I made a few calls and here is a small snapshot of rates for simple tuning at area ski shops:

-Sun and Ski Gaithersburg: $40 machine edge and wax.  Binding release check $15 (or $25 stand alone)

-REI: $35 machine edge and wax.  Binding check $20.

-Ski Center: $60 machine edge and wax.  Binding check $20.

-Ski Liberty: $25 machine edge and wax.  Binding check $20.

Can anyone add to the list?  Thanks in advance to posters who will suggest buying tuning equipment and doing it yourself... this list is for those of us who would rather pay someone else to do it.  Think snow!

Hidden Valley:  $40 gets you ceramic finished edge after a stone grind.  Wax included.  All Wintersteiger machinery.  Basic edge & wax, $20.  Very experienced techs.

Check out Pro-Fit Ski in Leesburg. Brian Deely is one of the best and only bootfitters in the area. Very good ski tuning.
SKI TUNES:
Tune 1 $49
Stone grind finish, sharpen, bevel, and deburr edges, & hot wax
Tune 2 $69
Stone grind finish, sharpen, bevel, and deburr edges, hot wax, and release check
Tune 3 $59
Stone grind finish, sharpen, bevel, and deburr edges, hot wax, & light base repair
Tune 4 $79
Stone grind finish, sharpen, bevel, and deburr edges, hot wax, light base repair, & release check
SNOWBOARD TUNES:
Tune 1 $35
Sharpen edges, hot wax
Tune 2 $45
Sharpen edges, hot wax, and light base repair

At today's prices, the cost of 2 shop tunes will buy everything you need to tune and wax your own.  It's easy to learn.  I've been doing it for 20+ years.  

Denis, any recommendations of a good website or where to buy the needed tools?

itdoesntmatter wrote:

Denis, any recommendations of a good website or where to buy the needed tools?

https://www.reliableracing.com

http://www.tognar.com 

sorry I couldn't get the paste link function to work. 

www.reliableracing.com - my whole tuning box (and the box too) is from there - lol - but still its nice to just pay somebody with a Wintersteiger - they can ceramic-disk it is the best. Only thing is you'd better confirm the base-side angles or else they will do a 1-1 on it which works for most skis but ... and do you want them to de-tune tip and tail or do full lenght and you do it? I prefer doing that myself.

56fish wrote:

Hidden Valley:  $40 gets you ceramic finished edge after a stone grind.  Wax included.  All Wintersteiger machinery.  Basic edge & wax, $20.  Very experienced techs.

They/we will tune to requested specs w/ regard to bevels/structures/defining as well as, waxing for anticipated conditions.  Race tuning on a regular basis.

But, like some others I tune my own stuff by hand after getting pretty close w/ the machines.  I like a variable bevel for different conditions - the machines we have cannot pull that off.  Also, a waxing fanatic. Not so much for flat out speed but, for good glide when riding areas w/ longer flat runouts.  Swix products for the past 25+ years.  Tooling & wax.  Check out their VERY informative site.

Hey Crush,  and others. Tuning - 

QUICK and Go! up to high end.  A little can improve the glide a lot. 
Call the shop and they say " we will be 1 to 2 weeks getting the skis tuned". A shop is always needed once and a while. 
No worries - 50% of all skis and snowboards on the slope, have no tune or wax. Based on 2 resorts and 500+ skis and snowboards serviced. 

Just by adding a rub on wax your base is now better than the 50%.

Simple tools. Sandpaper, diamond stone, Fiber Pad, a razor cutter.
1- edges are needed for ICE. So brighten the edge - sandpaper, fiber pad or diamond stone. Get rid of the snags. can the edge make a mark in  your fingernail?
2- adding a rub on wax for the right conditions can improve the base performance by 50% compared to the others. A product like ZARDOZ NOTwax will do the trick. 

Medium Work would add hot wax, scrape, Ptex drip candle and structure. This is discussed on skidome  in the tune section.

Add an Iron, a Scraper and hot wax. a vise or clamps ( (Black and decker workmate)) 

High End - Add a file and bevel guide to tune the edges. A plastic ptex candle  or string (better) and other melt tools.

a visual may help in regards to Contact angle  (how high a bubble sits) and Surface Tension and what wax can do. 

Enjoy.

I have been waxing my own for more than 15 years My skis hit the shop once every 2 years. 

Zardog -

If you want to support a local guy, this website is very good for waxing supplies and tutorials:

http://www.racewax.com/

I rode the lift with him at Liberty 2 years ago, he was leaving the slopes early that day to look for a larger space for his business, which is based not far from Liberty, I forget exactly where. Seemed like a nice guy, and he does have quite a few video tutorials on his site last I checked.

Ah, Time to tune. This list is great. The $$ paid are for the LABOR. Some of this work adds some time. The machines can do better structure. You can do some of the work and then send to Shop. Cleaning, to remove wax, P-TEx drip candle is the easiest to do. Waxing is not that hard but takes labor time. Ski bindings do need calibration. I have never had a binding fail a cal test. But I do get that done every  2 years. Wipe the edges.  

Crush wrote:

www.reliableracing.com - my whole tuning box (and the box too) is from there - lol - but still its nice to just pay somebody with a Wintersteiger - they can ceramic-disk it is the best. Only thing is you'd better confirm the base-side angles or else they will do a 1-1 on it which works for most skis but ... and do you want them to de-tune tip and tail or do full lenght and you do it? I prefer doing that myself.

+100 on what I bolded.

Main thing I talk about when I drop off skis. 1-2 for most "carver" skis for advanced skiers. Atomic used to be 1-3, but I haven't skied them in a bit.

Ski with me for a run or two and tip/tail and entire skis get detuned purty quickly. Jimmy's ski jacket and helmet get's detuned. Heh!

Test