Bases

How flat (or not) are my bases? What are my base bevel angles? How straight are my scrapers, edge guides & tools?….are among the typical bits of information needed to perform and gauge quality of work and determine what work is required.
Like any tool we carry, there is a range of quality levels available to meet budget, personal goals and acceptable tolerances. From basic straight metal bars to precise, finely milled, high quality case hardened steel, the DIY tuner can achieve the desired and necessary level of precision using the fundamental tool known as a true bar.

For base work, a good backlighting source like a desk lamp, daylight, flashlight, etc is very important to help you see any variations between the bar and base. By clearly identifying irregularities and locations the guesswork is minimized.
The basic types are rectangular, square or round section bar stock of varying levels of precision and finishes for the recreational tuner, or a highly milled ‘knife edged’ precision true barfor those with tighter tolerances for their boards. A ‘hybrid’ of sorts, is a finely milled base skiver which can also be used for base repair and flattening tasks.

The narrower the section, the less ‘forgiving’ the lighting will be and increase accuracy. A wider square or rectangular bar will allow less light to pass between it and the base versus a round bar and far less than a knife edged bar.By turning a square or rectangular bar stock true bar on edge, you can increase the accuracy, as long as the quality of the bar stock is acceptable.

Typical base issues are flat, high, low (below) or both (as seen above). A perfectly flat base is ideal while some irregularity may be acceptable for some, depending on performance level or typical snow type. A backcountry or powder ski or snowboard has less of a need for perfection than a high performance race ski or snowboard.

Regardless, knowing ‘where they are’ is important.

Additionally, many new skis and snowboards are anything but flat.

A low base (concave) will cause

the edges to ‘rail’ or grab more readily than desired and harder to release, while high

bases (convex) will require more

angulation and time to get to an edge.

Achieving a flat base is also imperative if you also wish to achieve high precision while tuning edges since all bevel angles and tools are relative to an assumed flat base.

Update: To avoid a ‘cold weld’ that has the potential to tear out while finishing the repair or while sliding on snow, it is very important to make sure the Ski (and Snowboard) Mender RP100 has enough time to achieve proper temperature and to carefully heat the area around a repair before injecting the welding material. LDPE has a very low adhesive property, so we need the heating of both base and repair materials to form a proper weld.

You need about 430 degrees F/220 degrees C to get a proper weld, so it is important to let the smaller Ski and Snowboard Mender RP100 heat up for 15 minutes and then use the front or waxing iron on teflon sheet to preheat the base before injecting the material.

The larger, professional grade ski and snowboard base repair gun (Base Mender RP 360) does run at a higher temp and heats the base of the ski or snowboard much faster.

Originally posted 1/30/08 (edited): We just received a few guns and performed some low tech initial testing of this new consumer level ski & snowboard base repair gun by Power Adhesives from the UK.

Talk about a nice size, lightweight, brainless and low tech. After less than ten minutes of heating up the 11mm/7/16″ welding rod/stick, it was smearing the material with it’s 440°F temperature. The directions say 10-15 minutes (which probably is wise to wait) and implied there was a switch, which there is not. I just tested it on the packaging plastic for better contrast for pictures. Without a damaged ski at the moment, I’ll try that out when the time comes and give the bases some mileage to see how long the repair lasts. It certainly isn’t a bomber/industrial grade tool, but like a decent glue gun that if taken care (ie, don’t drop on trigger) of seems adequately built for the home tuner and ought to last a while. No telling about the heating element though.

After initial extrusion and smearing of the provided proprietary welding material, I tried using the tip as a soldering/welding iron on metal grip, welding wire, ribbon & typical rod/stick (did not think to try it on ptex candle material). The tip is not as hot as soldering irons I’ve used and definitely did not smoke as much…very little in fact which was nice.

Regardless, it did seem to melt the material fine but not quite as fluid as the hotter irons have, though looks promising, especially for applying metal grip into the bottom gouges. I’m pretty sure the metal grip has a lower melting point than the other materials anyway.

