People use snowboards for entertainment, leisure as well as competitive purposes. Today, it is available in different types including the all-mountain, the freestyle and the free ride variations. Its basic components include the camber, laminate and edge. Just like all the other sports equipment out there, it also needs proper maintenance to maximize its function. Be able to preserve its beauty and performance by learning how to maintain a snowboard.
Materials Needed
This task is moderately easy and only requires a few simple materials to complete. You need a snowboard base cleaner, a cleaning cloth as well as a diamond stone. Aside from these items, you also need a snowboard wax, a scraper and a P-Tex candle. Finally, be sure to have an abrasive pad and hot iron available to make things easier.
Steps
To have a better control of the snowboard, it is important to keep the metal edge sharp. This can actually help you perform different kinds of moves including solid turns. Get the diamond stone and then run it all over the circumference of the edge. This process is called de-burring, wherein the burrs and nicks are removed. It is important to remove them because they can cause dullness to the metal. After this, check the edge once more if there are more burrs left. In necessary, de-burr it once again.
Another important thing to maintain is the smoothness of the bottom part of the board. Get a clean cloth and then wipe off the excess dirt. After that, dissolve the wax using a specialized snowboard base cleaner. This can also help eliminate other impurities. Once the cleaner evaporates, use the cloth once again to wipe the surface.
Look for scrapes and gouges at the base of the board. Some of the common causes for these impurities include mountain debris and rocks. Lighting a P-Tex candle is sufficient to fix small gouges. Let the candle wax drop right into the damaged area. Once the wax cools, smooth out the surface using the scraper. For larger gouges, it is best to have your board repaired at the local snowboarding shop.
After restoring the smoothness of the bottom part of the board, re-wax it. Melt snowboard wax using a hot iron, and then allow it to drop into the base of the board. Smooth out the wax by running the hot iron all throughout the board’s length. In case the wax cools down, take off excess wax with a plastic scraper. In case you have no scraper available, you can also use an abrasive pad.
Additional Tips and Other Helpful Information
Although it is very nice to try the processes of de-burring and re-waxing a snowboard on your own, it is still good to watch experts do them first. This way, you are guaranteed that you are doing the right thing.
