Preparing skis- what to do amateur

Skiing should keep in turns and slide.
For a pleasant and safe skiing skis need to specially prepare.

Skiing with blunt notches is possible, they wear out slower, than sharp. But on a more or less hard slope of the pleasure of the descent will be very spoiled. Of course, skilled skier to cope with the situation, but it is much nicer and safer to use its technical capacity in order to achieve a dynamic and beautiful skiing, than to fight the "incontinence". Moreover, it is not necessary to leave the edges blunt as a "weighty" excuse shortcomings of its equipment.
Lover important stable good glide. The difference between good and excellent slip can be felt only in the competition, in a normal skating - very shallow areas. Scratch the sliding surface is much smaller decreases the quality of amateur skating, than blunt edges. To maintain a good sliding important to clean it of any dirt (oils, old ointment) and lubricated for difficult conditions (wet or, conversely, dry frosty snow).
bad, If the sliding surface is worn so, that the edges protrude, as rails. At small angles edging transition from conducting to cut slippage becomes sharp and uncontrolled.
Ideally edges (Workspace) You must be machined with the rubble from the bottom to the 0.5-1 ° and pointed to the side of the angle of 90-86 °, they should be uniformly sharp, but without burrs. Sharpening angles on the side selected in the following way: the more aggressive skier rides stiff track, the more the sharpening angle and the lower side of the obstruction by the sliding surface. For most skiers recommended slightly blunt edge edges adjacent to the toe and heel areas. The sliding surface should be level with the notches, flat across, smooth and with a special microstructure on the surface.

Himself or service?
Before proceeding with file, We should be aware that, that the preparation of skis - it is quite time-consuming. The easiest way to pass the skis into the workshop, there will do everything at once. But it's not always convenient.
Most amateurs make sense to take on operations, who have to make regular (cleaning and lubrication of the sliding surface, trimming and sharpening edges on the side), and a serious treatment of skis from the bottom to provide professionals. The service skiing grind by car to a complete alignment of the sliding surface (deep scratches must be filled). While blunted edges slightly, shape skis can be maintained independently, economical resource consuming skiing. Often enough just to remove burrs and undermine beaten places.
To specifically not to carry skis in service in the spring, is to master the handling of the sliding surface with paraffin. If there are stones on the slopes - it is useful to learn how to fill in scratches.
Most pleasant to work with special tools from Holmenkoll, Kunzmann, SWIX, Store. You can replace a part of the usual tools, they are cheaper, but labor costs still will be considerable.
Cleaning skis
To apply the ointment and before any treatment is necessary to clear the skis (at least - the sliding surface) of dirt, grease and old ointment. Ointment remains on the ends of the skis and axially, it gradually picks up dirt and prevents slipping more. At the point edges ointment quickly scored the working surface of files and bars. First all, they can feel the fingers, it is necessary to remove the plastic scraper (brand, or empty a box of CD).

For a complete cleaning of the surface should be wiped with a solvent. It is better to use the original Base Cleaner (it is sold in packages of different sizes, including as a spray) and fiberlen - synthetic fabric, lint. From conventional solvents recommend White spirit, but its flavor erodes very slowly, so after cleaning should be wiped dry with skiing. Fiberlen can be replaced with cloth, but it must be completely clean and lint-free.

Fill scratches
If there are deep scratches on the sliding surface, it is necessary to start working with them, yet they did not get chips and paraffin.
Resource ski edges determined by the state and the surrounding plastic in the region of maximum stress. therefore, if you do not chase speed, repair is necessary in the first place, deep (deeper 0,5 mm) scratch, adjacent to Kant under the cargo area. Defects on the ski axis, on the toe and the heel is not so important.
Fresh scratches after riding in the snow is usually clean, but they may be the mud, it before you start will have to remove - clean skiing. Sometimes the end stones are scratched, that, naturally, also need to remove.
The easiest way to repair - to bury the burning plastic. To repair the sliding surface (to open fire),requires a special material, normal polyethylene by burning loses its properties.

Enough solid fill deep wounds obtained using a soldering iron (minimum capacity 40 Watt).
PE strip should be gradually rub hot sting, as far as possible without breaking piece. Convenient, when the repair strip corresponds to the width of the scratch, slightly thicker and longer. Align the seam soldering useless, the main thing - to fill in the hole and a patch with the base alloy. To repair metal plastic does not stick, so no need to heat the edge. But if you scratch the metal to a narrow and well-patch to fuse the edges of the sliding surface, it will normally stay.
Align the patch should be flush with the surface after complete cooling. The best tool - file with milled teeth, it cuts quickly and not clogged with plastic. This can be as a special ski tool, and TN. broaching of the planer. Patch of conventional polyethylene is not easy to align, black on the sliding surface will greatly stand out uneven dull white seam.

