How to: Sharpening your skis

• Posted on 21 July 2021
• By Mijanou Rademakers
• Posted in grind skis, grinding, grinding snowboard, maintenance skis, sharpening skis, sharpening snowboard
• 0

In this blog we will explain step by step how to sharpen your skis after or during the ski season to ride smoothly down the slopes again the next time. Grinding/sharpening skis is an important part of the maintenance of your skis or snowboard.

Sharpening your skis is a slightly more complicated process than waxing. This has to do with several factors, which you will read further in the blog.

Just like a knife in your kitchen, your skis or snowboard can sometimes become blunt. This results in an inability to cut through the ice on the slopes and can lead to accidents. That is why sharpening your skis is also an important aspect when maintaining your skis or snowboard.

What you’ll need to sharpen your skis or snowboard:

• A clamp set (like this or this one)
• 2 elastics
• Grinding angle or a device where you can adjust the angle yourself
• Rubber or sandpaper
• Diamond file
• Glass of water, for the diamond file

Let's get started.

Step 1
Clean and dry your skis thoroughly.

Step 2
Properly secure your skis in the clamps.

Step 3
Start by removing all other burrs on the side of the ski. Wet the diamond file in a glass of water and clamp it on the sharpening corner with two clamps. Make sure it’s clamped on there tight. Then also clamp the file at the top of the sharpening corner and make sure that the file protrudes slightly.

Step 4
Make long strokes to remove all burrs from the ski. Rub until you no longer feel any resistance.

Step 5
Remove the diamond file from the sharpening angle and place the normal file firmly on the sharpening angle. Make sure the serrated side of the file is on the right side. You will sharpen your ski with the serrated side of the file.

Step 6
Next, it is important that you hold the file firmly and do not jump off the ski while sharpening, otherwise the ski will be round instead of sharp and angular. Then grind along the ski with long gradual strokes. Don't put too much pressure, let the file do its work. If you do it right, small steel curls will come off.

Step 7
Wet the diamond file and reattach it to the sharpening corner to polish the ski. You don't have to work with long strokes, but you can just rub the file back and forth. Do this until you no longer feel any resistance. To test whether you are done, you can go over it with your nail or with a piece of paper.

Step 8
Finally, it is important to blunt the end of the ski with a rubber block or sandpaper. Go back and forth with the block or sandpaper a few times.

And that's it. All in all it is a bit of work, but interesting to do. Once you have all the products you will be able to use them for a very long time. It will save you a lot of money, and your skis will last longer.