Repairing, cleaning, and tuning the edges of your snowboard is essential to maintaining your board's performance season after season. Basic snowboard tuning is a fun activity that can be done at home with the proper tools and is a good way to get stoked for the upcoming season or next day on the mountain.
Sharpening the edges of your snowboard or ‘tuning it’, is essential for a fun and safe experience on the slopes. Feeling confident on your board (whether you’re a beginner or an expert) is so crucial to enjoying yourself and feeling in control too.
Here's what we’ll cover:
- How to Sharpen Snowboard Edges?
- How to De-Tune Snowboard Edges?
- How to Repair the Base of a Snowboard?
- How to Clean a Snowboard Base?
How To Sharpen Your Snowboard Edges | Whitelines Snowboarding
Why Sharpen Snowboard Edges?
Tuning the edges of your snowboard is critical to keeping your board fast, catch-free and responsive when initiating turns. It is also a great way to customize how your board rides and feels underfoot.
If your snowboard edges are dull or worn and you notice that you're losing edge grip, it's time for a sharpening. After a series of intense snowboarding days, your edges might have taken a beating.
Read also: Comprehensive Ice Skate Sharpening
Optimal control is essential on icy slopes. Rails, boxes, and hard turns on artificial snow heavily wear down snowboard edges. Periodically inspect the edges' condition.
Sharpening the edges of your snowboard or ‘tuning it’, is essential for a fun and safe experience on the slopes. Feeling confident on your board (whether you’re a beginner or an expert) is so crucial to enjoying yourself and feeling in control too.
When they do become dulled you will be able to see it.
How often you need to sharpen your boards edges, will differ depending on how often you use your snowboard. As a general rule, you should look to get it sharpened once a year, unless you are an avid snowboarder (in which case you may want it sharpened more often).
Normally new snowboards come pre-sharpened so that shouldn’t be a problem for new buyers - which is one less worry from your mind!
Read also: Is the Gnu Antigravity Snowboard Worth It?
If your edge feels blunt or ‘burred’ when you rub it gently with your thumb then it might be time for you to get your edges sharpened. This is usually the test to see if it’s time for a sharpen. If you’re ever unsure, most equipment shops, or professionals will be happy to advise you - it’ll only take a second for them to check!
You know edges are really sharp if you take your fingernail and lightly strike it across the edge (not up and down the length of the edge, but across it) at a 45 degree angle and if you see a shaving of your nail left behind, the edge is SHARP. When feeling your edges, always use your fingernail, never your skin.
For most of us, we just need an edge that is shaped like a 90 degree right angle and not damaged. I would rather have normal edges that are undamaged than really sharp edges that have nicks and burrs in them.
Most boards do not need sharpening regularly. In fact, unless you are racing, do not even worry about sharpening your edges. Instead think about it as shaping and deburring.
- Shaping occasionally with a file by a skilled hand.
Read also: Battle Bindings: Performance and Value
The primary reason for rust is O2. Oxidation. Pretty much if your board is exposed to oxygen and there is humidity in the air, more in the south and coasts then up in the mountains, the edges will develop rust no matter what you do. Light sanding should get it off no problem. Keeping it indoors is probably the best you can do, but considering we live on earth, rust is a natural part of having exposed steel.
There are two surfaces on each edge: the base (lies flush with the base material) and the side (runs along the side of the board). Generally, if you bevel the base edge it makes turning easier, because it extends the bottom of the board out further, putting more base and less side edge against the snow. Beveling the side edge will increase the grip of the board, meaning that it will bite into the snow during turns and stops, lending more control to the rider.
Essential Tools for Sharpening Snowboard Edges
There is a short list of items you’ll need to sharpen your edges yourself. Unfortunately you do need a specialised tool (an edge sharpener) to do this for yourself, but if you plan on snowboarding regularly, then it’s a good investment to make to keep your board in good condition.
Here is the full list of tools you need to sharpen your board:
- Screwdriver
- Edge sharpener
- Nylon brush
- Wax Iron
- Plastic scraper
- Table (to rest your board on)
The basic supplies needed to tune the edges of your snowboard are the following:
- Edge Bevel Tool
- Gummy Stone
- Metal File
Step-by-Step Guide to Sharpening Snowboard Edges
Sharpening snowboard edges - here we offer you a 7-step guide for optimal performance in the park, on the slopes, and in the backcountry. Sharpening your snowboard’s edges is easy to learn for amateurs with the right tools and some preparation.
