How to tune your own skis

So now that I actually have a house with a basement I've been thinking about doing my own ski tuning.  I'd be a complete novice at this, so I figured I'll start on my old skis first.  

Are there any how-to guides that people recommend?  

How about equipment?  I see Swix sells this complete kit:  Swix Tuning Kit

A few videos have mentioned that you should set your sharpener to the edge angles that come from the manufacturer.  I can't seem to find this information for any of my skis.  Is there a way to determine this, or should I just go with whatever I want?

Theres a book called "From Tip to Tail". Pretty easy to understand.

Edge angles.
https://www.thepisteoffice.com/index.php/edge-angles-wax-data/15-ski-manufacturers-edge-angle-specifications.html

I don’t use the manufacturer angles, I like a race tune: 0.5 base, 3 edge.

Order you ski tune stuff from artechski: https://www.artechski.com/?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl-iz6dHo5gIVzeDICh0voA5FEAAYASAAEgJXR_D_BwE

Get a base file, an edge file, a side edge guide, a clamp for the file, a red diamond file, a side wall cutter, an iron and some wax and a scraper and a ski vise. That’s about the bare minimum. I bolted a 6” wide board to some studs in the basement to use as a tuning bench.

You can add more later. Have a good race shop set your angles the first time and then keep up with it yourself. Tune every day you ski.

Later you can add more files and guides, a ptex iron, etc.

Keep it simple when you start.  Knock down the rock hit damage with a coarse stone and use a coarse stone in a file guide to sharpen the side edges. Only use a file on the edges when they are really bad or when you want to reset the angles. Work the base edges with a fine stone, or leave them alone. The key is to do it every day and never let them get a lot of damage.

You can't decrease the base angle without first flattening the base, and that's a advanced skill operation that I leave to a shop. IME shops always do 1 degree and 2 degrees no matter what you tell them. I leave the base angle at whatever it is and put a 3 degree on the side. YMMV.

SVST tools are the best. Get a 2 or 3 degree side edge file guide, and a side planer or a Skivisions panzer file insert to trim back the sidewall.

The Swix tuning kit is way too expensive and not very good quality. Use your Mom's best iron carefully or get an iron on Ebay for $30.  Hot wax once or twice a year and use liquid wax every day. Don't get a vise. Every time I bought a vise the next pair of skis wouldn't fit in it. Put simple supports on your bench. I like to work the ski edge up, base away, so I cut slots in wooden blocks to hold them edge up.

mm
 

Join the OC Ski Club and come to the free tuning clinic this month!

A couple tips
Just starting out don’t mess with the base or you will screw up your bevels just do the side edges and if the bases get dinged use a fine stone 600 or 1000 grit by hand to smooth the burr.  Pay for a stone grind once yr to clean up the base or if you need a base weld.  

You need to plane back the side wall or you can’t properly sharpen the edge as the side wall will get in the way.  The Swix tool works well for this

Don’t use your diamond stones dry.  Take a small spray bottle and put a mix of half water and half rubbing alcohol in it and spray your stone then do the edge.  Then wipe the edge after with a paper towel

I prefer the beast tools from RacePlace and Vola wax over Swix.  The Vola vices are good too.

Consider getting a roto brush it’s a huge time saver

Thanks for everyone's response on this.  When I wrote this post I didn't realize just how involved ski tuning is, how much freakin' stuff you need, and how expensive it was going to be.  For what I paid for all these things I could almost buy a brand new pair of skis, but I figured it will pay for itself in the long run, and more importantly allow me to fine tune my own skis and edge angles.

I looked for the book "From Tip to Tail" but it's hard to find and is from the 90s so I figure it might be a bit dated.  I ended up downloading the book "The Ultimate Ski Maintenance Book" by Peter Ballin for like $4 on Amazon.  It's not terribly detailed, but provides a general guide of what I need to get started.  When I actually start doing this I'll probably use it in conjunction with some youtube videos.

I know you guys like to pick and choose your tools, but as a beginner I just want something mostly out of the box to get started, so I did everything on Amazon.  

I started with this kit from RaceWax  .    

I then cross referenced what is in this kit with what the book recommends and ended up adding the following:

Swix Tuning Table
Swix Coarse Grain File,
Swix Fine Grain File,
RaceWax 4 diamond stone set (ranging in grain coarseness)
A True Bar
A set of three gummi stones (ranging in grain coarseness)
Swix Sidewall cutter
Coarse Ceramic Stone
Fine Ceramic Stone
WinkWax base cleaner
A work area mat
Toko Apron
spray bottles
rubbing alcohol
polishing towels
A few other minor things I should have around the house anyway like pens and lighters

Do I really need all the different coarsenesses of these things?  I have no idea, but I figure I'll find out.  