Welding gun with metal stand. Fifteen minutes to heat up and melt 11 mm welding rod/sticks. Clean tip showing recessed fan shaped flow area. Linear smear of melted welding rod from gun & droplet/pool in background. Using heated tip as soldering/welding iron. Left to right: metal grip, welding wire, ribbon & rod/stick and smear through heated tip.

Below is a video on using the New RP360 and RP100:

(FAQ)

The objective of structuring is to impart grooves into the base material. This removes suction that a perfectly smooth base would produce, especially in wetter snows. The structure also channels water that is produced by the friction between the ski or snowboard base and the snow. A finer structure is desired in colder snows as it holds the smaller amount of water longer and helps the glide. Changing the structure frequently is not practical and should be done relative to major trends in the snow temperatures and time of year.

Shop base grinds with a precision machine and reliable operator can reestablish base flatness and level base edges in addition to imparting a uniform base structure. This may be your best option if your bases have had a lot of repairs, the base is out of true and numerous other reasons. The downside is that base grinds remove base material and will eventually wear down the bases. Any build up of an optimal glide from frequent waxing will also be removed and need to be recreated over time and numerous wax cycles.

Here’s a riller bar, used as a gauge, and a new ski’s factory base structure:
The home tuner can easily impart or abrade base structure with minimal base removal after base repairs, change of snow temps/season with a variety of structuring options. Coarse sandpaper, stiff metal/brass brush, pressing a threaded bolt, coarse file edge or rilling bar. Care needs to be taken to not trash the edges while structuring. Abrading the bases with coarse sandpaper, wire brushes, riller bar, saw teeth, files, etc definitely need to be cleaned up with finer sandpaper, fiber pads, scraper, etc to get rid of the ‘hairies’ and rough spots. This will reduce the initial structure depth and base impact.

After hot waxing and scraping or liquid wax applications, the structure needs to be ‘freed’ and polished to optimize the glide by brushing. Occasionally, rigorous brushing with a stiff metal brush is encouraged to freshen the structure and general cleaning.

Update: Monday, November 3, 2008 – 05:22 PM

A typical follow up question: for the cold mid-winter snow, what’s your advice for getting back a less aggressive/less coarse texture to handle the harder,dryer snow from the more aggressive/coarse spring texture I created??

Getting a base grind is the ‘correct’ method of getting your new structure and flattening your base, followed by any edge needed edge work and multiple wax cycles to resaturate the base. Perform any base repairs first.

If inclined to to do it yourself, simple DIY options (while using common sense) to reduce the structure include:
1) scraping with a sharp metal scraper or skiver
2) flat filing with a panzer/body, multicut or super coarse
3) sanding, followed by nylon fiber pad and freshening with a wire brush and/or a fine toothed rilling bar
4) using a Ski Visions base flattener and structuring tool with medium or fine structure

Preceding any of the above with a base cleaner/wax remover could be considered, but depending on how much base material removal really needed (possibly negligible), you might be better off not removing wax unless it becomes obvious. This way, you have fewer wax cycles to get your bases resaturated.

(FAQ)
4/8/09: New! Soldering Iron Base Repair video can be viewed here.

Long the low tech and easy to implement method for the home tuner to make temporary base repairs has been burning and dripping Ptex candles. Common problems are the inclusion of carbon and discoloration of clear Ptex repairs, burning hands and fingers and the simple fact the repairs do not last (largely due to the wax included in the material, reducing the bonding). Typically, repairs need to be frequently repeated.

If you get a core shot (through the base material and into the core), additional steps are necessary, either by adding epoxy or cutting out and gluing in replacement base sheet material.

A more durable and easy option for smaller repairs is Base Welding. Metal grip, with it’s heat actuated adhesive can be melted and adhere to core and edge material and serve as a primer for base repair materials that can provide a virtually permanent repair.

