Base flattening: file base or send it out for a stone grind?

[smackboy1]

What do you recommend to flatten my bases, DIY or send them? My bases are not horrible, I mostly want to flatten the bases to readjust my base edge bevel to 0.5 deg. What should I do?

1) DIY flat file my bases? Never did it before, is it easy to screw up? Does a tool like this help?

http://www.slidewright.com/weblog/ski-snowboard/bases-ski-snowboard/base-flattener-structuring-plane/

2) Take to my local ski shop. My local (NJ) ski shop is basic consumer level. Not really sure about their level of competence or their machinery. How bad can it be? Would it be better to ask them to grind the base and edges completely flat, no bevel, then file the base edge bevel myself?

3) Send skis to a reputable shop. I hear good things about Edgewise and SkiMD in New England. Worth the extra $$$? I'm not a racer nor do I obsess over different base grinds, just looking to get the best performance out of my equipment.

[Gary]

I do 99% of all work to my skis....that's the 1% I'll never do...I think it's just too easy to mess up and bases that have high and lows or uneven anywhere can be very problomatic on snow, especially hard snow surfaces.

Send them to a shop with a tuner that does base grinds all the time and has a trusted modern machine is my thought.

G

[jim-ratliff]

The machine will also grind a structure into the base of the skis that you can't readily do with a file.


I agree with Gary, and might go even a step further.
If you can identify a trustworthy shop (and that's probably the biggest point), ask them to griind the base and do the base and edge bevel (but then check yourself).  That might also give you a lot of information about whether or not you want to use and recommend them in the future.


Alternatively, send them to JBotti's SkiHaus somewhere in Montana?? 


Addendum:  I heartily recommend Precision Ski in Frisco Colorado, right across the road from WalMart. They know what they are doing and have some laser machine that is even better than their older Wintersteiger machine.  What the laser does (other than marketing hype) I have no idea.
A 2008 demo of what the machines do.

[jbotti]

The Stockli rep in Montana does hand base planing and some day I iwll have him over to my garage shop to show me how to hand plane bases and how to put a structure on. If you are trained right you can do 80% of the base work that one might need to do (and some jobs will always require a Montana or Winterstieger machine). Even after the training I am not sure that I will feel comfortable doing it myself. A good shop can make a base high ski feel new again and often put down a better base grind and structure than the ski came with from the factory. But beware that many places don't know what they are doing with base grinds. What Max says is true, only go to a place that is doing lots of grinds on race skis and has a great reputation for this in your area. If you can't find some place close, ship your skis and have them ground at a place that will do a good job. There is nothing worse than a bad base grind!!!

[smackboy1]

Alternatively, send them to JBotti's SkiHaus somewhere in Montana?? 

Option 3) it is then.

Does JBotti's SkiHaus offer discounts to board members? 

There are no ski shops which cater to racers around these parts, so I'm shipping. Anybody else have any recommended shops? Preferably in the Mid Atlantic or Northeast US to minimize shipping costs?

[jbotti]

I know two excellent shops in the Lake Tahoe area. If you strike out wth some place closer, let me know. There has to be a good place in Vermont. Hopefully someone can steer you to one.

[dan.boisvert]

SkiMD is fantastic.  Mike does all of my grinds and base work, and I've never been any less than thrilled with the results.  I'm not a racer either, but I'm picky about gear and ski maintenance.  Mike's work is impressive.