This week one of my brothers-in-law (three of four of them ski) mentioned that he was thinking of taking his skis into the shop because he had skied a lot so far this season. I told him to drop them off and I would show him how to do his own.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay to watch the process, so I simply performed the work. His skis, a high-end race model had a shop tune to begin the season, but after half a season the edges were burred and there were some minor gouges in the base. When he picked them up, the gouges had been filled, the burrs removed, the edges smooth and sharp and a universal wax ironed into the base.

The process took less than an hour, and restored his skis to top performance. Most skiers pay little attention to tuning skis and many believe wax is only for speed. The truth is that today’s skis need wax to protect the base, while it also makes the skis glide more smoothly.

The best analogy for the need to tune skis is the sports car. A race coach I know said it best: “Skiing an untuned ski is like driving a Porsche with five pounds of air in the tires.”

And maintaining skis doesn’t cost much more than keeping tires properly inflated.

Most of the tools I used can be purchased in a kit for $45 to $70. Because I have acquired various tools over a period of years, my set up is more extensive than most, but a basic kit along with a waxing iron can do the job.

A specialty vise makes the work easier, but there are other ways to secure the skis for tuning. Before I had a professional tuning vise I had shaped a wood block to match the sole of my boots. I simply popped the block into the binding and set it in a standard 3-inch bench vise which most home work shops have.

With traditional straight skis, the base edge was filed flat so we could use a file which would flatten the base and the edge in the same pass. The same file or a smaller one was then applied to the side edges to give us a 90-degree edge. That doesn’t work with today’s shaped skis. Nearly all of the new skis come from the factory with a one degree bevel on the base edge. Recreational skis will have side edge bevel of one degree also.

This means the old method of flat filing not only will no longer work – it would destroy the ski’s performance – so we need to use some other method to flatten the base and we need some sort of guide to maintain the proper bevel.

First, we need to secure the ski brake out of the way. Any office supply store will have packages of -inch rubber bands, which will take care of this for years. Simply hook the band over the brake and loop it over the heel piece and hook the other side of the brake.

Once this is done and the ski secured, the next step is cleaning the base. This can be done with a special base cleaner or with a strong citrus-based cleaner from the supermarket which is much cheaper. This will remove any grime and old wax.

If P-tex is need to fill gouges it can be done by lighting a P-tex candle and dripping it into the needed areas. Use a steel scraper to scrape away the excess. A true bar can now be used to make sure the base is flat, but the scraper will do the same job as will any straight bar such as a carpenter’s square.

There are numerous tools to flatten the base such as the Skivisions ski-base flattener from Reliable Racing. This is a $70 tool and one of the best. Or you can go to any building supply store and pick up a sanding block and some 220 grit paper for under $10.

Once the base is flat I use an FK Multi Tuner with a diamond stone set at one degree bevel to remove any burrs and smooth the base edge. Next I switch the stone to the side edge position and deburr and smooth those edges. If sharpening is needed I insert a file and work on the side edge. Once the bevels are established all sharpening should be done from the side to preserve the base and edges. The edges are then polished with a gummi stone.

Next I iron in a coat of universal wax good for a temperature range from 15 to 32 degrees F. After cooling for 30 minutes excess wax is scraped off leaving the skis ready to go. I carry Swix F4 rub on with a cork to polish it if I need to change or add a faster wax during the ski day.

FK has a kit which includes the Multi Tuner, plastic and steel scrapers, stone, gummi stone, tool cleaning brush, brake retainer and instructional guide for $69.95. While you can use any steel iron, I prefer a specialty waxing iron for better temperature control. FK has one for $39.95 and your shirts will look funny if you use the household iron.

Most ski shops have tuning tools and wax, and here are three Web sites that have everything needed. www.fktools-us.com, www.tognar.com, and www.reliableracing.com. All three sell each other’s tools and FK wholesales as well so you can find their tools in ski shops. Tognar Toolworks is a bunch of guys out in California whose catalog also includes a complete how to section and there are lots of videos as well.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.