Welding can be performed with soldering irons, welding guns and hot air welders. The soldering iron approach requires a lower temperature iron than those used for conventional soldering. Though still fairly ‘low tech’ and easy, care needs to be taken to avoid damaging the bases Welding guns and hot air welders may be easier to use, but can get pricey.

Coupled with a welding option, cutting and finishing tools need to be employed to clean up and blend the repairs with the existing base and base structure. For a more detailed explanation and How to Repair Bases and tools & supplies needed, please visit our Base Repair page.

(FAQ)
Fiberlene (or lint free) towels are excellent for removing dirt and old wax after using wax remover to clean the base or absorbing wax and dirt in base when placed between iron and base. It is also can be used as a final polisher and cleaner after waxing and scraping because of it’s slight abrasiveness.

Heavy duty shop towels are also durable, absorbent, readily available and handy to have around. They do not, however, stand up to heat as well as fiberlene towels. Though lower in lint (and more durable) than household paper towels, they are not ‘lint free’. If you are looking for those extra little performance enhancements, fiberlene is generally your better choice. If you are more pragmatic, the shop towels are a very good option for most cleaning tasks. If you cut the rolls in half, the 5 1/2″ (140mm) sections are a handier size and fit the width of skis and scrapers nicer.

Using heat from a temperature controlled waxing iron is one method used to reduce scraping and mess since excess wax can be absorbed. Couple that with crayoning, and you can get down to little or no scraping, depending on preferences. This also can be very helpful or desirable if you don’t have time or energy to deal with extra scraping and brushing required for hard waxes.

You could argue that it may be best to let the skis or snowboards cool so the wax hardens. Then when you reheat and use the fiberlene/wax removal approach, you might be more likely to draw the top layer of liquified wax.

This also can be used in lieu of hot scraping where theoretically, old wax, dirt and gradoo can be drawn off versus using base cleaners.

FAQ

One of life’s simple pleasures is getting out for skate skiing, touring or making turns on a warming bluebird day, with an inch or so of wet sweet corn on firm crust or solid base. Spring & summer predawn hikes on crust to harvest morning corn is right up there.

The best corn comes after a freeze of transformed, wet snow from the day before. The snow is no longer flakes or crystals, but saturated ice ‘kernels’ known as frozen corn. Depending on timing, aspect and other factors, this can start out like a coral reef, a very abrasive crust, sun-cupped, or ‘icy’, among other consistencies. As it melts and transforms again to wet corn, how do you prepare your boards to perform well all day in these variable conditions?

If you wax with a warmer & softer wax for the warmer, wet conditions, you can easily wear off the wax on highly abrasive, colder snows, while you wait for conditions to moisten and soften (or not). If you wax with cold wax, you may miss out on the best glide and enjoyment when it becomes prime time.

One option is to simply wait until conditions soften and you hit it when the conditions are best and wax accordingly. This may be easier said than done for some and as the unreliable weather can change, this plan may backfire.

We’ve found the best balance between ideal wax temperatures for glide and abrasive snows is to start with an aggressive base structure, wax with a very durable mid and broad temperature base liquid or solid wax like Maplus Race Base Medium (solid or liquid), and top it with a warm temp Low Fluoro like Maplus Universal Hot or P2 Hot.

The base structure doesn’t seem to matter relative to the coarse, frozen snow, but makes a huge difference when the snow becomes saturated by channeling water and reducing suction. The durable base wax provides a longer and better protection for the bases and runs very well in a wide range of condition if the softer wax wears off. Depending on how the day goes, the LF wax may be perfect for the entire day and will provide an extra bump in glide.

Additionally, since it is a softer wax, it can easily be reapplied if desired or necessary by crayoning/rubbing on solids, wiping on cream/paste or liquids, or spraying (most convenient and durable option) high-melt waxes and then corking and polishing with a brush.