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| Tuning Tips: |
For
the optimum experience, it is important to maintain your speed. A thorough
understanding of tuning will further your experience and enjoyment. Imagine
your bases being torn to shreds on tiny ice crystals all day long. In
a day, the quickest world cup base turns from butter to sandpaper. That
is why world cup tuners wax 1 pair of skis more than twenty times for
a single race. Think they go a bit overboard? For our uses, in a word.....yes.
We need to glide, but we dont need to glide faster than 120 other world
class athletes. Or do we?
Lets face it. Boards are not cheap. Do you want to be slower than your bro after
the second day? Dont wax. He will school you. Then after the fifth day, he will
be waiting in the lift line for you. OR... Take 10 minutes each time you go out.
And love your ride the whole season.
THE FACTS:
Edges:
Keep your steel edges sharp and polished. That means: Dont whack your edges
when you are bored sitting on the lift - that creates nicks that will catch an
edge and drop you on your ass. Dry them out at the end of the day so they dont
rust. It is important to keep your edges sharp. Your local tune shop will give
you a professional sharpening for about $10.
Base Work:
Want a smooth ride? Keep your base waxed! Bases should be room temperature
before any repair work is done. Wipe your bases with a terry cloth scrap. Feel
the cloths friction over the board. Look for gouges. If there is a tear in the
base, run a razor blade across it tip to tail. No hangers. Gouges will slow you
down so take your time.
If the gouge goes to the core, time for a p-tex repair. The fastest way to ruin
your board is to ride it with the inner material exposed. Light the p-tex stick
with a lighter while rotating to gain the desired consistency. The p-tex will
acquire a flame of its own origin. Keep spinning. Think welding with honey. Allow
gravity to pull the p-tex deep into the pores of the core. No bubbles. Slightly
over fill. Allow the p-tex to dry for approximately 20 minutes. Use a razor or
Metal Scraper to make the weld flush. Slice tip to tail. A quality effort will
increase speed.
Hot Wax:
The goal here is to fill the pores of your board with wax giving you a smooth
ride, better performance, and of course, SPEED. Place your board on a stable
surface. Adjust your iron to just below smoking. Dont use your Moms iron. Pay
the $11 at Home Depot.
Hold the iron so the hot surface is up with the point towards you. Hover the
iron tip two inches over the board and apply the wax to the hot surface of the
iron. Move the iron lengthwise smoothly dripping a line down the rail 1/4 inch
inside the edge, around the tip, back up the other rail, around the tail, and
back up the center of the board.
Immediately flip the iron, holding it like your Mom would. KEEP THE IRON MOVING.
Remember if you leave a hot iron on your base for more than a few seconds you
are looking at a $300 hole. Now Move the iron from tip to tail, tail to tip.
This will produce one thin film of evenly saturated wax over the base. If one
spot dries faster, drip a little more wax. Pay attention to your contact points.
These are the areas that allow glide. They dry out faster thus needing more wax.
One board should take two minutes from first drip to pristine butter smooth.
Allow the wax to cool. The longer you wait, the better the wax will bond to your
base.
Use the indented edge of your Plastic Scraper to remove the wax from your edges.
Run Scraper at ten degree angle from vertical from tip to tail. You are done
scraping when the base has no excess wax. If you dripped correctly, this should
take five good strength passes along the entire base.
Buff to perfection. |
| Advanced Tuning Tips: |
Advanced Tuning Tips:
Temperature and humidity are two of the primary elements to consider
when tuning your equipment.
Temperature: Cold snow has sharp crystals that embed in the base
and create drag otherwise known as dry friction. Colder temperatures require
a hard ski or snowboard wax to make your base impenetrable to sharp snow
crystals. Purl manufactures a microcrystalline base wax for such conditions. Purl
Microcrystalline waxes show a much finer crystal structure either
as branched carbon chains (figure B) or as ring structures (figure C).
The branched and ring structures give Purl waxes superior adhesion as well
as more flexibility and are therefore more resistant to breakdown from
heat, static, and friction. As snow warms up the crystals become rounder
and wetter requiring a softer ski or snowboard wax for maximum water repellence. Purl
Silicone Microcrystalline wax blends are ideal for wetter snow.
  
Figure A
Humidity: Every manufacturer defines humidity levels by a different scale
but in general it can be defined as such:
Low Humidity: 0 to 40%
Mid Humidity: 41 to 70%
High Humidity: 71 to 100%
If you do not have the right tools to measure humidity levels you can always
revert to the tried and true snowball test for general humidity levels. Make
a snowball and if it falls apart then prepare for low humidity levels. If the
snowball stays together but is not wet then prepare for mid humidity levels.
If the snowball is wet and drips water when you squeeze it prepare for high humidity
levels.
Another factor that will decrease your speed is static friction. The Purl
Graphite blend battles the effects of static friction for that extra
boost of speed. |
| Why Purl does not Manufacure
Fluoros: |
 When Riding in High humidity you will encounter wet
friction or suction, which occurs when the water element in the snow binds
to your base. This bond requires energy to break, and therefore slows you
down. The ski or snowboard wax of choice to negate these effects has been
either a fluorocarbon or a fluorinated wax.
How Fluoros Work
Flourocarbons differ from hydrocarbons in that the fluorine atoms have replaced
the hydrogen in hydrocarbon chains. Fluorine contains a dense layer of electrons
around its nucleus making it one of the most electro negative atoms. A water
molecule also has an electro negative layer around the Oxygen atom. Fluorocarbon
waxes work because the negatively charged portion of the fluorine and the water
molecule repel each other decreasing the possibility of wet friction.
The Challenge
There are several major drawbacks associated with the use of perfluorocarbons (PFC). First of
all, the production of PFC requires a highly toxic and nearly indestructible
chemical called PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid. Once PFCs start degrading
they break back down to PFOAs and are eventually shed into our water streams.
PFOA is a known carcinogen that has not only been linked to cancer, but also
to birth defects and liver damage. Secondly, PFCs are extremely potent greenhouse
gases with a lifetime of up to 50,000 years. In fact, PFCs are known to have
about 6500 times the greenhouse warming potential of carbon dioxide. Toxicity
aside, the performance of fluoro waxes is also temperamental at best. Because
fluorocarbons work through their interaction with liquid water, they tend to
stick in colder snow that has less free moisture. They glide very well in wet
snow but slow you down in dry snow. They lack mechanical strength, break down
easily, and are torn off the base quickly.
The Purl Solution
The Purl Wax development team has introduced a new Silicone
Microcrystalline blend that combines the durability of microcrystalline
with the lubricity of Silicone. Contrary to the mechanical weakness of fluorocarbon
waxes, Silicone - Carbon bonds are particularly stable. The stability of this
bond allows Purl Wax to glide well in a broad range of temperature and humidity
variations. The Purl Silicone Microcrystalline blend offers superior performance
and increased longevity at a fraction of the cost of fluorinated ski and snowboard
waxes. If you are more concerned with the toxic nature of fluoro waxes and would
prefer to get your performance from a healthier source, please check out Purl
Verde Wax Our Verde Waxes are from natural and renewable
resources which are biodegradable and non toxic.
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