Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

gen. maintenance tips

311K views 475 replies 141 participants last post by  Etienne 
G
#1 ·
boarder or anyone else-

i think a good sticky would be a general maintenance thread of how to keep up your board. there's a lot of noobs on here (including myself) that could benefit from having that info all in one spot. stuff like how & how often to wax your board, how often to get the edges done, what that entails, how to store your board in the off season, etc.

just a thought. i know it'd be a lot of info to type up, but it would be beneficial to many new people that are otherwise lost on the matter.
 
G
#88 ·
OK, after some detailed reseach on all products i went with these tools. This gives me exactly what i need to create an 89 degree edge. A reminder that this angle is for my all mountain board and used for carving and griping ice later in the year, not the park(it can also be used for the park but i have a specific board that has much duller edges). I went with the same brand SWIX for everything and included EVERY tool needed for sharpening the edges. You dont have to buy anything else other than the items listed below. The file fits in both the side and base edger. SWIX is a high quality product used by professionals. The entire kit should cost $100 which is not bad at all if you constantly cut your edges and this way you can also help out family and friends.

Base Edger - SWIX 1 Degree file guide (picture shows .5 but i got a1 degree edger)



Side Edge - SWIX 2(88) Degree edge file guide with roller and clamp.



File - SWIX 2nd cut chrome 8" file




Diamond Stone - SWIX Fine diamond stone




Gummy Stone - figured i would throw it in here just because

 
G
#90 ·
I personally dont really trust the multi-tuners. The files in them are not of very good quality. If they dont use them in any ski shop I wouldnt use it on my board. Thats my general rule. If you screw up the base edge you might as well buy a new board so i wont take that chance
 
#91 ·
The pads I use are green in colour. I just use a generic brand scrub pad (flat green pad, usually comes in a pack). You can get them at Safeway or pretty much anywhere else. When you use them, you will find the pad builds up with wax that scraping couldn't remove. You can wash the pads or just throw them away after a few uses. I have used a much courser black stripping pad but I only used it for structuring the base for warm snow (as opposed to using a brush) BUT it can be damn tricky. If you do use it, always make sure to go from tip to tail and do NOT press hard. Try to keep your passes down to a minimum, you do not need to do much. All you are trying to achieve is breaking the static or suction effect of wet snow on a mirror smooth base.
 
#94 ·
I believe sharpening your edges varies on what you ride and personal preference - If you do more park and rails, then basically never, opposed to all mountain...then figure you'd at least have to do it sometimes.
 
#95 ·
Another thing I do is after I clean the base, if needed, usually wit hSwix base cleaner or paint thinner I block sand it with 150-220 grit paper. This does a few things, ruffs up the base enough to let the wax really bond to the base, it helps get any rubbed in dirt out, smooths out any rail scuffs, and removes any old wax.
 
#97 ·
I've been doing it that way for 15 years on many different boards and I've never had a problem and everyone loves my wax jobs.
If you think about what board goes thru you can't really damage it trying different tuning methods, so don't be afraid to try something out. Granted if you used a powered sander and didn't pay attention you could screw it up, so don't use power tools.
 
#99 ·
So I tried something new last night, and it turned out to be a neat little trick. Makes scrapping wax 10x easier, and probably helps clean your board some too.

After you iron your wax into your board, let it sit the normal time you would before you start to scrap (20-30min, whatever you do). Then right before you scrap, run your iron over the whole board one more time to heat the wax back up. The first iron/cooling session should have allowed the base to soak up all the wax it was going to, and scrapping warm waxing is 100x easier than hard cool wax. Plus i've heard warm scrapping helps clean the base, but I don't know about that
 
G
#101 ·
Okay I've given a general search and can't find anything online about this, so what is the general opinion on weighting boards to get more flex from them. Personally I do it and find it to be no big deal but other people say that it kills your board. When I do it I am sure to do it with the bindings off and make it a 6 day process, that is with one day of weights (about 100 lbs) over the middle on the top and one day on the base (I put a plastic bag under the weights to avoid them making direct contact) then the same above and below the binding areas for the other four days. This is all with the nose and tail of the board resting on two chairs. It seems to have helped break in my board and given it much more flex.
 
G
#106 ·
A few questions i have for waxing and storing.

When storing the boards for the summer should i take the bindings off and leave the coat of wax on? (like not scrap it)

and can you re use the wax that you scraped off?
 
#108 ·
Don't reuse it. It's a pain in the ass and it has the potential to be less than clean.
 
G
#111 ·
in the off-season, ensure the edges are dry and then rub a small layer of vaseline over them. This helps prevent rust.

A tech told me in a course we did that you should wax a brand new board 3 times before use. This may be overkill though from what everyone else is saying?

i thought the suction through from having your bindings in was a definate no-no? which is why ya should atleast loosen before waxing?
 
#114 ·
I just bought my first board, it should be coming in the mail within the week. I saw earlier in this thread that you should put some wax on your board for the summer, and I was wondering if I should put a coat of wax onto it when it gets here or if the factory coat's good enough for the rest of the summer and if it'd be the same to just wait and wax it till closer to when I'm taking it out.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top