Trustworthy Tuners

[Scorpio]

Anybody know of any good shops in the northeast that they'd trust to tune up their alpine boards?

[ncermak]

Bob Skinners Ski and Sport.

Talk to Frank, and tell him wou want a race tune, and put a sweet one on for you.
He'll stone grind too if you need it.

Located on the traffic circle at Mt. Sunapee.

[bschurman]

What Bob said!

[Tommy D]

The Downhill Edge at Sugarbush used to do really good race tunes, but unfortunately, I haven't been there in a couple years.

[Mark Brown]

Originally posted by Bob Jenney
Mike de Santis of PTC at Summit Ski and Snowboard in Framingham, MA.

www.summitskiandsnowboard.com

There simply is no better tuner in the east and he has many alpine board customers.

Ship him your boards for the initial base grind/structure and ask him about daily maintenance.

Thanks Bob! This is just what I needed. I do my own waxing and edges, but the local yahoos have done terrible base grinds - even with their fancy stone grinder. I'll be looking for a initial grind for my new Donek when it ships this fall. It'll be a bit more $$ for shipping, but it'll be worth it for a sweet grind.

I was also real happy with the folks at Happy Tunes near the 'Loaf. Jack turned me on to them at ECES'04. They did great a great job with overnight service

So, like, where's the snow?

[Scorpio]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Bob, I called Summit yesterday and got their answering machine. They just opened up for winter season. If I ship my board to them, what's the best method for packing it up? I've never shipped a board before? I imagine shipping costs will suck too for something of awkward shape and size.

[bschurman]

I have shipped many boards and the best way to ship them is in a board box. Go to the local ski shop and ask them if they have any board boxes left over. They usually do. Then I put cardboard over the tip and tail like a sandwich board. The width of these cardboard pieces should be as wide as the box to prevent the board from moving. I then wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap and put it in the box.

The best way to ship it is FedEx ground but if that's avaliable you can try Brown. I will tell you that I HATE brown and how they mangle stuff. But it shouldn't really be more then $25 to ship the board somewhere with either FedEx or UPS.

->Ben

[nekdut]

Bob,

I always wondered about the gear from http://www.alpineskituning.com/. How does this waxWHIZARD thing actually work? The edge beveler seems interesting as well, but for all of this gear, it seems like we would be tied to that company for replacement screens/stones/etc. Have you tried any of their other tuning equipment?

[boostertwo]

As a frugal New Englander, I've taken to rubbing the appropriate wax on the board, rather than dripping it with a hot iron. With the base covered with a thin coating, I'll then iron it in.

I've found this uses much less wax than the drip or stream method--resulting in less shavings and mess to clean up and less wasted wax.

I've always read to drip it on in tuning manuals and in clinics with world cup tuners. Is there anything I'm missing by rubbing it on to apply it, rather than dripping it off the iron?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Justin A.]

Yes, as bob said, you ALWAYS want to avoid direct contact with the base, unless you are absolutley positive about iron temperature (like...you just measured it) there could be some very unwanted results. The wost Ive seen was a kid who actually melted some of the p-tex so the board needed a really deep grind. Also the increased heat from the direct contact could aid in drying out the base. Think of the wax on the base kind of like shaving cream (in a really kind of abstract way) If you only put a little tiny bit of shaving cream on your face, and don't get good coverage until you spread it with the blade of your razor, its too late, your skin will yell at you, and your shave wont be as close. If you dont have fairly good coverage on your board with the wax before you spread it with the iron, the base will be unhappy, and probally end up not quite as smooth as if you had ironed the drips. Hope this helps.
-Justin
________
OG KUSH PICTURES (http://trichomes.org/marijuana-strains/og-kush)

[quest4powder]

I've sat in on some tuning clinics with some world cup tuners (US Ski Team, US Snowboarding) and this is the first I've heard about avoiding contact of the iron with the base.

I'm trying to understand: Are you saying that you want the iron to glide on a film of liquid wax--or that you don't want to touch the iron to the base at all? If this is the case, how do you melt the wax and apply it to the base?

Would you be able to please point me in the direction of the resource(s) where you got this info?

Thanks for the info!
________
Washington Dispensaries (http://washington.dispensaries.org/)

[jason_watkins]

I'm curious if anyone is using these, and how they'd compare to using diamond stones with file guides to maintain edges after setting bevels with steel files.

So are his side and base bevelers basicly jigs to sand down the edges?

Sounds like a horridly slow way to put on a first bevel, but perhaps good to maintain one?

Anyone know what the fabric for the wax burnishing is? A variation of scotchbrite?

[Sean]

I'm also very interested if anyone out there has any experience with his bevel tools- kinda look like sideways roller sanding blocks. The fabric roller wax burnisher sounds pretty cool but I still think a good set of file guides with sharp files and a couple of diamond stones are better for establishing base and edge bevels and keeping them fresh through the season.

As far as waxing goes, FWIW I always thoroughly chalk the wax on the base before my iron ever touches it (if you quickly dab the wax brick onto your iron before rubbing it on the base it helps it to chalk in even better) . This assures an even coat of wax on the whole base, helps the iron glide better, is less wasteful than dripping on, and protects the base.

Putting an iron onto a dry base is a really bad idea as you can easily burn the base material and permanently mess up that very thin layer of p tex, not to mention the internal layers. Clothes irons aggravate the problem as they tend to pulse and vary quite a bit in temperature.

My $.02 worth.
-Sean

[Justin A.]

I had some swix a few years ago that came with some cloth that looked like gauze, but heavier. Maybe that?
-Justin
________
Grape ape pictures (http://trichomes.org/marijuana-strains/grape-ape)

[D-Sub]

So...anyone used this Rays Way stuff for other tuning jobs?

looks interesting...Im curious

[boardtek]

As a six time gold medal tuner with over 18 years experience, I just want to let people know that hey can contact me for information about tuning or major repairs. Contact at macneil27@hotmail.com
I am located on the east coast.