For my first tune I'll do it on my old Dynastar Powertrack 89s which are basically toast.  I'll then graduate to my K2 chargers which I'm finding little use for these days since I bought the Head Kores (whose versatility is astounding).  I figure I'll do the side edges to a 2, and the bases I just want to leave at whatever they are at now.  Is there a way to tell this by examining the ski, or should I just assume it's a 1 based on :

https://www.thepisteoffice.com/index.php/edge-angles-wax-data/15-ski-manufacturers-edge-angle-specifications.html

Seems like you  have too much stuff

All you need to start is one file.  Files are something I use the least as long as you are using the stones often.  Never use a file until you take the burrs off with a course diamond stone
Ceramic stones are good for race tunes but I don’t bother to use them on my own skis
I have 6 different stones but use black red yellow and white most often
You could just go with red and white to start out

Do not buy base cleaner.  It’s nasty stuff and will dry out your base.  Instead to clean you hot scrape a soft wax and it will pull the dirt from your base.

I dont see in your list a file guide and clamp or the edge of the beast which doesn’t need a clamp
Also you don’t have any plastic scrapers or a brush on your list.  Need an iron as well.  
A stiff horse hair roto brush is something is really love having and would not live without

I have a Swix bench for taking to races but I prefer to work on a sturdier work bench when in my shop.

Some random notes.....

Edge angles will vary with the type of terrain you're skiing.  Sharper angles (3 deg. side/1 deg. base) will dull more quickly than milder angles, say 2 degree/1 degree.  If you don't know what you want/what the factory settings are, start with milder angles and adjust as needed.  Ski gently at first to get a feel for whether it's working for you.

If you had/borrowed edge guides, you can figure it out by drawing a line on the edge with a marker and lightly use a stone or file.  When you find a guide that takes the marker line off evenly, that's your bevel.

Starting
- Vice
- Coarse stone (200 grit)
- Side bevel guide with your preferred bevel (with clamp, depending on style of guide)
- File (~3 inch) for guide

Advanced
- Base bevel guide
- File (~8 inch) for guide
- Fine stone (polishing edges after file)
- Sidewall stripper (panzer file could be a substitute)

Other useful tools
- Paint brush - to clean files after 2-3 strokes (reduces/eliminates filings building up)
- Marker (see above)
- Elastics from broccoli (to hold back brakes)
- Petroleum jelly:  if not waxing, apply to edges for summer storage
- Drop cloth

Base
- Iron.....can use an old iron if its temp is adjustable.  Can verify the temp with a laser thermometer.
- Plastic scraper
- PTex/metal scraper (these should be inexpensive)

For the vice, if you don't get one that telescopes, you could use blocks to raise it.  Raising the vice might be needed if your bindings are too close to the bench.

Agree with MM....."You can't decrease the base angle without first flattening the base, and that's a advanced skill operation that I leave to a shop."  I bring my skis in to have a base grind, then do the rest myself.  I find a good tune will last about 8 ski days.....but I'm particular.  I also agree with him about a panzer file as an option to a sidewall stripper.

Brand Cost (in my experience, high to low)
- Sun Valley Ski Tools
- Holmenkol
- Toko
- Swix

Places where I've bought gear online: Tognar, RaceWax, Reliable Racing.  Products worked as expected from all places.  Happy with cost and service of all.

What DB Cooper said, except that one vice isn't nearly enough, but you don't need a ski vise.

The Ski Visions websites has a series of videos that show simple tuning methods. He does the whole job, including flattening, without a vise. I like the Ski Visions edge tool as well because I can work the base edge with a fine stone and the side with a coarse stone at the same time. I also like that it uses stones that can be dressed as they become worn.

I still use my Mom's best iron. I let it warm up a long time to eliminate the cold spots, them pull the plug so it doesn't develop hot spots. I can do one pair of skis that way before it cools down. If you don't let a cold iron warm up enough, you get hot and cold spots so the wax can stick and smoke at the same time. Be careful and keep the iron moving. It's actually a lot of trouble just to avoid buying an iron for $30 on Ebay.

mm

Thanks again for all of your responses:

Z - I probably did order too much stuff, but the extra stones and files were the cheapest things on the list.  The items you mention I'm missing are in the starter kit from RaceWax linked above.

D.B. Cooper wrote

If you had/borrowed edge guides, you can figure it out by drawing a line on the edge with a marker and lightly use a stone or file.  When you find a guide that takes the marker line off evenly, that's your bevel.

^ That is incredibly helpful, I could not find that on the web anywhere.  Thank You!

MM - I'll definitely check out the Ski Visions videos.

From my experience getting shop tunes I find they last about 4-5 days.  

When the stuff arrives I'll report back here how it went, and whether or not I destroyed my skis.

It's worth noting that a real ski wax iron holds a steadier temp than a cheap clothes iron. I hear this could increase the risk of burning your bases. It helps to keep the iron moving along at all times.