Tuning Business

Alright, a friend and I are thinking about going into a little ski tuning endeavor. Seeing as it costs forty bucks to get your gear fully done at my local shop, I was thinking I may as well go and do it myself. Well, if I have all of the tools, I may as well use them to their full extent, and make a little extra money on the side. So if I charged a bit less (ten bucks) than the local shop, I could get the kids at school to let me tune their skis. What do you all think of this idea? What would you charge for a wax edge sharpen/bevel, base repair, stone grind, etc.

thanks

take a look at the cost of getting a good quality stonegrinder first, then reassess the situation. Wintersteiger is the gold standard.

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Originally Posted by coastal

Wintersteiger is the gold standard.

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Yeah, but the machine costs around $200K. That's some hefty startup costs for these guys, I'm thinking. There's some money in converting ski boot soles to vibrams as a sideline, and fitting boots. If you diversify a bit and are good, you might squeek by and build a business.

I was checking some stuff out at a big woodworkers supply shop in SLC a few weeks ago, I think some of the machinery I saw could be adapted to do very good tuning work, and it would be in the $500-$1000 range, possibly cheaper.

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Originally Posted by splat

Yeah, but the machine costs around $200K. That's some hefty startup costs for these guys, I'm thinking.

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That was kind of my point :cool:
IMO, aside from running the actual lifts, ski tuning's probably the hardest way to make cash in the ski industry... You need considerable investment, a large customer base and to top it off, a fair chunk of skill.

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Originally Posted by YetiMan

I was checking some stuff out at a big woodworkers supply shop in SLC a few weeks ago, I think some of the machinery I saw could be adapted to do very good tuning work, and it would be in the $500-$1000 range, possibly cheaper.

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I had a buddy who tuned at Snowshoes in SLT and I'd stop by and have him zip my boards on a sander to get the major edge gashes out. You could get that sander at a woodworkers supply. Of course, a wet one would be nice.
Start a new concept - Speedy Tune and Wax - for people who just want to get the fuck back out on the slope.

or go the tried and true method: http://www.swixschool.no/web/index2.html

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Originally Posted by splat

I had a buddy who tuned at Snowshoes in SLT and I'd stop by and have him zip my boards on a sander to get the major edge gashes out. You could get that sander at a woodworkers supply. Of course, a wet one would be nice.
Start a new concept - Speedy Tune and Wax - for people who just want to get the fuck back out on the slope.

or go the tried and true method: http://www.swixschool.no/web/index2.html

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I was looking at wet belts. I used to do a lot of good work with a fontaine. It just takes more work and time and a tech who understands how to deburr a base after wet belt sanding and make sure that the belt/belt stay is producing a flat base. A really good deburring shortcut with the wet belt sander is a scotch-brite belt. That takes a lot of the elbow grease out of deburring a sanded base.

I'm still not willing to say that a stonegrinder is the one and only way to go.

If you`d like some beta on what it`s really like to start up a tuning biz from square one, a friend of mine just opened one in Palmer, Alaska this winter.
He named it White Knuckle Sports, he`s Leif Peterson and is a very competent ski tech. I believe he bought a Grindrite tuning machine that does both skis and boards, and maybe financed a portion of the cost. You can call him at 907-746-7630 Tues-Sat Ak time zone if you want to ask him some questions. Tell him hello from a former Gary King`s guy who skis lots of BC.
Good luck!

Ok, maybe skip the stonegrind... how about p tex repairs, edges, and wax? It seems as though there is the demand in my community. Would the cost of running it outweigh the profits if I go like 5 or ten under the local shops?

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Originally Posted by Catbert

Ok, maybe skip the stonegrind... how about p tex repairs, edges, and wax? It seems as though there is the demand in my community. Would the cost of running it outweigh the profits if I go like 5 or ten under the local shops?

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if you have the shit, throw it out there. post a few flyers on campus or whatever. no harm in doing it, but i'd do it for 1/2 price of retail to attract customers. don't fuck anyones skis up though, so you better know what you are doing.

Why would I take it to you for $5-10 less than a shop that does this everyday? If you can answer this question you maybe able to make some cash, otherwise don't even bother.

Now if you charged $20 less is it worth your time amd effort.

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Why would I take it to you for $5-10 less than a shop that does this everyday?

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Because you can purchase 5-10 McDonalds double cheeseburgers with the savings?:confused:

But seriously, because I will get them done the night you give them to me before a big saturday w/o the hefty beer tax. And it's not like I am catering to adults who would ask these type of questions.

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Originally Posted by splat

I had a buddy who tuned at Snowshoes in SLT and I'd stop by and have him zip my boards on a sander to get the major edge gashes out. You could get that sander at a woodworkers supply. Of course, a wet one would be nice.
Start a new concept - Speedy Tune and Wax - for people who just want to get the fuck back out on the slope.

or go the tried and true method: http://www.swixschool.no/web/index2.html

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that Swixschool site is wicked...and will probably cost me the rest of the afternoon of work...

^^^ seconded. i know what i want for christmas... no more quick tunes at the shop baby!!

i had a pupil of mine that tried that. his mom worked on the ski school, and he was tuning all of their skis for 25 or 30 bucks a pop. no stone grind, just a p-tex repair, wax and edge sharpening with desired bevel. those machines just can't get a truly sharp edge bevel, you have to do them by hand anyway. i believe he bought a new pair of skis or something with the proceeds. you'd be amazed how many people are willing to throw down half the cost of a shop tune to have a buddy put forth the elbow grease when the shop dosen't always get it right....

however, those who are usually off piste on their skis most always need a good base grind to get them back to a good starting point for a tune. so, if you potential clientel is this type of skier, i wouldn't even try it.

my $.02.....