Tune your own skis?

I just spent 50 dollars to get my skis tuned. Seems high.

Is tuning your skis yourself an easy thing to do? I'm thinking that next winter I'll do it myself.

Depends on what was done, $50 may not be too far off if the skis were in really said shape. If which case, I wouldn't recommend it to be a do-it-yourself job.

Tuning is way easier than earning $50. some other way.

True if it's home tunable. But, skis with badly rusted edges, gunked up bindings, core shot gouches. $50 doesn't really sound that bad if the skis look like new again.

True. Or if he makes 432 cm of steel edge razor sharp and makes the base faster than greased lightning.

I find it hard to justify home tuning on the basis of cost effectiveness. tuning gear/supplies are fairly expensive and let's be honest once you start doing it, you want more and more and more.
So if you have some self control, over time it can work out, but to get into the game, you need to drop a few hundred to be properly set up (vices, files/stones, guides, iron, a brush, wax). Figure in the beer $ and the time you spend too and it ends up being about the same as getting a shop tune.

That being said I tune my own gear. Why? Well for one, in a sadistic way, its kind of fun. Its something ski related to do when you can't ski. It also makes me feel more confident in my gear, because I know exactly what kind of shape my stuff is in. I also think it makes you better overall "skier" (not just technique wise). It helps you understand some of the physics behind the sport, it makes you more connected with whats going on under your feet.

50 dollars not that high if you got a base grind and some ptex repairs.

I'm curious about this too, I am thinking about tuning my own skis this year, to save money and to get wax on my ski's as often as I need to. In past years I didn't get my skis waxed nearly often enough, I average 1 tune for every 50 ski days, even though I know that I need to get them waxed, I can't be bothered to pay someone to do it nor do I want to sit around thinking about what I could be skiing while I wait for someone to wax em.

I'm planning on going ultra cheap in true ski bum style. clothes iron, I'm hoping to catch some swix vices I saw on SAC that were designed for people to take on trips that I can just clamp on a folding table or whatever I can find. A cheap scraper, some basic wax, one brush, and maybe a guide and pocket stone to give my edges a once over. I'm figuring on waxing about once every 3-5 ski days. Do you still think getting shop tunes once a week would be better?

if you have more than one pair of skis to keep waxed and sharp, tuning at home is definitely cost effective. the prices for vises are really outrageous though. i'm starting to think that waxing is mostly a waste of time too.

You'll never be able to afford to have pros maintain your gear. Tune it when it's bad - sure, but maintain it?

Wax often, debur edges, keep the skis in tip-top shape between major tunes is easy to do. Yes you will spend some money, but can control it with modest goals.

I love tuning my skis (and my loved one's) knowing they are sharp and the bases are protected and fast is a great feeling.

There is a an initial investment which can quickly balloon to a large investment ($1000+), but for the most part you wont have to replace any of that stuff for many years with exception to the wax, which if you dont start getting crazy with the specialty race stuff, can be had in bulk very affordably.

If you want to maintain your skis in great shape, then self tuning is the most cost effective method, especially if you have more than one pair of skis to look after. One season's worth of meticulous maitntenance will quickly cost more than a well equipped ski-tune setup. On average a regular tune up (wax and sharpen) will cost $25-$35, do the math.

what are you buying, your own stone grinder?

Thanks, everyone, for your info and input!

The payback is pretty quick. My everyday skis get waxed and sharpened after 3 ski days or so, and my race skis get it after every race. My wife is also much happier when her personal "Tune Boy" has done his job.

I'm far from an expert, but I'm sure I'm as good as the average bozo in most ski shops for basic sharpening and waxing.............

the gold plated file set always sets you back

Tuning steps---

--Base stone grind--as infrequent as possible, and always done when needed by a very good shop. All grinding and sharpening takes some of the life from the ski, but when the base needs to be re-flattened, this is necessary.

--Base repairs--immediately needed when the core is showing, otherwise, do it as you like.

--Base edge sharpening--remove any raised burrs from rock hits with a stone, otherwise leave this for the stone grind tune.

--Side edge sharpening--remove any raised burrs with a stone promptly, and sharpen with a file or diamond and stone any time you like. Don't remove too much; this also is part of the life of your ski.

--Wax--easy, do it yourself.

So...do burr removal, side edges, and wax. Consider most of the other steps.

Best thing you can do is start with waxing the first season and see how it goes from there. Waxing is low risk/high reward and can give you an idea of whether you're willing to put more time in for tuning.

