Edges

5 New Race Tuning Videos Featuring Willi Wiltz Added
5 new race tuning videos featuring renowned ski and snowboard technician Willi Wiltz have been added to the TokoVideos.com.  Willi serviced Tommy Moe, Daron Rahlves, and Bode Miller to their medals and biggest successes.  Additionally, Willi has worked with snowboarders Nate Holland and Shaun Palmer with great results too.  Learn from the best at your own pace at TokoVideos.com

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SkiVisions also makes their specialty stones for those other guy’s edge tuning tools:

The stone on the left is our green stone, it is the most aggressive of the three and is designed to cut very hard metal, including edge metal that has been hardened from hitting rocks or misuse of stone grinding equipment.

The middle stone is our 180 grit which is used for general sharpening purposes.

The last stone is our Ruby Ceramic Stone, used for final burr removal and metal edge polish.

There is a great deal of information about these stones in other instructions on this website so we aren’t going to repeat it here, take a look.

Also, take a look at the tuning stick discussions under “Ski Sharp Edge Tuning Tool” and how it is used to analyze your edges.  You won’t be able to really appreciate the job these stones do unless you also get the tuning stick.  We also make packages of these stones and include the tuning stick for free.

These stones can be used in the various file guide tools, multi-tuners, or can be used freehand.

These stones are better than diamond stones for a multiple of reasons, including:

1.  They last much longer; diamond stones only last until the backing plate they are mounted on is reached; our stones are solid grain throughout so they last a very long time.

2.  Our stones can be refreshed to like new condition over and over since it is grain throughout (see Stone/Steel Inserts Maintenance).  They are designed to last many years.

3.  The grits cut as effectively as any diamond grit.

But understanding how the grains of stones and diamonds work is most important.

The cheapest diamond stones use the lowest quality grains, which when they fracture break into new DULL points, meaning they wear out very quickly, they actually loose their effectiveness before the backing plate is reached.  They are relatively inexpensive.

Good quality diamond stones use a good quality grain, which when they fracture break into new sharp points, so they can remain effective until the backing plate is reached.  They are generally more expensive.

All our stones use grains that are, in fact, the highest quality grain available, and they break into new sharp points when they fracture.  That means they are effective as cutting stones throughout the stone, and remains as effective as new even after the stone has been re-dressed numerous times.  The grit on the surface of the stone is prepared so that it isn’t too aggressive when new, and maintains its consistency as it is re-dressed.

BUT DON’T DROP THEM, THEY ARE STONE, THEY CAN BREAK!

(reprinted from SkiVisions with permission.)

There are three different methods you can use to maintain the SkiVisions inserts:

1.  Coarse emery (silicon carbide) paper, available at your local hardware store, in 100 grit or so.  Emery paper is good for maintaining all the stones EXCEPT the green stones.

2.  The SkiVisions high speed steel dressing stone, which is used to dress the Base Flattener steel blade and can also be used on all the SkiVisons stones EXCEPT the green stone.

3.  Diamond file.  This is the ONLY method for maintaining the green stones and can be used on all the SkiVisions stones.

IT IS INCREDIBLY EASY TO MAINTAIN THE SKIVISIONS INSERTS.  ANYONE CAN DO IT WITH EASE!  HERE IS HOW.

This is a ruby ceramic stone showing multiple cut paths and metal embedded.  This stone has done a lot of work and needs to be re-lapped so that the face is returned to a new, flat condition, and all the cut paths removed.

It is  literally as simple as lapping any of our stones (other than the green, see below) on a sheet of emery paper.  This stone was returned to like new condition in a few swirls on the emery paper, you can see the stone grit on the paper that was removed in bringing it back to clean and flat.

The Base Flattener stone blades are dressed the same way as the edge tuning tool stones.

Lay the emery paper on a flat table and lap the stone blade on it until it is returned to a new, clean, sharp condition.  This not only refreshes the cutting edge sharpness, but also maintains the flatness of the blade.  MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT LAP THE GRIT SIDE.  Lap the sides that has the lines shown next to the M or C, those are the non-grit sides.  If you lap the grit sides the stone blade will no longer impart structure into your base.

The steel blade is re-sharpened with the SkiVisions steel dressing stone.  This is a very aggressive silicon carbide stone which will eat very hard metal.  The stone is used in a back and forth rubbing motion while it is kept VERY flat on the steel blade.  We tried in this picture to show how deep this stone can cut into the metal, if you look closely you can see deep scratches in the steel blade.  THIS STONE IS NOT TO BE USED ON SKI OR BOARD EDGES, IT IS TOO AGGRESSIVE.  If you use this stone on your steel blade very regularly and keep it very sharp, it should never need replacing.