Special plastic repair (for power) It spreads under the soldering iron and sticks very well. Cut material is easily and smoothly, black fill almost not visible on the sliding surface. But with conventional soldering seam turns soft. That is why for such a repair ski much better to use a professional tool - "gun", which is in every workshop, engaged in the service of skis.
Processing Kant sboku
This is the basic operation, that it makes sense to learn the amateur.
While not too blunt edges, this treatment is sufficient to maintain a good edge acuity. But you first need to select a tool.
1. Kantorez
The easiest way to purchase standard kantorez with a groove, they sold a lot, All manufacturers offer several models with fixed or variable angles.
Most skiers quite suitable angle of 89-88 °, Only athletes and lovers of radical carving sometimes sharpen the middle of ski to 86 °. careful skiers, which do not lay down the steep arc, go and 90 °. The novice master only one instrument at 2 standard angle, for example 90 ° and 88 °. This tool is useful for podtochki in the mountains.
The main drawback of such a mandrel - it can be fixed only fine instruments and place them along only skiing. Long a file with skiing slalom radius grind will not work. So we'll have to buy special short Files and abrasive bars. Instead, the bar can be used fine sandpaper or a high corundum, adhered to a rigid substrate suitable thickness (You can buy ready-branded bars with rind, but you can make a simple tool to).
Choose kantorez so, that he was in good hand, a tool rarely breaks even an inexperienced master.

2. Small and Files
If the goal - regularly prepare skis for the whole family - you should buy (or do it yourself) Area with holder (clamp). It is more expensive and accurate, Although the primitive-looking instrument. With it you can use the Files and standard abrasives (bars), placing them at any convenient angle to the line of the rim. Quickly changing the position of the cutting tool, can achieve its uniform (smooth) wear. This tool requires a steady hand, than a plastic kantorez.
Abrasive (bar) for removal of solid seats should be as smooth. Generally you can use any, even from a hardware store, but it is too loose, so will the curves after the first sharpening, better to use special sticks.
Files need different, but small - to medium-sized, rectangular, with small and medium-notch. The main thing - straight. Curves tool is easy to fill up the corners and scratch the sliding surface. The old domestic Files usually curves, although quite solid. Cheap Chinese crafts in addition often have protruding teeth and burrs, Yes, and they quickly tupyatsya. Proprietary Files, of course, better, and saving can be normal search, not ski, which are sometimes sold at a good instrumental departments.

3. Sharpening
At any point it is important to ensure comfortable working conditions: ski can be held by hand, clutching her toes and stressing to something. Of course, holding ski in a special grip on the table, It works much better. Lift the foot must be raised and securely fix. The preferred hook horns brakes special lanyard, suit and thick rubber rings. If no clips, better brakes at all to remove.
Speaker of the piping on the sides of the plastic skis will interfere with the operation of the bar or file, small hammer tool. First you need to remove a file from the ledge frezirovannymi teeth, kantorez using a more acute angle. You can remove the plastic hand, trying to as little as possible to touch the edge, the main thing - do not fill up the edge, touching the toe of a file for the protruding parts of fasteners.

Before sharpening a file it is necessary to remove the work hardening - very strong burrs, formed by the bumps on the rocks, with abrasive bar. Experience shows, it saves power, and Files. Better, if the bar is attached to the guide corner or kantoreze. With a slight edge wear this treatment is sufficient, even file is not required. The main thing - to remove burrs sticking sideways (slander), then go through all the dark spots and some scratches. It is useful in at least a couple of passes to iron the whole edge. If the bar is not set in the mandrel, it is necessary to carefully remove all burrs at least, firmly holding a stone in his hand and trying not to overwhelm the edges. Then you can iron the cloth on a rigid base, enshrined in kantorez.
It is important to ensure a smooth (viscous feels) cut material with a file, while the sound of rustling, smooth and formed long curled chips. If the tool does not cut, it is necessary to change its position and increase the pressure, become more frequent traffic and increase pressure useless. Plastic kantorezy not designed for a lot of pressure! Common Files work well only in one direction, "Against tooth", when moving back to the sound of dry clicks - the tool only in vain blunts. Therefore, it is not necessary to press at all during the reverse movement.
It is necessary to choose a convenient direction of stroke (by himself or to his) and do the movements of such length, that would not catch the ski, whisking often brushed dust from the cutting and sliding surfaces.
If the file jumps (usually - in the most battered areas) better once again go through the hard work hardening bar.
To control the sharpening edge is useful to paint by the side surface of the ski dark resistant (alcohol) marker.
If the paint is removed uniformly across the plane, except for the edge - sharpening occurs at the same angle. If the dye is removed from the base to the verge cutting - edge sharpened at a sharp angle. You can continue to work.

