Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

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.

That looks really interesting. I have Voile Charger BCs and I find them great going uphill. However the last couple years I have been doing a lot of resort skiing and the Charger BC pattern makes them glide really poorly (I can`t keep up with alpine skiing friends). I do like waxless for most non resort situations, I may try it on my Fischer e89s which have been my go to xc skis for a few years
Thanks for the info

Awesome! Very nice job Ziggy, thanks for sharing!

That homemade-scales topic comes back every once in a while... I really like to see what people are doing, and how...

Can I send you my whole Asnes quiver for a complete fishscalization?

Johnny wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2019 7:05 am

Can I send you my whole Asnes quiver for a complete fishscalization?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DOOOOOOON'T DO IT!

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Happy to be able to contribute to this arcane art. Set myself up as a fishy expert?

I'm Down Under and our season going swimmingly

It's been pleasing to see how well this DIY pattern works in a range of conditions - though our snow is generally wet and heavy at times there's also a good deal of ice which isn't the best on a negative pattern. Kicker skins can be added though.

bgregoire wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:17 am

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DOOOOOOON'T DO IT!

Ok ok, just the 62, the 68 and the 86 perhaps?

Ziggy wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:21 pm

Happy to be able to contribute to this arcane art. Set myself up as a fishy expert?

It's been pleasing to see how well this DIY pattern works in a range of conditions - though our snow is generally wet and heavy at times there's also a good deal of ice which isn't the best on a negative pattern. Kicker skins can be added though.

Please let us know about any other mods! Yep, Ziggy, you are an expert for sure!
@Bri7 scales plates were very promising, but they needed a 100 tons hydraulic press... And his omnitrac ptex sheets involve stripping the whole epoxy layer off your base... Unfortunately not for me...

My solution? X-Skins made out of Fischer's Profoils! Just take off the attachement plate off your X-Skins and put a strip of Profoil on it... Non-destructive, non-permanent and removable when not needed...

I love this! Thanks for sharing!

Very impressed! I am an un-techie (word?), somewhat of a luddite, minimalist XX being. Thanks for posting-appreciate your patience and hands -on ski tech skills.

Thanks.

Should also say there's a choice about how close to the edge you put the pattern.

Closer for herringbone & upwards traverse, further away for telemarking.

Yep, and that is the cool thing about the Profoils strips with X-Skins (Or Easy-Skin) attachments: you can experiment with different widths and different lengths depending on what you do...