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May, 2025

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Belt sanding my ski bases

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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
So my skis were super beaten up from rocks rails etc and they were skiing really slow I go then serviced by my local shop they said they grinded the base but I’m not sure they did as after they were still skiing kinda slow it was really annoying me because I’m broke and couldn’t afford a new pair of skis.
And after seeing Andy and will belt sad their skis a couple of time I decided it couldn’t be that bad and I took a 120 grit to the bases then 240 then 500 and 800 and honestly I was sceptical but it really does work my skis ski so much faster.
6 years ago
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RudyGarmisch
Posts: 25444 - Karma: 13,856
Wat
6 years ago
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YawnPell
Posts: 504 - Karma: 1,368
this is sus as fuck ahaha but hey, you did it about as right as it could have been done on a belt sander. props dude.
6 years ago
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_IRRELEVANT_
Posts: 944 - Karma: 4,427
How did the 120 not take too much off
6 years ago
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YawnPell
Posts: 504 - Karma: 1,368
Croy603How did the 120 not take too much off


I was wonderin the same thing...
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
yeh ngl 120 was probs not the best thing if i was to do it again would probs leave that out it made the bases really fluffy which was definitely not good and very scary but after 240 they were looking pretty good
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
this is before and after picture the after pictures were at night because it took a while but you can still kinda see the difference
6 years ago
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shin-bang
Posts: 4106 - Karma: 7,038
ive done the same thing.

on my summer sand/rock skiing skis, they were rekt. I literally melted 3 sticks of black ptex then took a belt sander and leveled em out.

definitely not good, but since im using them on dirt, rocks, and sand, it was a fun experiment.
6 years ago
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shin-bang
Posts: 4106 - Karma: 7,038
shin-bangive done the same thing.

on my summer sand/rock skiing skis, they were rekt. I literally melted 3 sticks of black ptex then took a belt sander and leveled em out.

definitely not good, but since im using them on dirt, rocks, and sand, it was a fun experiment.


Here ya go. Final product on the right, mid process on the left

6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
shin-bangHere ya go. Final product on the right, mid process on the left


they definitely look better. Could you feel a difference skiing on them?
I feel like it should be a last resort for me it gave a bit more life to a ski that I wouldn't otherwise use again
6 years ago
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shin-bang
Posts: 4106 - Karma: 7,038
nick9955they definitely look better. Could you feel a difference skiing on them?
I feel like it should be a last resort for me it gave a bit more life to a ski that I wouldn't otherwise use again


in all honesty my friend... they havent touched snow in about 4 years, nor will they. It seemed like they would do better than what they were, but i didnt have a fine grit belt to finish.
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
shin-bangin all honesty my friend... they havent touched snow in about 4 years, nor will they. It seemed like they would do better than what they were, but i didnt have a fine grit belt to finish.


oh fair enough 😂😂
6 years ago
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supersquid
Posts: 1430 - Karma: 2,552
Depends what kind of skiing your doing, and what kind of "grind" your shop did. You can either grind them with what is essentially a belt sander or some shops use a ceramic stone to grind it down. Also skis have what is known as structure. Essentially structure is like tread on a car tire. As your ski slides over the snow it melts the layer on top. This watery layer has a ton of friction. Structure helps remove the water reducing friction and making you go faster.

Also when your shop would have done the grind they may not have re-waxed the skis. When you grind a ski, it takes material away, this material is what was holding the wax.
6 years ago
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Twinjibber77
Posts: 6239 - Karma: 2,355
nick9955this is before and after picture the after pictures were at night because it took a while but you can still kinda see the difference


Moar pics. The original shot on the left looks like they need wax and the scratches aren't that bad.
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
i mean i don't have that many pictures from before but they needed more than a wax as i had waxed them and got the shop to wax them too and the bases still felt kinda flakey, looked dry and skied slow.

This is the bases after i had got the shop to wax and grind them and i had skied on them for about a week and they were still slow and flakey, (pls ignore the chunk missing)
6 years ago
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9746 - Karma: 65,814
nick9955i mean i don't have that many pictures from before but they needed more than a wax as i had waxed them and got the shop to wax them too and the bases still felt kinda flakey, looked dry and skied slow.