Amen to that.

After years of doing my own tuning, I gave up, for the following reasons:
-I sucked at it
-I have no indoor space to tune; it's cold setting up vices out on my porch
-I have no time
-I found out I could get about 10 tunes for 100 euros if I work out a deal with a shop

I think my skis don't last as long as when I tuned them by hand, but I was never able to get them as smooth and sharp as the shop can.

First time tuning experience...

Since NYCJIM is thinking about tuning for the first time, I'll share my recent experience. I hadn't skied in about 8 years and decided to jump back in both feet first...new gear from head to toe.

I also wanted to do my own tuning...I had a local shop grind the bases and set the base and edge bevels. They only put one coat of a standard wax on as part of this service. Cost $55.

I then spent about $350 on what I would consider a complete basic tuning kit. I don't think I'll need to add any tools for a while so it should pay for it self after a few seasons. I love doing this myself...it's addictive and theraputic to me. I consider this a cost of having fun.

I started out by sharpening up the edges, then doing six coats of Raceservice 1 SBCG to really get the bases conditioned, followed up by 2 coats of Raceservice 1 ZF3. I was a little nervous at first, but it's really very easy. A little touch of OCD will really shine through when you start brushing after scraping.

First time out I was amazed at how good the skis felt. After one outing I cleaned up the edges a bit and did two more coats of ZF3 for a three day trip to Steamboat last week...this is where I really noticed the waxing.

Any place where it was fairly flat, like coming down a cat walk at the end of the day, other skiers would be pushing with both poles to keep moving...I simply slid right on by them without ever touching a pole to the ground.

Sharp edges are someting I'm not sure I've ever really experienced. While skiing blues aggressively, I could see icy spots coming up and prepared myself to get over them, then it happend...extreme edge grip! I now know what a sharp edge can do. By doing this yourself, you know exactly what you have going on underfoot and can confidently attack anything.

I never did any tuning or waxing myself prior to this...I can safely say that I've never had skis feel this good coming out of a shop.

By last as long are you referring to the overall life of the ski (i.e. there is no edge left to sharpen) or how long the tune lasts (edges and wax wears out quicker)?

I am also likely going to get into the slef-tuning gig. I feel it will be similar to fly-tying to me in that its another way to get connected to the sport.
I was wondering how often you need to stone grind a ski? Is the only reason to if its no longer flat or not accepting wax? I brought my skis to bootdoctors in Telluride for a tune and felt like they totally screwed up my skis. They just weren't sliding very well at all and had discoloration on the bases (blueish grey patches on my white bases). Would another stone grind fix this problem and allow me to care for the bases (wax) and side edges on my own for the rest of the season. The skis are a year old now (~50 days on them) and I didn't have them tuned nearly as much as many people recommend per ski day the first year. There are currently some minor gauges in the bases, not sure if ptex is even necessary. Should I go for a stone grind and start over or just try to get a bunch of wax to absorb into the bases. I just don't want to take too much out of the life of the ski.

Thanks for the advice. A friend of mine is going to help me tune them a bit and we'll see where they go from there. I will try to avoid the base stone grind.
Alpinord, too bad we didn't get a chance to ski together. I was going to PM you but we didn't have internet access at the house. Also spent a lot of time skiing with my girlfriends family so I wouldn't have had time to do more than a few runs.

I tune our stable of 18? pairs of skis myself. Our free skis get touched up every day, waxed every 2-4 days, and sharpened as needed. Our race skis get the full treatment before every race.

I do all the edge and base work and do all the waxing except for the race skis. I can do 3-5 prs of skis in about 2 hours. Hubby does all the specialty waxing for the race skis.

With the exception of the wax iron and the roto brushes (Christmas presents from my Mom), I don't think we have more than $150-200 wrapped up in tools. We buy Hertel Hot Sauce in huge blocks for $19 and use this on everything but the race skis.....it lasts between 1 and 3 years depending on how many other people's skis we do.

Tuning your own skis is an amazing feeling.....the shine of a well polished edge, the glossy "soapy" look of a nice wax job, the sckkkk of the file, the smell of melting wax......mmmmmmmm (sigh).

Richie-Rich does not do anything by halves - he embraces everything he is interested in with gusto and verve. There are photos of his tuning set up (probably has $500 worth of beer alone in his fridge) on another thread here on the forum.

Worth a look if you have the space in a garage or workshop.

Tuning one's own skis makes sense and initially one does not need to spend too much to do a good job with very little time and effort.