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#1
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Sharpening Rollerski Ferrules
Hi,
I have a question about sharpening rollerski ferrules. Whenever I try to use my current poles / ferrules, I have horrible slipping problems. The concrete is fine acctually, it is very fresh, so I assume it is my ferrules. Basically what happens is that I can plant them OK 90% of the time, but every time the tips get approximentally 2 feet past the tail of my rollerskis, they slip. I'm assuming this is not normal, since in all of the rollerski videos I have seen, the poles never slip, the person in the video just lifts the pole up and brings it back forward. Currently I have a diamond whetstone which I have tried to use to sharpen the tips but to no avail. Anyone have any tips? How sharp do the ferrules need to be? Sharp enough to draw blood? And lastly, should I invest in a bench grinder and a special wheel to sharpen my pole tips? Any experiances? Thanks. |
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#2
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In my very limited rollerski experience I have found the technique
described here to be effective: http://www.nordicskiracer.com/Equipm...arpenPoles.asp But I have also found that no matter how much I've sharpened, my poles slip a bit on concrete. On asphalt they're fine. wrote: Hi, I have a question about sharpening rollerski ferrules. |
#3
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I have a hand-crank grinder that I bought from one of those midwest ski
shops a while back for $50. It works great. Never had much luck with diamond whetstones - too much work and they wear out. If you're really anal you'll sharpen before each time you go out. And, as Derick says, forget about getting good grip on concrete. bt |
#4
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I've had reasonable luck using a diamond file, but only after I got
smart and made a simple jig to hold the two tips parallel and a few inches apart. With the jig I can sharpen both tips at the same time and keep the file in a fixed plane. This is basically the same way ice-skate blades are sharpened. Jim |
#5
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#6
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Get a green (soft) grinding stone from any good tool seller. And....
Instant replay from the past: Newsgroups: rec.skiing.nordic From: "Gary Jacobson" - Find messages by this author Date: 2000/07/28 Subject: Reason why soft grinding wheels sharpen hard ski pole tips Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse Cross country skiing relates to and is a product of so many aspects of the natural world explained by scientific disciplines. I guess this post deals with friction in the mechanical engineering realm. Don't really know that, but anyways I have always been baffled by why a "soft" rotating grinding stone works to sharpen a hard carbide ski pole tip, especially because we know that a hard diamond hand stone works well. (This may be somewhat akin to the often querried: Why isn't a hard glide wax always faster than a soft glide wax?) I looked the answer up, and what follows is mostly paraphrase from a text book. I am no expert in this matter in any way, but that doesn't mean I can't post a message on the internet as though I am. First off grind stones generally are rotating between 5500 and 6000 feet per second. The hardness of the stone is called "grade", and refers to the tenacity with which the bond holds cutting particles or abrasive grains, and not to the hardness of the abrasive. (uh ha!- the answer!) The choice of grade and grain depends on the hardness and amount of surface area of the material in contact with the wheel. In theory the choice is the proper grade when the bond is just hard enough to hold the abrasive until it becomes too dull to cut effectively. Then, because of increased friction the dulled grain is torn off the wheel and new abrasive points are exposed. Therefore the wheel sharpens itself. If a hard wheel is used to grind an hard ski tip then the grains are dulled faster than they are torn off. This causes glazing of the wheel, and would require excessive pressure to be used to cut. Also it would heat things up too much and the tip might melt out of the ferrule.) Ideally light pressure is used when grinding, if the goal is to remove a lot of material, and the "polish" of the surface is not important. Generally the more surface are contact with the wheel the softer the grade should be. The grade or coarseness of the the wheel depends upon the hardness of the material, and how well the finished job needs to look. Coarse grades are best for most work, and it would seem that the best grinding wheels for carbide tips are soft coarse ones. Gary Jacobson Rosendale, NY |
#8
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Missed that concrete. Your experience is normal. Find asphalt and
minimize poling on concrete to save your tips. gene Gene Goldenfeld wrote: I've found new, fine asphalt isn't the easiest to get a good plant in. It seems to take awhile for the grain to separate enough. However, do make sure you are keeping pressure on the pole all the way through. A diamond whetstone should do the trick well enough, but manual grinders sold by some shops are worth it, if you don't have access to one. Since the grinder's sharpening doesn't have to be redone that often, maybe you can recoup the cost by charging friends for grinds. Gene |
#9
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I've encountered asphalt with a quartz or quartzite aggregate. That's do a number on tips and technique too. Gary Jacobson Rosendale, NY where we most certainly skied for the last time yesterday on one foot of snow. Warms temps and liquid deluge now and for the coming days.. "Gene Goldenfeld" wrote in message ... Missed that concrete. Your experience is normal. Find asphalt and minimize poling on concrete to save your tips. gene Gene Goldenfeld wrote: I've found new, fine asphalt isn't the easiest to get a good plant in. It seems to take awhile for the grain to separate enough. However, do make sure you are keeping pressure on the pole all the way through. A diamond whetstone should do the trick well enough, but manual grinders sold by some shops are worth it, if you don't have access to one. Since the grinder's sharpening doesn't have to be redone that often, maybe you can recoup the cost by charging friends for grinds. Gene |
#10
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There's a really delightful rail trail going south from Adams, MA (past
Berkshire Outfitters) that I've had lots of fun inline skating on; HOWEVER, when I tried roller skiing on it once I couldn't get a pole plant to stick no matter how hard I tried. I don't know what that stuff was made out of, but it LOOKED like asphalt -- it was rather smooth, but not concrete smooth. The folks who pave rail trails should really check with RSN first -Jim |
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