This is the bases after i had got the shop to wax and grind them and i had skied on them for about a week and they were still slow and flakey, (pls ignore the chunk missing)


are they extruded bases? i can't tell what model that is but Line Toy Company has pulled that shit on some models
6 years ago
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supersquid
Posts: 1430 - Karma: 2,552
I tuned a pair of skis the other day that had bases that looked like that. Took a ton of basses on the belt and 2-3 passes on the ceramic stone. took a while but I got it off. If you asked a shop to tune your skis and they give them back to you looking like that then you should ask for a refund. That is extremely lazy work.
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
SofaKingSickare they extruded bases? i can't tell what model that is but Line Toy Company has pulled that shit on some models

They are line afterbangs and what are extruded bases?
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
supersquidI tuned a pair of skis the other day that had bases that looked like that. Took a ton of basses on the belt and 2-3 passes on the ceramic stone. took a while but I got it off. If you asked a shop to tune your skis and they give them back to you looking like that then you should ask for a refund. That is extremely lazy work.


The shop basically said they had a really hard time doing it and couldn’t do it any better than what they did probably should have asked for a refund
6 years ago
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9746 - Karma: 65,814
nick9955They are line afterbangs and what are extruded bases?


yeah i think afterbangs might have had extruded bases. extruded bases means a cheaper base material than isn't as porous or high performance as sintered (the norm).

i honestly don't know enough about bases and base structure to comment on whether that's really that relevant here though. just what came to mind as i looked at it
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
SofaKingSickyeah i think afterbangs might have had extruded bases. extruded bases means a cheaper base material than isn't as porous or high performance as sintered (the norm).

i honestly don't know enough about bases and base structure to comment on whether that's really that relevant here though. just what came to mind as i looked at it

Ah awesome thanks I didn’t know about that I’ll have to look into that with the next skis I buy
6 years ago
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9746 - Karma: 65,814
nick9955Ah awesome thanks I didn’t know about that I’ll have to look into that with the next skis I buy


yeah man, i feel kind of strongly about it cause i don't think the (very small) cost savings are worth your skis being naturally slower right out of the plastic. some people don't care. worth considering!
6 years ago
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supersquid
Posts: 1430 - Karma: 2,552
nick9955The shop basically said they had a really hard time doing it and couldn’t do it any better than what they did probably should have asked for a refund


LMFAO, more like they didnt want to put the time into tuning them. But yeah, considering the situation the outcome looks pretty good. nice job
6 years ago
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Dddsz
Posts: 3042 - Karma: 7,323
shin-bangHere ya go. Final product on the right, mid process on the left


Step 1. Buy edgeless skis

Step 2. Replace base every year

Step 3. Profit
6 years ago
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nick9955
Posts: 68 - Karma: 209
The referenced post has been removed.


You don’t loose the base graphic if that’s what your referring to? But if your skis aren’t slow don’t do it and if you do, use very high grit sandpaper
5 years ago
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a_burger
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 21,143
I have a pair of potential urban skis that a shop wouldn't touch in a million years, will probably try this to remove 3 years of unwaxed base material off of them so I can skate across parking lots faster
5 years ago
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tornados
Posts: 2 - Karma: 10
I made the same, it really works to sant the surface with a finely dispersed nozzle then they are perfectly smooth and slide easily.
5 years ago
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Casey
Posts: 8022 - Karma: 26,975
a_burgerI have a pair of potential urban skis that a shop wouldn't touch in a million years, will probably try this to remove 3 years of unwaxed base material off of them so I can skate across parking lots faster

You could remove wax with a scraper and some base cleaner rather that doing whatever insanity people are talking about in this thread. Belt sander is like the joe dirt tuning method, going to come out worse than before
5 years ago
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a_burger
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 21,143
CaseyYou could remove wax with a scraper and some base cleaner rather that doing whatever insanity people are talking about in this thread. Belt sander is like the joe dirt tuning method, going to come out worse than before

yeah but that would take like 30 minutes and I want it to take 30 seconds
5 years ago
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