Serious Edge and Base damage help

Hey guys,

On a recent trip to Colorado, I took my board trhough some memorable runs to say the least, long story short with the lower then normal snow years, rocks toke a toll on my 2012 Lib Tech Banana Magic (gotta say its a amazing board overall conditions from ice to pow) but anyway durring the 5 day trips my base and edges took a beating so I was fixing up my base with ptex and waxing in the hotel also filing the edges because of all the damage from the rocks. Now that I’m back I want to try to get the board back to some what good shape, and I got a few questions, first other then shorting the life of the board is there any downside to filing it more then normal to get all the deep burrs/scratces out? Also with as much edge I’m taking off do I have to worry about the flatness of the base meaning since the edges are being filed down does that mean the middle of the board is thicker then the sides? If so how would I go about making it perfectly straight again, and I know I can take it to a local shop but I like doing my own work on my board. Any tips, suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hey Lester,

Honestly, if the damage is considerable, the best thing you could do if take it in for a full tune. They will fill in the damage (they use a p-tex gun which stops the p-tex from oxidising, thus giving it a much better chance of staying in), get your edges looking brand new, but most importantly they will base grind your base; exposing a new base layer, flattening the base, and removing all imperfections.

Assuming you don’t though… use a diamond stone on the edge first, to remove all the burrs. Once the burrs are removed, use a file with file guide to sharpen the edge. I’m assuming you’re going to sharpen both the base and side edges. This is all fine but here’s the thing; it’s impossible to sharpen the base edge without removing some p-tex base material. What you end up with is a slightly beveled base near the edges. This might also be fine; it might only be minimal and you might not even feel it. But this is where a base grind would be necessary to make your base flat again.

If you’ve fixed the p-tex damage and sharpened your edges successfully, you can either leave it and ride it, or just get the store to do a base grind only (saving you money on the full tune). I would probably suggest you base grind your board every 100 days or so anyway, to prevent a base high or edge high profile.

Let me know if you have any questions.

The following is taken from this article: https://www.boardworld.com.au/snowboarding/content/category/snowboard-tuning-shop-services/

Base Grinding

During a full service, grinding the base is a very important step in getting your board to perform at its optimum. Snowboard bases should be flat. Poor performance is a result of base high base (convex) and edge high bases (concave). It is essential to get the base and the edge level and on the same plane. We achieve this through grinding with a belt or stone grinder or a combination of both.

A base high snowboard is unstable and difficult to control as the edges are not in contact with the snow when level.

An edge high snowboard is where the edges stand higher than the base has the opposite effect of a base high board. It is difficult to turn and feels like the board wants to track too much (i.e. stuck in grooves).

A base grind not only achieves a level base and edge configuration, but it also places a structure on the base. A structure on the base is essential to reduce drag and friction. Your board is basically riding on a thin film of water produced from friction between the board’s base and the snow. In wet snow we have too much water therefore we want a structure that will repel water and push it away from the base. We achieve this by having a deeper structure. Here the extra air sitting in the pockets of the structure force the water out and away reducing suction. In cold snow we have the opposite happening and as a result only need a fine structure.

Glad I asked, really appreciate the info