Tuning Kits.

[Mxjas38]

I am looking to get a tuning kit to start tuning my own boards (Since they seem to be multiplying)

Any sugestions?

I am considering this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DAKINE-2011-Super-Tune-Ski-Snowboard-Wax-Iron-Kit_W0QQitemZ290499407636QQcategoryZ62170QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp5197.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5215824024658230854

Thanks

[knobnose]

Check out www.tognar.com. They have everything you could possibly need plus how to advice and videos.

[pokkis]

http://www.tooltonic.com/coffrets.asp

[queequeg]

I would skip the kit, and buy the things you need individually if you really want to tune at home and get good results. You'll end up spending (a lot) more money that way, but get far better results. Most kits seem to be made up of a bunch of really low quality tools that just won't get the job done. If you're doing a bunch of boards, having good tools is more important, because you will want to be able to work quickly and effectively. Probably not what you want to hear, but I have yet to see a kit that includes everything you need to get the job done and was not generally made up of substandard tools.

The first thing you should get if you want to do your own tuning is a pair of decent Vises. I tuned without vices for years: it is a pain and your results will suffer. Get done faster and better with a pair of Vices:

These are the vices I use:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11018058

You'll want a cheap iron (there's one for $40 on this page):

http://www.tognar.com/wax_tools_hot_irons_corks_brushes_ski_snowboard.html

If you know what bevels you want on your edges (I do 0.5 and 3) then I would recommend getting a fixed bevel tool over a multi-angle tool. Fixed tools just seem to do a better job and they're simpler to work with. You'll need a base and a side beveler:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11020344

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11020518

You'll need a clamp to hold files/stones to your side bevel tool:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=10311223

I like these files, but cheaper ones can be had:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11017761

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11017779

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11017787

And these diamond stones:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=11020195

You can save a little money with these diamond stones instead:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=10395374

You'll need a scraper:

http://www.tognar.com/wax_tools_hot_irons_corks_brushes_ski_snowboard.html

I like this thing for keeping my scraper sharp, even though it is riddiclously overpriced.

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=10801843

And a Brush:

http://www.reliableracing.com/detail.cfm?edp=10920726

And of course, you'll need wax. I like the Dominator Waxes. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, but this list should get you started with a good set of tools to tune a bunch of boards at home.

[bjvircks]

the price of everything queequeg lists comes to $365 (on sale items and 3 low priced diamaond stones) $478 (regular price and 3 high prices diamond stones)

That is pretty steep for someone just starting to putter around with tuning. While dedicated high quality tools are definitely the way to go for the serious hobby tuner committed to consistent great results... perhaps starting out with a lower dollar basic kit and every year add a high quality piece or two might be a way for someone to figure out if tuning their own gear is what they want to do.

If you had to budget $80 a year for tuning equipment, what would you buy and when? What low cost alternatives are available? What premium pieces would you get?

365....478....total

..59....89....vise set

..40....40....iron

..80....80....base bevel

..35....35....side bevel

....5......5....clamp

..15....19....file fine

..15....15....file med

..15....15....file coarse

....9....32....diamond stone fine

....9....32....diamond stone med

....9....32....diamond stone coarse

..14....14....scraper

..30....40....scraper sharpener

..30....30....brush

[queequeg]

the price of everything queequeg lists comes to $365 (on sale items and 3 low priced diamaond stones) $478 (regular price and 3 high prices diamond stones)

It's true: If you were to buy all that kit at once, you'd be spending a ton of money in one big shot. You wouldn't have to start with all that stuff. There's a lot of other little bits and pieces that I didn't mention, but if you want a *good* set of essential tools, that's the list I would begin with. You could certainly pare it down a bit to get started inexpensively and then add to it as you go:

I'd say the clamps and iron are pretty much mandatory. Those clamps are a steal at the price listed, they're usually like $100.

You could save some money with a cheaper base bevel, or go with an inexpensive side multi-angle bevel tool. I did, originally but I ultimately decided that dedicated set-angle tools were the way to go, so those cheaper tools ended up being somewhat of a waste of money. This is the area that I would feel compelled to do the *least* amount of saving. I switched to fixed tools recently and was surprised what a difference it made.

You could skip the fine and bastard files and just start with the medium file, or skip the diamond stones for now and get three inexpensive files, that go from Bastard to fine. You can get less expensive files that will work just fine, I like the fancy swix files but you certainly can do well without them.

The scraper sharpener is totally un-neccessary, but convenient.

You could shave some bucks off that way to start. The problem I see with the kits and other substandard tools is that they end up being a waste of money in the long term, if you are serious about tuning at home - you just end up replacing them with tools that are better and easier to use - so why not just buy those in the first place?

[bjvircks]

Queequeg

You make really good points about the benefits of quality equipment.

Here is a different perspective. I just got back home from the ice rink. My wife and I play at speed skating. We talked with a parent who brought his son to practice. They had bought the kid high-end boots and really nice blades. They had also bought a quality sharpening jig, several stones, polishing/finishing stuff, a nice gage, etc.

There was no real need for the family buy so much high quality sharpening gear as other locals are happy to share. (Heck, we have 2 jigs & stones leftover from competitions/club years ago)

My point here is that sometimes we dive in deep and spend large amounts of money on things that turn into dust collectors and only take up shelf space. There is a very good chance that the kid will abandon the sport (based on what I see of his interest and the parents interactions).