If the paint begins to uniformly removed from the face to the ground - edge collapses, should stop, check the angle of the kantoreza and evenness of a file.
Sharpening is necessary until, until the side edge not all the dye will be removed. Most work under the cargo area. If the face remained dull - probably, it's time to sharpen skis and bottom. Otherwise, the side will have to grind off almost all of the edge. short battered areas to conserve resources better skiing locally to carve deeper, and some leave deep scratches.

4. Monitoring and debugging
The usual way of testing visual edge - check, Do fingernail scraped across the edge. This test is easy to pass the burr, and the face can be in this stupid. Therefore, it is necessary to check the edge with your fingertip along the entire length. Good edge must be uniform and slippery to the touch, and burrs are always uneven, he "saws" skin.For, edge to stay sharp longer, burr should be removed bar (if before this side edge sharpening, it should be removed from the bottom). It would be just for once a diamond file or a small bar (cloth) both sides. For the final polishing of the athletes used special sticks.
If you do not chase the hundredths, After the bar you can spend time alone along the edge area of ​​the zero skins. To facilitate the rotation of the flat edges of skis should be blunt in socks and heels, it is also possible to make sandpaper, but larger. The hardest work is done!

Sharpening bottom
Common file copes only with rubble from the bottom edges on a flat sliding surface. The angle is given a special mandrel (from 0,5 ° to 2 °) or at the end of a file mastic is insulating tape: 1 layer standard PVC tape provides approximately 0,5 °, on condition, that duct tape will slide around 50 mm from the edge of the processed. Once the file starts sliding on polyethylene, edge processing is terminated. With a little worn, you can sharpen the edges due to the increase of the dam, but more than 2 ° is not recommended. To control again paint edge, Now by the sliding surface, use the pen.
With strong wear, a blockage or damage to edges, especially when raised rim, requires processing across the bottom ski plane. Make it very difficult to correct at home, so most skiers recommend that in this case, contact the service. Usually, it does not have to do more often, than once a season, and if not too intense skating - and even rarer.

Fill with paraffin
After all this work fills - it is easy and pleasant. Even if nothing more to do with skiing, in the summer the sliding surface is zaparafinit. This requires an iron with a metal surface and a thermostat, paraffin. In summer skiing is best to fill low-paraffin cross the warm weather - it is softer, It spreads easier and less splits off from the edges. Very convenient ski special irons. Simple irons are usually unable to sustain the required temperature - when the wax spreads easily, but still does not smoke. In this case it is necessary to work "thermostat", periodically turning off the iron from the outlet,. But the old iron harder and makes a heating process the entire ski.
Before filling it is necessary to repeatedly wipe the surface clean with a dry cloth. Paraffin is necessary to instill the track for the entire length of skis and smooth over the surface. screed useless, the main thing - not to overheat the ski and pour paraffin entire sliding surface. The hardest thing ironed plastic along the edges, exactly there, where it matters most.
In summer it is necessary to leave the sliding surface under the paraffin as is.
Before riding or applying plain ointment should be removed not before the end of the cooled layer plastic wax scraper (trademark, edge CD box) to the sliding surface.

grease
The ointment is applied on the sliding and stripped proparafinennuyu scraper surface. Athletes are recommended to clean the grease structure of the sliding surface bronze brush.
This is the subtlety, as the accurate selection of ointments. Proparafinennaya and scuffed sliding surface in normal slips bad. The wet snow at zero or above zero temperature glide well special "warm" paraffins. The hardest thing to make "go" skiing in cold and dry snow. Here to help "cold" waxes, sometimes good slides rich graphite sliding surface expert and sports models, just have a good purging, without additional lubrication. Special grease for such snow road, Yes and pick it under specific conditions difficult.

Paraffin is better to put hot-advance. To temporarily improve sliding on the wet snow in a large temperature range is very good universal fluoride ointment. If it is in a liquid or a napkin package, it is convenient to apply directly on the slopes (following the instructions on the package).

accident prevention
Point and fill skis can bring a lot of trouble, and the master, and home.
Even with a light bar straightening edges break off dangerous burrs. Chips out of a file for a interlock fabric, easy to pierce deeply into the skin, it is difficult to get them. Accidental disruption edge a burr may be deeply cut hand. For hand protection gloves needed, better the whole of the skin and without ventilation holes.
On the floor it's best to lay an old rug or mat, in which the chips are well stuck. After the work is to wipe the room with a damp cloth (instead of cloth or sponge).
Polyethylene and paraffin shavings, fallen on the floor, turn it into a skating rink. Therefore, litter and cleaning are important in any treatment skis. When scraping the deposited wax shavings lot, it sticks to the tool, clothing and furniture. There is very good vacuum cleaner, but only once, Paraffin is not wormed his way to the surface.

Finally
If you managed to prepare the skis, so, you are one step closer to the level of the expert. Every next time will be easier and better prepared. Gradually you learn to enjoy the pleasure of working with your favorite exercise equipment.