The green stones MUST be re-dressed only with a diamond file. Just lap the green stone on the diamond file and it will quickly return to a clean and flat condition.

You can do any of these dressing procedures wet or dry, but if you do them dry you should wash the stones afterwards to remove the dust.

Don’t breath the dust, not good for the lungs!

SkiVisions Maintaining Cutting Inserts, Base Flattener Stones, HS Steel Bar & Files

(Reproduced from SkiVisions with permission.)

From the Toko Snowboard Tech Manual found here:

EDGE TUNING
The base edge on a snowboard should have a bevel of a half to one degree. A little base bevel makes the board easy to ride and transitioning from toe edge to heel edge without being “grabby”. Base bevel of more than one degree makes the board feel “slippery” and turns have to be skidded because the edge is not close enough to the snow to hook up.

Side edge bevel on a board will depend on the conditions and the rider’s ability. One degree of side bevel is enough for softer conditions and forgiving to beginning to intermediate riders. Two degree side edge grips better on harder snow, this lets a stronger rider lay over in a harder turn. For racing or carving on hard icy slopes a side edge bevel of three degrees will hold, but will take some muscle to control.

From a recent Toko eBlast:

Vic Wild Checks in from Parallel Slalom WC in Yongpyong, Korea

Tough race today just wasn’t able to figure out the course.

The snow here is artificial, old and dirty. Ran HF blue on the edge of the base and HF grey over the rest. Most important for me are edges, I run a .5 degree base bevel and 2 on the side. On very aggressive and grippy snow I like to use fiber-tex to smooth and detune the edge this can be done on the slope its quick and you can adjust the detune and sharpness of the edge with just a few passes.

Vic Wild

As noted, it doesn’t take much to detune an edge and generally, you may be better off leaving your edges sharp. Before considering detuning, be sure to eliminate the possibility of a hanging burr if you are experiencing ‘hooky/grabby’ edges. With a smooth and sharp edge, you have better control over more variable snow conditions and terrain while rec riding than what you would find in a typically consistent race course. It takes little time to adjust side edge angles to try out either a 1° or 2° to find your preference. Reducing base edge angles requires base material removal and is far more difficult than side edge adjustments. Focus your tuning on the side edges. Detune as a last resort after spending time on a variety of conditions and trying to feather into carves.

Out of curiosity and a recent discussion with a customer prompted me to perform an unscientific experiment to provide a ‘meter’ for tweaking edge geometry. I think many are over thinking how much is really involved with removing 1° of edge material. It is in fact, fast and easy because little material removal is involved. Hopefully, this will help people to get less concerned about obsessing over angles and experiment on your own.

The conventional wisdom for setting or adjusting edge geometry is to use a progression of files, before changing to stones or diamonds for final polishing and honing. Depending on coarseness, files take off more material, much faster than stones or diamonds. This can be advantageous on one hand while a problem for some on the other hand for the same reasons.

Diamonds are far more forgiving and less intimidating than a typical bastard file and a 100 grit diamond is considered a ‘cutting’ tool, much like a super fine file.

So….under super clean, ‘highly technical’ conditions, I went from a 3° to a 2° and back on all four edges using an Ice Cut bastard file, 2nd file and 100 grit SVST on different edges. After removing the side walls and marking the edges with a Sharpie and following all options with a 200x, 400x and 600x diamond, I generally found:

-Bastard file- one overlapping pass got me close, a second more than changed the angle. One overlapping pass, followed by a few passes with a 100x should be adequate.

-2nd Cut file-3 overlapping passes followed by a few overlapping passes with the 100x and the other diamonds.

-100x diamond-5 fast, overlapping up and downs (10 passes).

By the time you clean files and swap cutting tools, the options were in relatively the same neighborhood of a couple minutes. If the edges were more chewed up, the files would have been much faster. To assure minimal material material removal, use the 100x diamond. To make more than sure, use a bastard at least twice, possibly followed by a pass or two with a second and then diamonds.

Following is a rough video using a bastard file on one edge to adjust edge geometry and then a diamond to Change Edge Angles on the second edge:

(You may need to refresh your screen to view. Firefox seems to have trouble loading this video.)

The following ‘in process’ school video project may provide you and others with visual aids and another perspective on diamonds, files and edge tuning. The edge tools used in this video can be found here.

For those parents whose teenager knows more than you do for all things technical, here is: