Skiboards University/Tech Shop Series<

Skiboard Tuning: A How-to Guide
Compliments of Purl Wax

Little do we know of the psychological difference between a champion and second place, but science has proven the long term effects of caring for your bases. Champions go fast. They must in order to achieve the correct velocity time and time again.

You've felt the pain of a cased landing. Imagine your bases being torn to shreds on tiny ice crystals all day long. In a day, the quickest world cup base turns from butter to sandpaper. That is why world cup tuners wax 1 pair of skis more than twenty times for a single race. Think they go a bit overboard? For our uses, in a word... yes. We need to glide, but we don't need to glide faster than 120 other world class athletes. Or do we?

Do you want to be slower than your bro after the second day? Don't wax. He'll school you. Then after the fifth day, he'll be waiting in the lift line for you. OR ... Take 10 minutes each time you go out. And love your ride the whole season.

Care for your Boards:

Edges:
You need to keep your steel edges clean and polished. That means:

1) Don't whack your edges together when you are bored sitting on the lift - that creates nicks that will catch an edge and drop you on your ass.

2) Dry those pups out at the end of the day so they don't rust.

Base Work:

Want a smooth ride? Keep your sticks waxed! Bases should be room temperature before any repair work is done. Wipe your bases with a terry cloth scrap. Feel the cloth's friction over the board. Look for gouges.

If there is a tear in the base, run a razor blade across it tip to tail. No hangers. Gouges will slow you down so take your time.

If the gouge goes to the core, time for a p-tex repair. The fastest way to ruin a pair of boards is to ride them with the inner material exposed.

Light the p-tex stick with a lighter while rotating to gain the desired consistency. The p-tex will acquire a flame of its own origin. Keep spinning. Think welding with honey. Allow gravity to pull the p-tex deep into the pores of the core. No bubbles. Slightly over fill.

Allow the p-tex to dry for approximately 20 minutes. Use a razor or Metal Scraper to make the weld flush. Slice tip to tail. A quality effort will increase speed.

Hot Wax:
The goal here is to fill the pores of your board with wax giving you a smooth ride, better performance, and of course, SPEED.

1) Place your boards on a stable surface. Adjust your iron to just below smoking. Don't use your Mom's iron. Pay the $11 at Home Depot.

2) Hold the iron so the hot surface is up with the point towards you. Hover the iron tip two inches over the board and apply the wax to the hot surface of the iron. Move the iron lengthwise smoothly dripping a line down the rail 1/4 inch inside the edge, around the tip, back up the other rail, around the tail, and back up the center of the board.

3) Immediately flip the iron, holding it like your Mom would. KEEP THE IRON MOVING. Remember if you leave a hot iron on your base for more than a few seconds you are looking at a $300 hole. Place one end of the iron over one rail with the other end of the iron over the opposite rail. Now move the iron from tip to tail, tail to tip. This will produce one thin film of evenly saturated wax over the base. If one spot dries faster, drip a little more wax. Pay attention to your rails and tips. These are the areas that allow glide. They dry out faster thus needing more wax. One board should take two minutes from first drip to pristine butter smooth.

4) Allow five minutes to dry (do the other one).

5) Use the indented edge of your Plastic Scraper to remove the wax from your edges. Run Scraper at ten degree angle from vertical resting the scraper on each edge. You are done scraping when the base has no excess wax. If you dripped correctly, this should take five good strength passes.

6) Buff to perfection.

Now Go Ride!!!

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