Secure brake locks & mount the ski horizontally in the vice with the base upwards. Adjust the heights of the lateral vices to support the tip & tail.

If required, stone down any base edge damage with the alu-oxide stone as the impacts with rocks etc case hardens the edge so that a file can’t touch it.

Carefully work through each grade of file - you're only removing a small amount of material so check the edge after each pass of the file. Always work on the far side edge & then turn the ski around to work on the other side. Use a marker pen on the edge & cut until just removed, ensuring that you don’t cut into the base. Following a stone grind if you want a 1 degree base angle it’s best to first use the 0.5 & 0.7 degree file guides first & then move to the final 1 degree angle for the final cut with a fine file. This really helps avoid over cutting the base angle which would then required another stone grind! When filing, work on the far side edge, pulling the file towards you only (never away as this blunts the teeth) from straight arms to your chest, ie approx 20cm slightly overlap strokes, and walk your way down the ski. To avoid bending a plastic base bevel guide over bevelling the edge use the spring clamp off the side edge guide to secure the end of the file or stone to the end of the base guide.

Diamond stoning is either required to remove the striations left following the filing to leave a smooth edge or as a less aggressive cutting/polishing/sharpening method in it’s own right. Again start coarse through to fine with an extra fine for a final polish. I do a couple of passes of overlapping short strokes & then two full length passes. If you’re only using a single stone, say a 400 or 600 grit, then you’ll need to do a few more passes. You can stone in both directions, either tip to tail or tail to tip, it doesn’t matter – instead concentrate on a consistent action & pressure. It’s essential when using stones to use a cutting fluid on the stones to stop clogging & to minimise wear to the stones. My own ‘Easicut’ fluid is just the ticket for this.