probably ok
4) very nice
5) probably the worst of the bunch

 

[graham418]

I am very surprised at how bad all of those look. I dont know if you got them online or at a shop, but if you got them at a shop, I'm surprised they would let you go out the door like that. even if it was by ways of an upsell to prep them properly

 

[BC.]

Since all of them show some “light”..are u sure ur true bar is “true”?

 

[Wade]

I am very surprised at how bad all of those look. I dont know if you got them online or at a shop, but if you got them at a shop, I'm surprised they would let you go out the door like that. even if it was by ways of an upsell to prep them properly

Moment, J and Zipline are all (mostly) DTC brands, so online for those.

The bases of the Kastles I think are great. I bought them direct from a shop, but they were in the wrapper, so the shop didn’t inspect them or grind them. There aren’t many shops that sell competition mogul skis, so there aren’t many places to buy these.

the Volkls were online from a reputable shop.

 

[Wade]

Since all of them show “light”..are u sure ur true bar is “true”?

Excellent point! I should probably order a true bar true bar

 

[cantunamunch]

Thoughts:

1) Where on the ski was this photo taken? Tip/tail? Shovel? Waist? If at waist, it's skiable but you'll feel it. At the tip or tail, you'll be fine.

2) At that width, you'll never feel that center hole. I wouldn't be terribly fussed.

3) Skiable. I wouldn't be fussed. Go ski some rocks.

4) Check entire length of ski. If it's all like that, it should disappear with enough wax/scrape cycles.

5) A bit ugly and I wouldn't trust those edge angles to be accurate at all.

 

[François Pugh]

Like @cantunamunch , I want to know where on the ski you took all these photos.
Last one is a problem for me. First 4 wouldn't bother me much; it's more important that the edge angles are consistent and the guide rides on one side of the base, or straddles it. So long as you are getting a consistent angle, even if it's based of a slightly off base, you're good- you will increase or decrease the angle to your taste anyway. When your skis are tipped that hollow in the middle don't matter.
I would not waste money and base material by grinding the first 4.

 

[Wade]

Like @cantunamunch , I want to know where on the ski you took all these photos.

The true bar is just behind the heel piece in all of the photos. I generally check at 4 or 5 points along the base - all of the photos are pretty representative of what I found along the length of the skis.

 

[Atomicman]

As long as the base is flat about 10MM inward from each edge they will ski fine.

 

[DocGKR]

I'd run with #4, the rest would get a grind--would think twice about buying from those brands again....

 

[Paul Lutes]

Seems to be an epidemic: 3 out of 5 new skis (Blizzard (2), Dynastar, Atomic and Stockli) were edge high. I ground them all to reset edges, but was shocked at the initial condition.

 

[DocGKR]

The only skis I've routinely seen with a perfect tune out of the box have been Augment/VanDeer.

 

[Lauren]

Eh...ski 'em as they are. Then get them ground if they don't ski right.

Personally, I wouldn't spend the money to get them ground right out of the factory unless they don't ski well...YMMV.

 

[cantunamunch]

Eh...ski 'em as they are. Then get them ground if they don't ski right.

Personally, I wouldn't spend the money to get them ground right out of the factory unless they don't ski well...YMMV.

I'm with you mostly - but sheesh those Ziplines look ugly.

 

[DanoT]

Eh...ski 'em as they are. Then get them ground if they don't ski right.

Personally, I wouldn't spend the money to get them ground right out of the factory unless they don't ski well...YMMV.

It is probably too late for the OP, but the savvy thing to do is get the ski shop to agree to include a free base grind as part of the sale when buying skis.

 

[Henry]

The Kastle looks like it might be light shining through the base structure. As Atomicman noted, if wide skis are flat near the edges, they're fine. Fully flattening them might take too much material off the outer parts of the base.

The Head skis I got a couple of years ago from their new plant in the Czech Republic had a fine tune, excellent right out of the wrapper. Of course, I had to put my edge angles on them....

 

[arficus]

Got some new upper end Nordica skis with atrocious tune from factory, came looking to vent and found this thread. They have a narrow high band of ptex immediately parallel to both edges. Like completely railed, except the edges are actually a bit lower than a thin strip of the adjacent ptex. I'd assume this came from applying sloppy base edge bevel (after the usual sloppy base "leveling" that made things concave)? Just peeved that in this era of amazingly good automated grinding equipment a ski company releases such schlock.

Does anyone still tune by hand anymore? OP, you already have a true bar. That, a metal scraper, file, and elbow grease could flatten those out. Suppose a vise setup would be pretty essential too for that kind of scraping...

 

[Wade]

Does anyone still tune by hand anymore? OP, you already have a true bar. That, a metal scraper, file, and elbow grease could flatten those out. Suppose a vise setup would be pretty essential too for that kind of scraping...

Yeah, I have a full tuning set up and do all of my own work. I have the Ski Visions base flattening / structuring tool as well as metal scrapers, but the Ziplines in particular seem like they would need a ton of passes to get properly flat, and are bad enough that I think just paying for a base grind to get them right is probably the better option.

The Kastles are pretty flat and are good to go with just the edge prep and waxing routine I go through on any new ski. The others are all wider skis and I think there’s probably enough flat base close to the edges that I can put accurate edges angles on them and they’re flat enough that they’ll ski well once I’m done with tuning and waxing.