Product Overview
- Heftier, with a more ergonomicly-shaped body than the FK model.
- Includes a round cutting blade.
- An Optional square carbide cutting blade is also available.
- The tool allows for easy height and depth cutting adjustments.
Why Remove Sidewall Material?
The files used to tune skis are generally high quality and do a fantastic job at cleanly cutting the hard steel edges found on modern skis and snowboards, but they are terrible at removing sidewall material, it simply gums-up the file. If you've ever run a file down the side edge and just couldn't get it to bite it may be that the file was running on sidewall material which inhibited it from contacting the edge. As skis are tuned over time the steel edges become flush with the sidewall, once the two are flush it is time to remove a bit of the sidewall material so the file can cut the edge cleanly. The most accurate method to remove the material is with a sidewall cutter (also called a sidewall planer), these tools are adjustable so that just enough material is removed, usually less than 1mm, just enough so the file can get a bite.
Tips:
- Remove just enough material so the file can get a bite (less the 1mm).
- Use minimal pressure on the tool, allow the tool to do the cutting.
- One long pass is preferable.
- If you get chatter marks on the sidewall (usually from to much pressure) use a bit of sandpaper to smooth them out.
