Detuning Edges

gapers4life

gapers4life

Member
Just to clarify, detuning your edges is like unsharpening them? What are the advantages of this? Will your edges catch less often or something? What kind of effect will it have on skiing outside the park?
 
The benefit it will have is less chance of edge damage when they are new. Often edges get damaged when they are new as a sharp edge is much more likly to catch on a rail. When it catches it can pull the edge. This can lead to edge pull outs and sidewall damage. If you just detune the new edge this makes this damage much less likly. After you hit a few rails they will round off anyway but it's the time when they are new and sharp which damage can occur so always detune at least a little for rail use. Generally only detune underfoot. If you take all the edge off you will have no carving performance left. You want some edge for carving off lips and general skiing. So detune slightly underfoot when new.
 
Some people say just with a gummy stone but I like to use a fine file just to take the sharp edge off like you would detune the tip and tail. Then you can use a gummy stone to clean up the edge after using the file. Don't go crazy on the edge you just want to get rid of the sharp edge.
 
Yeah, basically you want to round out the edges underfoot (assuming you're plan is to hit rails with them), it seems like a terrible idea, but the round edge slides better across the rail/box eliminating that catching feeling you get with new skis and also giving the edge a smooth ride so less cracks form. Everyone kinda has their own method to detuning, some use a diamond/metal file, some just use a gummy stone, some use a combination of both, some use a belt sander, and some use a rock...it all really depends on what you're looking to get out of your detune and what you have available to you. Personally, I hit my edges underfoot with a metal file (a finer grit one) in kind of a rolling motion (so put the ski on it's side and use the file perpendicular to the ski, like from base to topsheet not along the edge, and go back and forth while changing the angle) to kinda round it out a bit, then I go over everything with a gummy stone to take out the burrs and smooth everything out (this I run the length of the edge with). But that's just me, like I said some people hate using a file.

A couple videos to help:

prepping skis from Thomas O'Connell on Vimeo.
 
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