If you have recently taken up snowboarding and have now purchased your own board, you will need to take good care of it. The folk at Canyon Sports say that this means regular maintenance and tuning. But what are snowboard tunes? And can you do it yourself, or do you need to get a professional to do the job for you?
What is Meant by Snowboard Tuning?
Snowboard tuning is the process of servicing your board to ensure that it glides smoothly along the snow. There are three steps to the process: base repair, edge work, and waxing. Regular snowboard tunes will keep your board running as efficiently as possible and will lengthen the life of the board. The great thing about snowboard tuning is that while you can take it for professional servicing, you can also do the job yourself if you have the time and the right equipment.
What Equipment is Required?
You will need the following items before you get started:
- Edge sharpener
- Metal scraper
- Plastic scraper
- Wax
- Waxing iron
- Nylon brush
- Screwdriver
- Rubbing alcohol
- P-Tex candle
- Diamond stone
- Gummy stone
- Old towels.
You will also need somewhere to place your board while you work. A sturdy table is ideal.
Tuning Your Snowboard
To repair the base of the board, you will need some clean towels, base cleaner, rubbing alcohol, a metal scraper, wire brush, and a P-Tex candle. Turn the board upside and balance the ends on some stacks of books. The first thing to do is clean the base by using the metal scraper, followed by the wire brush to get rid of any dust and dirt. You can then use the base cleaner to remove any wax around the scrapes. Then use the rubbing alcohol to remove any of the base cleaner that remains on the board.
When the base of the board is clean, you will need to light the P-Tex candle until it is dripping as you work. Do not light it over the board to avoid it dripping before you are ready. When you are ready, move the candle slowing along the scrape, allowing the wax to drip as you go. Once the P-Tex has cooled, you can scrape the excess away with your metal scraper.
The next thing to do is the edge repair. Run a towel along the edge of the board to see if/where it catches as this will tell you which areas to repair. You can remove rough edges slowly with a wet diamond stone. To avoid scratching the base material of the board, keep pressure on the metal edge as it is here that you want to remove the rust and burrs. The gummy stone will help to remove minor rust from the edge of the board and give it a polish. When done, you can rub the edges with a clean towel and some rubbing alcohol.
Finally, you will need to wax the board. Heat the waxing iron until it is warm enough to melt the wax and then drip the wax across the board from tip to tail in a zig zag motion. You then need to use the waxing iron over the wax quickly and evenly. When the wax has cooled, use the plastic scraper to remove residual wax. Brush the base of the board to clear the wax. Continue to brush until there is no more wax being removed.
To conclude, snowboard tuning is something that you can take care of yourself with the right equipment. However, if you can see the inner core through a large gouge in the base, you need it professionally tuned.