Ready to Shred: How to Repair, Sharpen, and Wax a Snowboard

Time to get your snowboard ready for the season. That means starting with the base repair, sharpening the edges, and adding a fresh layer of wax on your snowboard. These simple steps will make your days on the slope be much more enjoyable on your board.

Spend the time to be prepared and ready to shred. Get your body in shape with CARVED – Cut To Shred, the workout program that will get your body in shape for snowboard season.

While you’re busy getting your body into shape let’s tune up your board. Get your snowboard in shape by walking through the rest of this post where you’ll learn how to repair, sharpen, and wax a snowboard.

What’s Needed to Repair, Sharpen, and Was A Snowboard

There are only a handful of tools and supplies need to repair, sharpen, and wax a snowboard.

You’ll need the following tools and supplies:

• Screwdriver
• Base cleaner
• Towel
• Metal Scraper
• Plastic Scraper
• P-Tex Candles
• Snowboard Wax
• Snowboard Wax Iron or Old household iron
• Scotch-brite Pad
• Nylon Brush

How To Repair A Snowboard Base

Serious base repair is best done by a professional. If you discover very deep gouges, damaged edges, cracks, or serious damage bring your board into your local shop for some expert help.

But most base damage can be repaired at home. All those little gouges and dings are easily fixed.

Just follow these steps to repair your snowboard base:

1. Scape It – Take a metal scraper and scape the board smooth. You’ll need a metal scraper to shave off any raised base material. When you shred over rocks or other debris your snowboard’s base is gouged and often end up lifting some of the base material up. The metal scraper will help clear that material.
2. Clean – Wipe the board with base-cleaner. This will remove any oils and help the P-Tex material stick to the damaged base.
3. P-Tex Candle – Pick up some P-Tex candles at your local shop. These look like plastic rods that are typically around 10 inches long. They are made from a material that will actually burn on its own. Work in a well ventilated area. Hold the P-Tex candle at angle with one tip down towards your snowboard and light it with a lighter. Adjust the angle to keep it burning and slowly melt. As the P-Tex melts drip it into the small gouges and dings in the base of your board.
4. Chill Out – Take a break and let the P-Tex cool. Let it set.
5. Scape It Smooth – Grab your metal scraper again and scrape the P-Tex. You want to scape just enough off to make a smooth surface along the base of the snowboard by removing the excess P-Tex.
6. Clean – wipe the base of your board again with base cleaner and check for any remaining gouges. If you find some, repeat the process by adding more P-Tex. Repeat until your base is nice and smooth, devoid of all those nasty gouges and dings.

How To Sharpen Snowboard Edges

After you get the base of your snowboard back in decent condition it is time to take a look at your edges.

The metal edges of your snowboard is what helps you carve while on hard pack. You’ll need a metal file and an edge sharpener. The edge sharpener is just a small mount that holds a file at a fixed angle along the side of the snowboard. Most edge sharpeners have an option to set the angle at either 88 or 90 degrees. I set my edge sharpener at 88 degrees to get a little more bite.

Remember when filing the metal edge that you are essentially making a sharp metal corner to cut and grab hard packed surfaces. That sharp edge will easily cut your skin if given the chance – be careful while doing this step.

1. File Flat – Using a long metal file check along the entire metal edge for any scratches or gouges in the edge and file them flat. Hold the file as close to parallel to your snowboard’s base surface while doing this. You should be left with a smooth surface on the bottom sides of both edges.
2. File The Sides – Set the edge sharpener on the base of your snowboard with the file touching the sides of the metal edge. Work back and forth filing off anything that catches. This will make a sharp edge at the very corner of the metal edge. Be careful as this edge can become quite sharp – don’t get cut.

How To Wax A Snowboard

Often mid-season all my board needs to stay in peak performing condition is just a new layer of wax. If you take a look at the base of your board and start to notice sections of grey on a black base – you need wax. The wax keeps the base material from drying out and keeps it slipping along the snow.

To wax your snowboard just follow these steps:

1. Scrape – grab your plastic scraper and remove any excess wax. This will remove anything sticking up. If you’ve done the base repair step above you can skip this step, since you’ve already scraped the board.
2. Clean – Wipe the base with base cleaner and let it dry completely.
3. Loosen Up – Back out the screws from your bindings. They put tremendous force on the base of the snowboard and should not be tight when you apply heat to the base of the board.
4. Melt Wax – Using a snowboard wax iron, or an old household iron, heat the wax dripping wax onto the surface of the snowboard. Then go over the base with the iron, keeping the iron moving. The goal is a layer of wax over the entire snowboard base.
   
   Note: The wax should not be smoking from the iron, if it does turn down the heat on the iron. Melt, drip = good. Smoke = bad.
5. Chill Out – Leave the snowboard alone for at least twenty minutes to let the wax set. Leaving it longer is fine. When possible I leave it overnight.
6. Scape Smooth – Grab your plastic scraper and start removing any excess wax. Don’t do this inside on flooring you care about – I do it out in the garage. Scape until you get a nice smooth surface left on the bottom of your board. The only wax that should be left on the board is what was absorbed into the base material itself.
7. Buff/Etch – I’ve heard differing opinions on how important this step is, but the theory is that creating micro-textures on the surface will reduce the surface tension that is created between your snowboard and the snow. I do this in two steps:
   1. Scotch Brite – Go from tip to tip with a scotch-brite pad. These long passes will create a smooth surface along the direction of travel and smooth out the surface. If you start feeling bumps, go back to the scraper and start buffing again.
   2. Nylon Brush – Now grab a nylon brush and etch along 45 degree angles from the direction of travel. Go side to side at an angle with the brush, then slowly move across the entire surface of the board. Change angles and cover the entire surface of the snowboard. This buffing/etching process should leave the surface of the snowboard smooth, with cross-hatch lines from the brush barely visible.

Are You Ready?

There you go; the three steps to getting your snowboard ready for the season.

Let’s hear how it goes for you if you do give it a shot. Base repair, sharpening edges, and waxing a snowboard is not as hard as it may sound. Give it a shot and leave a comment.