Freehand sharpening with Razor Tune without bench

[MikeHunt]

Any tips or concerns? May sound like a joke, but I'm serious.

Owner of Razor Tune has a short video of it

Reason for me wanting to do it this way is I stay in ski resort hotels for weeks at a time that may or may not have a table to grip vices to that I may or may not be able to drag out to a hotel room balcony.

If I can learn freehand I can just go outside to the room balcony without table or just anywhere outside in general and freehand tune without a table to let metal dust disperse into the open air.

 

[Philpug]

What's the problem?

But one has to be hopeless klutz to mess up using a razor tune. People like those exist and I put them in the same category as people who can't put together an Ikea furniture.

Maybe you just need a 6mm allen wrench?

 

[MikeHunt]

What's the problem?

Maybe you just need a 6mm allen wrench?

I guess it's a bit beyond the abilities of a keyboard worker to freehand a Razor Tune without a bench.

At the end of the day the Razor Tune is just a grinder tool and people in the trades freehand grinder tools in worksites everyday.

For people who work in the trades, does grinding a ski edge really require the precision that a bench can provide? Only for daily edge maintenance, not resetting the edge. I will leave resetting to a shop.

Also I will be religiously sharpening everyday, so less material/effort will be expended in freehanding for my purposes.

 

[scott43]

Put the tools down... Step away from the skis....

 

[oldschoolskier]

Two comments on the video.

That sounded like a very heavy cut, two maybe three tunes skis are done.

Second, while I have and still free tune with a lot simpler methods (it's how I learned when I was young a lot of years ago). I do not recommend this for someone just starting as it may be cheaper to buy new skis every outing if you decide this method.

 

[Dave Marshak]

That sounded like a very heavy cut, two maybe three tunes skis are done.

Troy says the medium wheel takes on 0.001 inched per pass, so that's about 60 passes.

dm

 

[scott43]

Holy shit that thing is expensive...

 

[Dave Marshak]

Also I will be religiously sharpening everyday, so less material/effort will be expended in freehanding for my purposes.

I wouldn't use the Razor Tune the way it's used in that video. Also, it's gone from the RT website, probably because it's a bad idea.

But really, where are going that you need to sharpen every day? I ski Whiteface and I still rarely sharpen 2 days in a row. I'm going to Banff next week and I'm gonna file my edges round before I leave. If I were going away for a week and thought I would need to sharpen every day I'd cancel the trip.

dm

 

[Johnny V.]

Also I will be religiously sharpening everyday, so less material/effort will be expended in freehanding for my purposes.

Where are you skiing? I can't imagine you'll need to sharpen every day unless you're running gates all the time.

Beat me to it, Dave!

 

[oldschoolskier]

Troy says the medium wheel takes on 0.001 inched per pass, so that's about 60 passes.

dm

Right, I sharpen endmills and 0.001" per passed doesn't sound anywhere near like that, 0.005" is quieter. That sounds like at best a 0.020 plus cut, out of a light wt tool. Too much vibration in the sounds indicates that.

Again only speaking as a machinist with access to machines that can actually hold those tolerances.

 

[Wade]

Also I will be religiously sharpening everyday, so less material/effort will be expended in freehanding for my purposes.

Seems like massive overkill.

I’m pretty obsessive about making sure my family’s skis are properly tuned and waxed, but tuning with a RazorTune every day on a vacation is just unnecessary.

Maybe consider a quick touch up with a stone and edge guide as needed, or maybe a little spray or paste wax if the skis are getting super slow Or just take them to the shop if something more is needed.

 

[MikeHunt]

I wouldn't use the Razor Tune the way it's used in that video. Also, it's gone from the RT website, probably because it's a bad idea.

But really, where are going that you need to sharpen every day? I ski Whiteface and I still rarely sharpen 2 days in a row. I'm going to Banff next week and I'm gonna file my edges round before I leave. If I were going away for a week and thought I would need to sharpen every day I'd cancel the trip.

dm

Where are you skiing? I can't imagine you'll need to sharpen every day unless you're running gates all the time.

Beat me to it, Dave!

Seems like massive overkill.

I’m pretty obsessive about making sure my family’s skis are properly tuned and waxed, but tuning with a RazorTune every day on a vacation is just unnecessary.

Maybe consider a quick touch up with a stone and edge guide as needed, or maybe a little spray or paste wax if the skis are getting super slow Or just take them to the shop if something more is needed.

