I'm not a fan of most factory pattern bases - they're too aggressive for my use, which is a mix of lift-serviced telemark and side-country tele and touring.
So I got some Voile V6 'waxing' skis and cut my own.
Folk have used a dremel. I decided on a router bit to mimic the base done by a semi-pro here Down Under. Here it is on an old Karhu XCD Supreme:
I used a 19mm square-end router bit in a handheld router with a bit of packing on one side of the base to produce some tilt.
An old alpine ski was used for trial cuts.
I fixed a Voile in place on the workbench with varying amounts of packing to even out the camber.
To produce even spacing down the ski I made a guide bar with holes at 15mm pitch.
This is what it looked like with just a few holes drilled in the guide bar. I used the router fence for lateral spacing.
And the result ...
The pattern is 60cm long and offset somewhat, forward of the pin line. There are three columns of crescents.
I've had about 40 days on the rig so far and am happy with how it's worked out. There's enough grip for my needs and I carry kickers if more is wanted. Being a negative pattern there's little whining on hard pack and tele lead changes aren't compromised.
A couple of things I'd do differently next time. Use a 1" or 1.25" bit for a shallower crescent. And try to avoid using a square-end bit. There was a negative rake cutting edge on this one and the cut was rougher than I like.
