I got my skis about a year ago and have been using them for about 20 days. How often should you tune and wax your skis?

Since these are my first pair of skis, I would like to learn how to tune my own skis. I have looked at some tuning equipment and was wondering how reliable the Dakine Super Tune Snowboard Tuning Kit?

http://www.amazon.com/Dakine-Super-Tune-...6147&sr=8-1

I know they are for snowboards, but can I use the same one for skis? If not, are there better tuning equipment out there?

There is no 'should'. As often as you want to.



The only thing that could *fail* in there is the iron. Those irons are pretty reliable.

The kit is fairly complete for a first-time user except it falls short for ski use instead of snowboard use in one respect:

The side edge tool is very aggressive (takes a lot of material off) and it cannot do 3-degree side-edge angles.

here is all you need grasshopper

http://www.tognar.com/

Also,
http://www.racewax.com

They have a selection of kits that they put together.

http://www.racewax.com/c=yswVrM313EtZgKr0NDg618Gc9/category/tools.ski_tuning_kit/

And as to your first question, wax as often as you want. I generally do it before every trip, so that varies from every 2 days on snow to as much as 7. Edges you generally want to do as little as you can get away with since you are removing material every time you run a stone or file down them.

Not yet mentioned:

www.reliableracing.com
www.slidewright.com
www.race-werks.com
www.skiwax.ca
www.artechski.com
http://www.ski-racing.com/side_of_beast.html

I will definitely check out the links. Thanks!

I forgot to mention that I'm a bit neglectful and the edges have rust...Yeah, I'll definitely put myself to work this weekend to fix up my skis.

gummi stone and some Zardoz wipes.

I de-rust with a gummi stone asap. I dress the edges with a only diamond stone if I can get away with it. I usually find rocks and I like very sharp edges so I often have to light file. I p-tex base gouges near an edge and core shots asap and I try to wax every couple of days, usually with a universal and 'wax of the day' mix.

Maybe once a season a light shop provided base grind to restore structure and even a rare shop edge and wax if I get overwhelmed with a 6 ski tune up task that is my family's quiver.

Get a good kit and do some reading and video watching and remember when it come to files, only as much as needed, go light and maintain consistent angles.

I will definitely post before and after pics when I'm done with my first tuning job on my skis. Thanks guys for the information!

I can vouch for the beast product lines. also comes with DVD and reference information that is helpful.

I went with the advice on this forum and went with the Beast Product. I opted for their most basic package along with their "Jaws of Beast" seeing that I'm pretty new to the ski game and don't have a lot of money to spend. The instructional video was very helpful and hopefully I will try out my skis soon. Thanks for everyone for their advice.

Darwin

for additional reading I highly recommend

World class ski tuning by Michael Howden, the info is a bit dated but still remains solid. Covers alpine, nordic and those fat things.

I have been thinking about getting their portable table as well. I have a box I carry everything else and genrally lay skis accross chairs or something else when traveling, but am spoiled with clamps and such at home. Anyone lelse use the portable tables? worth the haul to the mountain?

Not worth the airplane haul for me, but YMMV. I cork and side edge only on travel.