How often do you tune?

[skategoat]

How often do you guys:

Wax?
Sharpen edges?
Base grind?

Just looking for a rule of thumb. The loss of edge is often not noticed until you hit some ice and it so gradual that I'm never sure if my board is at peak condition. I like to avoid oversharpening and overgrinding.

HK

[Justin A.]

Wax: Every Time I go out
Edges: every other/every third time I go
Base Grind: When I need it, so like, if its really icy or something and I do a trueness test on the base and its off, then I'll do it.
Structuring: once or twice a season

-Justin
________
Medical marijuana (http://dispensaries.org/)

[Todd Stewart]

wax - every other time or if the snow temp changes dramatically
edges - every other time
grind - every couple of seasons
structure - nylon brush or light sanding brick everytime i wax

[Kirk]

Wax - every 2-3 times out
Edges - about every other time out - usually just a diamond stone polish
Grind - once a year
Structure - every time I wax (still like the 3M scotch brite - cheap)

[Steve Dold]

Wax: About once for every five days riding, structure w/brass brush every time
Edges: Once a season
Base Grind: Haven't done it yet, won't unless there are problems

[Mike T]

Wax: on average, 2 of every 3 times out. Sometimes I do it when I don't really need to, I find it a nice way to unwind after work and working on a snowboard usually puts me into a good mood.

Edge: base edge - at beginning of season, then again in March, for the spring season. Side edge - when it fells like it needs it. I'll typically debur before I wax.

Structure: using a brass riller bar, on average about every 5 waxings.

Base grind: When it needs it. On average, any one of my boards gets ground every other season.

[Scotty Pumpkins]

how do you know if you need a base grind? and forgive me for sounding uninformed, but what does the grind actually do, and why do i need to do it?

thanks
Scott

[Justin A.]

The base grind will restore the flattness of the base if it goes concave or convex, keeping you in control of the board, not the snow conditions. If its convex (bowing out) then your board will rock from edge to edge when put on a flat surface, It will slide and skid on the snow at lower edge angles too. If its convex, then you'll be more prone to catching an edge because the edges are lower than the base. The base grind will get it back to flat.
-Justin
________
Oxygen Vaporizer (http://oxygenvaporizer.com)

[skategoat]

Do you use stone or file on the edges? And do you use a clamp to make sure you are at 90 degrees? Are we talking about a light run-over with a stone or file or something more substantial?

[boostertwo]

Scott,
If you haven't yet checked it out, Tognar (http://www.tognar.com/basetips.html) has some excellent information on tuning.

[Mike T]

In addition to the reasons Justin cited, one might get a base grind in order to remove sracthes on the base (small ones are just ground away) or if you want a structure pattern that is not doable by hand.

[neil sunday]

i'd be cautious of base grinding more than once or twwice max per season.. especially if you want to hang onto a board for two or three seasons.

they claim a board that's waxed turns 30% easier. i'm in total agreement with that, as i have found the more you wax, the better shape the p-tex stays in. it seems like it stays soft- or should i say wet, as in the ability of the base to accept and HOLD wax. once a week does it for me- that's about 4-5 of riding, unless you see edge burn, which i would recomend using a colder temp wax on the edges, as colder wax is harder and does not wear off as easily.

deburring stones, (diamond, ceramic and gummy stones ) in that order will keep your edges smooth, which is more important for a clean carve than sharp. a burless edge is better at griping th snow as well. files can be used maybe four times a season. but lightly though, as you can remove some serious edge material if you're not careful- especially the side edge.

[cmc]

Boards should be stone ground once or twice a season. If you are racing a lot and have many boards, you can have the board ground for specific structure patterns acording to the snow type.
Most recreational riding, a 9/9 cross pattern (structure) will work fairly well in a variey of snows. Different disciplines will also dictate the needed pattern.
Coming off the stone, bevels need to be set. Base and side bevels.. 1 degree base and 2 degree side will work best for most. Again, different disciplines and different length boards will dictate what bevels are needed. What ever you decide, .7/3, 1/3/ 1.5/3 ...... Hand filing, with proper bevelers will be most accurate. After filing, the edges can be worked with diamond stones to clean up the serrades the file leaves behind. 4 inch dmt stones, start with the black, proceed with the blue. Always use a beveler with the black as it can change the bevel. Blue can be used with the bevel after the black or on occasion for deburring by hand(without beveler) as the blue will not change bevels.
Diamond files work well when new, slightly cleaner cutting than the dmt stones. Watch the mushrooming of the adhesive when heavily as the ywill become less accurate. The new moonflex stones are the best. Pricey but great. they offer enough grits to go right ip to a polished chrome state. They cut the time in half verses using ceramics.
Boards coming off the stone are DRY. Hotscrape 4 times with a yellow hydrocarbon wax, can be roto brushed inbetween coats with a brass/hair combo. Structure will benefit by opening up. The scraping will also help to slightly break down the structure. proceed with 4 more hot scrapes with a harder/colder temp hydrocarbon wax, brushing in between. Spray water when brushing to keep friction down(the static kind) More hot scrapes can be done. The final layer can be a better wax and can be left on overnight and scraped down the next day. Changed to short/long hair brush(depending on wax) and brush out the structure uncloging it. the board should be hydrated.
Depending how often you ride and what type of snow there is will dictate when maintance is needed. You can go 3 to four days of riding without having to file your edges. Maintaining with the dmt stones to debur will keep the edges sharp. When its time to file again, dont file the base edge..side only. only file base edges when coming off a stone grind. if the edges are well maintained, filing will be minimal(unless you gouged the heck out of 'em)
Wax according to how your base looks and snow types. Dry granular snows burn the base, dont let that happen. If I could add up the hours I have tuning for the past # of years in the shops and then have to go home and work on my own equipment. Before one of the shops I was in had machines, we would do nothing but hand file and iron wax skis/boards for 10 hours a day. Back breaking.
I can say one thing, Rob at the Startingate is the TUNER. When one is behind the file and tuning/repairing at 60 hours a week for many years and then goes home to work in his own shop to do more tuning...damn..that is a lot of experience. I respect his advice cus he knows best. Any pics of your Donek board Vlad where Rob replaced the entire tail piece and fitted new edge sections? Unfllucking believable!
And remember, when walking up to the lift, hold your board by the binding and make sure that you drag the tail across the pavement like a punk!:cool:

[nils]

- edges: everyday small diamond, file if damaged
- wax: every 5-6 days, or when T° really changes
- Grind, Sand: once a season if I have too, otherwise not. Sand belt and no stone grind.

N.