It's just a total of 4 passes every morning (one pass per side with a medium wheel). That's too much?

 

[Wade]

It's just a total of 4 passes every morning (one pass per side with a medium wheel). That's too much?

Yes.

 

[MikeHunt]

Yes.

How's one pass with a medium wheel per side per morning overkill compared to your suggestion of:

Maybe consider a quick touch up with a stone and edge guide as needed

 

[Wade]

How's one pass with a medium wheel per side per morning overkill compared to your suggestion of:

As needed is not every morning. As needed is more like if there’s performance changing damage to edges or if the edges have dulled to the point performance is noticeably compromised.

I’m pretty picky about how my skis are maintained, but if I start a vacation with a well waxed ski with sharp edges, I can quite happily ski it for the best part of a week and assuming decent snow, not feel like I lost anything significant in performance or in my enjoyment of my vacation. I know a lot of good skiers who tune their own skis and I’ve never met anyone who feels the need for daily hotel room tunes while on vacation.

If you enjoy doing it though or you believe it makes for a better vacation, of course you should knock yourself out and tune as often as you want to.

 

[MikeHunt]

As needed is not every morning. As needed is more like if there’s performance changing damage to edges or if the edges have dulled to the point performance is noticeably compromised.

I’m pretty picky about how my skis are maintained, but if I start a vacation with a well waxed ski with sharp edges, I can quite happily ski it for the best part of a week and assuming decent snow, not feel like I lost anything significant in performance or in my enjoyment of my vacation. I know a lot of good skiers who tune their own skis and I’ve never met anyone who feels the need for daily hotel room tunes while on vacation.

If you enjoy doing it though or you believe it makes for a better vacation, of course you should knock yourself out and tune as often as you want to.

Freehanding a stone and a guide is fiddly and slow compared to freehanding a Razor Tune, all else being equal.

It doesn't concern me that the latter is 10x more expensive. It's fast. Like the difference between a brush and a roto.

I just need to learn how to use a Razor Tune without a bench and vices and my life would be sweet.

I freehand my liquid wax of the day spray with felt and nylon brush and it's not that hard. And that's using a bit of pressure.

With Razor Tune, it's a soft touch gadget.I just need to guide it along.

I think your resistance to RT for touch ups is you equate the device to a full tune as it's powerful. But it's also portable with a battery and certainly more soft touch than a stone and a guide.

It's soft touch gadget for casuals.

 

[KingGrump]

I am just wondering where are all these harebrained ideas coming from.

 

[MikeHunt]

I am just wondering where are all these harebrained ideas coming from.

It's harebrained for you because you're a local mountain guy with a "my tool shed and garage is just 15 minutes away from the mountain" mentality.

I challenge you to ski away from your homebase in another continent for weeks at a time with all your ski gear while still having access to your most important tools that can fit in just a ski bag and a 22x14x9 suitcase. Go.

 

[KingGrump]

It's harebrained for you because you're a local mountain guy with a "my tool shed and garage is just 15 minutes away from the mountain" mentality.

Don't know where you get the 15 minute thing from. For most part of the season, it's 5 minute.
A ski can die a slow and agonizing death in 15 minute. For a catastrophic event, immediate treatment is usually necessary. My skiing EDC usually have enough to keep skiing for the rest of the day.

I challenge you to ski away from your homebase in another continent for weeks at a time with all your ski gear while still having access to your most important tools that can fit in just a ski bag and a 22x14x9 suitcase. Go.

The world has been turning for a long time. Most problems already have solutions.

Like many, I used to fly to ski. Sometimes a week, often month plus. The only tool I carried is following:

• Edge guide
• 100 mm bastard file
• Spring clamp
• 200 grit Moonflex
• Ptex candle (01)
• Paste wax
• Cork
• Nylon brush

Oh yeah, learn to ski off piste. Tune is less important there.

 

[MikeHunt]

Like many, I used to fly to ski. Sometimes a week, often month plus. The only tool I carried is following:

• Edge guide
• 100 mm bastard file
• Spring clamp
• 200 grit Moonflex
• Ptex candle (01)
• Paste wax
• Cork
• Nylon brush

I don't see bench and vices in your list. You freehand?

You can replace 1 to 4 with a Razor Tune. See? Progress still happens.