Video

In this tutorial I show how to finish a pair of birch wooden skis I made 5 years ago (2015) at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN.

I will stain the top using black walnut stain I made a couple of years ago. Here's the video: https://youtu.be/xiFcCBk3uGM'

Then I will seal/waterproof them by applying beeswax and burnishing and buffing that in to a shiny finish.

Then I will seal and waterproof the belly of the skis with birch tar. Pine tar can be used, but we will us birch tar here - it was made in the class I took to make the skis. Then we will "wax" them using tallow made of beef suet (fat). "...The bottom of the short ski was either plain or covered with animal skin to aid this use, while the long ski supporting the weight of the skier was treated with animal fat in similar manner to modern ski waxing...."[1].

Sealing and waxing should greatly improve the life and performance of the skis in the snow.