SVST Gummi Stones

Gummi stones are the cheapest tool on the bench and the one most often skipped. Their job is removing burrs — the tiny raised edges left by a file, or by a rock — which otherwise catch on snow and make a freshly tuned ski feel hooky.

They also take rust off edges, which matters more than people think: skis stored damp will rust within days, and rusty edges do not hold on hard snow.

• Multiple grits for different jobs
• Grey (coarse) — deburring after filing, and rust removal
• Red (fine) — buffing and breaking micro-burrs before a run
• For ski and snowboard edges

How to use one: run it along the edge with light pressure, following the bevel angle rather than cutting a new one. A gummi should polish and clean, not remove material. If you are taking metal off, you want a file or a stone instead.

Keep a fine gummi in your pocket at a race. Breaking micro-burrs at the top of a course takes ten seconds and is the last thing many racers do before a start.

See files and stones, edge beveling, and all tuning tools.