How does this relate to tuning your own snowboards? I know that the only thing I need to do is occasionally bring my edges back a bit and hot wax/scrape. For my limited needs the adjustable base/edge tool is good enough. For hot waxing I use an iron I bought at a Good Will store for next to nothing. I found I just don't like to muck around with in depth tuning work on a consistent basis. This is just not for me. I've got 6 boards and 2 sets of skis. Wife's got 2 boards and 1 set of skis. We are just not that into heavy duty upkeep.

What would I want today? A nice set of vises and a proper work surface! If you know that you are the type of person who is serious about following thru on big-time tuning your boards and have the means... go for it! Few things are more satisfying than doing a job well.

[pokkis]

Good points, most of people just need some basic tools to sharpen edges easily and to get good result.

I have used this one as many of my friends and this is one of those money best spend, specially it is so freaking effective but also so small that you can keep it on you pocket or packpack and use it if there is need.

http://www.tooltonic.com/tuningFile.asp

[bjvircks]

pokkis

Yes, like to bring with on trips. I don't bring to the hill but leave back at condo. Great for touch-ups. A few years ago I had a file confiscated by TSA! They were afraid I would use the pointed tail as a poker. If I had been thinking... I would have just snapped off the tail and handed it to the guy!

[pokkis]

Normally when i'm on larger resort, where condition is not soft, i'll have that file allways on my side pocket, justin case i or some one else need sharp edges. That damn thing is so small but so functional that i dont even notice it there, length of file is 1.5 inch

[queequeg]

Queequeg

You make really good points about the benefits of quality equipment.

Here is a different perspective. I just got back home from the ice rink. My wife and I play at speed skating. We talked with a parent who brought his son to practice. They had bought the kid high-end boots and really nice blades. They had also bought a quality sharpening jig, several stones, polishing/finishing stuff, a nice gage, etc.

There was no real need for the family buy so much high quality sharpening gear as other locals are happy to share. (Heck, we have 2 jigs & stones leftover from competitions/club years ago)

My point here is that sometimes we dive in deep and spend large amounts of money on things that turn into dust collectors and only take up shelf space. There is a very good chance that the kid will abandon the sport (based on what I see of his interest and the parents interactions).

How does this relate to tuning your own snowboards? I know that the only thing I need to do is occasionally bring my edges back a bit and hot wax/scrape. For my limited needs the adjustable base/edge tool is good enough. For hot waxing I use an iron I bought at a Good Will store for next to nothing. I found I just don't like to muck around with in depth tuning work on a consistent basis. This is just not for me. I've got 6 boards and 2 sets of skis. Wife's got 2 boards and 1 set of skis. We are just not that into heavy duty upkeep.

What would I want today? A nice set of vises and a proper work surface! If you know that you are the type of person who is serious about following thru on big-time tuning your boards and have the means... go for it! Few things are more satisfying than doing a job well.

You bring up plenty of great points too - a lot of people spend a ton of money on gear when they're just getting into a sport, only to abandon it later on (and then they end up with a pile of kit in their closet just mocking them). I did try out some other tools before I settled on what I use now (mostly balking at the price, and not being sure what edge bevels I was going to settle on), and I was happy with the tools I had at the time until a friend at ECES last year showed me the results he got with different tools; so I totally agree that satisfactory results can be had with lesser tools. I get a lot of pleasure from getting good out of results of tedious tasks like tuning, so I probably have a bias. That said: I do feel like you can work faster with the fixed side/base beveler if only because it is so much faster to switch/brush/oil files and stones since you don't have to unscrew anything.

I think speed-skating looks wonderfully fun - my dad used to do it when he was going to college in VT.

I do think those tooltonic sharpeners are ingeneously designed. I used to use a multi-angle tool that used ruby stones etc ... but the problem with it is that the more I used it the more the stones would get rutted out, making the tool pretty inaccurate I imagine. So you had to constantly move the stone around to keep things flat ... huge pain in the ass. I assume the sharpening discs rotate as you cut/polish thus maintaining their flatness while also getting metal debris out of the way while working - very clever.

[Terryw]

You might want to take a look at Rays Way tools too. Not very expensive, but very useful. They are my tools of preference most of the time, even though I own the files, diamond files, fixed degree side bevel, etc... Easy to screw up a board with a file the first time you start tuning. Play with a junk board the first time. You will be glad.

http://www.alpineskituning.com/

Don't forget to check out the tips on tuning over at carvers almanac. Great info.

http://www.alpinecarving.com/tuning.html

By the way my favorite tool from Ray is the Wax Wizard. Love that for a fast wax without the scraping.

[Mxjas38]

Wow, so many techniques, and tools to choose from.

Thanks for the advice

[D.T.]

I'd say the clamps and iron are pretty much mandatory.

skip the iron and get a wax whizard...

IMO - buy the pieces you want/need rather than a prepackaged kit

[*Ace*]

Check Wintersteiger depending on your budget, haha.

[lafcadio]

Hey queequeg,

Do base edge bevel tools like "Final Cut" need to be used with a clamp or are the clamps only required for side edge bevels?

Thanks!