SNOWBOARD TUNING - REPAIR & MAINTENANCE
A large part of the existence of a rider incontestably revolves around his Snowboard. However, frequent using of the Snowboard results to damages at Snowboard's Base and Edges ranging from small scratches to major cuts. To minimize this occurrence, you need to take time to keep your board in good condition. In this section, we will provide you with ways to Tune and Maintain your Snowboard.

Home Tuning vs. Board Shops
You will be surprised at all the things you can easily do yourself. All Basic Snowboard Maintenance, Repair and Tuning can be done at home with the right tools. However, if your board has taken serious damage like deep gouges in your base, you're better off leaving the repair to the professionals by bringing it to a Snowboard Shop.

Convex and Concave Base
The base of your Snowboard should be totally flat, not rounded. If your edges are higher than your base, then your base is convex. On the other hand, if the edges are lower than your base, then your base is concave. You can easily check the rounding of your base by placing a flat surface against your Snowboard and checking if there's light coming through the front view of your base.

Convex or concave bases are not that easy to fix. It would be better if you leave these operations to a Snowboarding shop. If you try to do it at home with just files and scrapers, you will probably end up with an uneven surface.

Fixing Burred Edges & Edge Tuning of Snowboards
A Snowboardsard with sharp edges will help you in turns and will improve your general grip and edge control in the Different Snow Surfaces. As you use your Snowboard for longer periods of time, the edges will start to wear off, and become rounded and burred. Edge Maintenance is easy as long as you do it on a regular basis (e.g. every after riding), especially since small imperfections are easier to fix.

Each Snowboard has two edges:
The Base Edge: the metal edge at the base of your Snowboard
The Side Edge: the metal edge at the side of your Snowboard

Keeping your edges in perfect condition can be best done using the following steps:

Deburring
Use a carborundum or diamond stone and drag it from the Snowboard's Tip to the Tail of the edge. Repeat the movement until all nicks and burrs are gone and the edges are smooth again.

Base Edge Tuning
Tuning Edges is best done with a file. Start off with the base edge of the Snowboard. Still, take care with filing. Make sure not to file the base of the board and only file as little as needed.

Side Edge Tuning
After filing the base, you can file the side edges. Use a small file so you won't have a hard time filing the Sidecut of your Snowboard. Special edge files will make it easier to determine the angle that you are filing in.

When it comes to tuning your edges you have a couple of options:

Base edge angle is 0, Side Edge angle is 90 degrees. Most boards come from the shop with these angles leaving you with enough options to change it.

Base edge angle is 0, Side Edge angle is smaller than 90 degrees. This gives you a sharper side edge which will increase your grip on turns in snow. This setting is handy for icy conditions.

Base edge angle is larger than 0 degrees, Side Edge angle is 90 degrees. This dulls your side egde decreasing your grip but increasing your boards grip. It will also make it easier to make turns.

Base Edge angle is larger than 0 degrees, Side Edge angle smaller than 90 degrees. By tuning both edges you can actually maintain the 90 degree in your edge but with a repositioning. Some people find that in this way, they can profit from both effects: more speed and easier turns.