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The
tools for the job. L to R.
Scraper,
Wax, Base cleaner, Waxing Iron, Structuring Brush, Edging Tool
and in the foreground some rags.
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Starting
point, for the nerds amongst you the board is a 2003/2004 season
Burton Custom X 164 with some nice Designers Republic sticker on
the nose and 2001/2002 season Burton Custom bindings. |
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...And
a scabby looking base after a few days at La Flegere with not too
much snow coverage and more small rocks than you would care to imagine. |
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Make
a note of your binding settings if your not sure what they are set
to, if you get completely muddled then as a rule of thumb to get
you going back foot is normally about 0° and front foot about
15° |
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Then
off with the bindings, some people do, some don't, here's why I
do. As you tighten the screw for the binding then it pulls the base
of the board up creating a indent by each insert, if you then wax
the board the wax is thicker below each binding and you get an excess
of wax, thus causing drag. |
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And
that's what your left with. While the binding is off just have a
quick poke about and check for any damage. |
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Here's
your first bits of equipment your going to use, an aerosol can of
base cleaner and some mutton cloth, mutton cloth is dead cheap at
auto jumbles, I use it because that's what I have already for polishing
my van! |
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And
off you pop spraying a layer of base cleaner onto the base of the
board, this stuff softens the old wax on the base of your board,
the old wax will now contain loads of bits of dirt, your best off
without it, plus if you have a light coloured base then the muck
shows up, and if you have nice graphics you don't want that now
do you? Do this outside as this stuff smells really bad! (or really
good if your a glue sniffer) |
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Get
a nice layer on, make sure you get the whole base covered and leave
it to soak and melt the old wax. |
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Don't
let the base cleaner dry, just as you see it start to dry out with
the cloth and get scrubbing. |
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And
there it is, all that lovely white snow you've been riding sure
is dirty huh? Make sure the board is completely dry and free of
base cleaner. Don't throw your old rag away as that will come
in handy later on.
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This
really was difficult to photograph on my own! Hold the iron at this
sort of angle and melt your wax onto the base of the iron, it will
then drip off the iron onto your Snowboard. |
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Get
drips all over the base like so (ish) |
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Then
off you pop melting the wax making sure you you get even coverage.
Make sure you don't leave the iron in one place for too long, if
the board gets hot it will melt the resins and glue etc. that hold
your board together and it will come in pieces! use your hand on
the underside of the board to check its not getting too hot. |
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That's
what your trying to achieve, you can see that the wax further back
has dried, in the foreground its still liquid. |
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Once
you are happy that your wax is evenly spread and all areas including
the tip and the tail then get it indoors, somewhere warm for a couple
of hours at least and let the wax impregnate into the base. |
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Now
the hard bit, all that wax you spent ages getting on now has to
be scraped off, wish you hadn't put so much on now huh? tough, get
scraping! You don't want wax on the base, you want it in the base
hence letting it soak. Make your scraping motions along the length
of the board. |
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Once
you think you've got it all off, scrape some more and get some more
off! I find it easier to use the narrow side of the scraper to get
the thick off... |
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....then
switch to the broad side for evening it out. Use you base cleaner
soaked rag from earlier on to clean the old wax from your scraper. |
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You
should then be left with something resembling this, a base full
of wax but a bit scruffy looking. |
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Next
in the process is to add "structure" to the base, and
remove some more of the wax that you didn't get off earlier you
lazy git! The idea of adding the structure is to trap small particles
of water between the snow and your board to act like a bed of ball
bearings for your board to roll on, science eh? |
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Again,
all brushing motions go along the length of the board, going sideways
would be defeating the object.
|
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Leaving
you with a waxed, structured base... |
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....a
quick wipe off with a soft duster to remove the last bits of wax. |
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Hey
presto! cool huh, you can now add your new found talent to your
CV along with reading, riding horses, swimming and cooking (you
lying git) |
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I
like to take this opportunity to give my stick a right good clean
and get annoyed at the scratches that fat gormless skiers have inflicted
with there silly poles in lift queues. Most scratches can be removed
with car polish, heavier scratches can be removed with T-Cut then
car polish. |
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Then
out with the sticker box before returning the bindings to their
rightful home |
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Oh,
and that's all the wax I just lovingly spread all over my base,
be responsible and sweep this stuff up as it makes a right mess
of carpet and if it gets trodden into concrete or is left to blow
about it looks a right mess! |