The key component is securing your snowboard firmly and securely. There are special devices developed specifically for snowboard edge grinding.
Alternatively, you can use a wooden vice. If you only have access to a metal vice, be sure to place a protective rubber or plastic plates between the vice and your snowboard to prevent any damage. Clamps are another recommended option.
First things first, loosen your bindings, or take them off completely. Lots of people overlook this step - but we recommend you don’t overlook it!
The next step is to start sharpening! Starting with the base edge of the board, move it smoothly from nose to tail, only light pressure is needed, do this several times to achieve the perfect angle, but this must be done in the same direction each time and that the file is flat on the edge.
Bear in mind, 90 degrees is the standard setting for beginner / intermediate snowboarders. For more advanced riders, the more acute angles will give you more bite (great if you need some speed!).
Next step, is to repeat again on the other side of the board, but remember to keep the file edge on flat and only do it the same way.
Fold the binding to the board and, if necessary, fix it so that it does not bother you during the work. Carefully smooth out hard spots, bulges, and protruding material, often caused by stones.
If the edges have been sharpened several times and no longer stick out from the sides of the board, we recommend trimming the sidewall with the Tyrolit Life sidewall trimmer to prevent files and grindstones from clogging. Clamp the stainless steel files from Tyrolit Life into the stainless steel angle and grind the edge roughly.
The chosen angle, be it 86 degrees, 87 degrees or 88 degrees, determines the aggressiveness of the edge. If you change the edge angle, you have to expect more effort. Tip: Mark the edge with a felt-tip pen. If the color vanishes uniformly after processing, the edge has been evenly sharpened.
Now use the softer ceramic files from Tyrolit Life, clamped in the stainless steel angle, to evenly grind and smooth the edge of your snowboard. Remove the fine burr created by sanding with Tyrolit Life's elastic files. Use the stainless steel angle to polish and perfect the snowboard edge, reducing unwanted friction on the edge's gliding surface.
To minimize the risk of catching an edge or cross-cutting, it is recommended to slightly dull the edges at the nose and tail. For this, you can use an edge rubber, a grinding rubber, a grindstone, or a file. Too sharp an edge at the front of the shovel or at the back of the snowboard makes the board overly sensitive and aggressive in its steering response, which can lead to sudden catching of an edge in glide sections and on flat terrain.
Additional Tuning Techniques
Snowboard Edge De-Tuning
Nobody likes catching an edge on the slopes, especially when sliding a rail or transitioning from edge to edge. Detuning the edges of your snowboard at the tip and tail, as well as between the contact points can lessen your chances of catching an edge by dulling the most likely problem spots.
De-Tuning the edges will allow you to manipulate how the board will ride and perform while on the snow. This is especially important for advanced freestyle rider who like their boards to be predictable and forgiving in a variety of snow conditions.
De-Tuning your snowboard can be done at home if you have the proper tools and skills to do so.
The basic supplies needed to de-tune the edges of your snowboard are the following:
- Diamond or Ceramic File
- Gummy Stone
- Metal File
Snowboard Base Repair
Whether you’re a casual rider cruising the groomers, or an advanced park rider who prefers riding boxes and rails, it’s inevitable that the base of your board will experience some form of damage in its lifetime. Although major gouges and scratches might need to be repaired in a shop by a professional, many minor blemishes can be repaired at home with the right supplies and skills.
Fixing damage to the base of your snowboard will provide a smoother ride that is fast and catch free. Maintaining a gouge-free base will also prevent water from weakening the core structure of the board.
The basic items needed to repair the base of your snowboard are the following:
- P-Tex Candle
- Lighter
- Metal Edge Scraper
- Citrus Based Cleaner
- Towels or Rags
Snowboard Base Cleaning
Properly cleaning the base of your snowboard is an important first step when performing most tuning procedures to your board. A clean base allows for proper wax adhesion when waxing and is especially important when repairing scratches and gouges with P-Tex.
Cleaning the base of your snowboard with a citrus base cleaner is fairly straight forward and a technique we recommend if you are just learning the ropes of tuning. Hot scraping is an advanced form of cleaning that requires added effort and experience to rid the base of contaminates but ultimately results in a deep clean to the pores of the base.
The basic supplies needed to clean the base of your snowboard are the following:
- Citrus Base Cleaner
- Rags or Paper Towels
- Waxing Supplies *If Hot Scrapping