Tuning Tips Guide
What to look for in a Ski or Snowboard Tuning Kit
About RaceWax kits:
- In the first few years we sold tuning kits assembled by other vendors but we became frustrated by the mixed quality or incomplete collection of items.
- We felt a kit should be a complete package in that it should have everything one needed to do the intended job, and it should not have unnecessary "filler" items that you will never use. For example, you may see some kits with an edge tool housing a small file and then a separate 10 inch file included; the 10 inch file serves no function because you can't use it in the guide and you can't use it without a guide. Also you may see some kits with a "deburring tool" that is nothing more than a small square of sandpaper.
- To better serve our customers, we contracted with a local PA company to make a kit bag for us then began to assemble our own kits so we could be sure they were complete, fully useful, and contain quality tools.
- The biggest difference between RaceWax and competitor kits? The first clue is the diamond stone. No other company's kit includes one, only RaceWax. Why is it important? If you use a metal file to sharpen your edges every time you will continue to make the edge thinner and thinner. There is no need to use a file after you have established the edge bevel; after using the file once you should switch to a diamond stone that will sharpen without significant metal removal.
- We want you to have the right tools, so we build our own kits.
What is in the RaceWax kits?
RaceWax kits are assembled at three levels:
- Basic Starter Kit: A stripped down version of our other kits for those that are budget conscious and are looking for the bare essentials but still want quality.
- Quality Kit: Has all the essentials; the main difference being the versatility of the multi-angle edge tool. The quality kit tool has only two side bevel selections and one base bevel. The item list and comparison to the Deluxe kit is detailed in the next section.
- Deluxe Kit: Has all the essentials and more of them. The biggest difference is the multi-angle edge tool that will do every angle you ever will need to do and will last a lifetime. The biggest advantage of having all these bevel angles available is that you can use it to find your current edge bevels and maintain those. Rather than forcing the ski to adapt to the tool, as is when you only have a couple of choices for bevel angles, you have a tool that will adapt to your ski. This becomes even more important if you are tuning skis for men, women, and children, that all may have different bevels recommended.
- Quality/Deluxe Everything Kits: These kits have it all, a tuning kit, iron, vise, brush, and wax. The biggest difference between the kits are which version of tuning kit is included.
Contents breakdown for the Quality and Deluxe kits with comparison notes
- Blue DMT Diamond Stone
- 40 g bar of All Temperature Wax
- Metal Scraper
- Full-Size Gummi Stone
- Large Edge Stone
- File Cleaning Brush
- Clear P-Tex rod
- Black P-Tex rod
- all in a zippered Cordura pouch with lots of pockets.
- Edge Bevel Multi Tool with metal file included
:::The Quality kit has the RB-3607 tool that does 2 different side angles and 1 base angle
:::The Deluxe kit has the RB-3503 tool that will do 20 angles, every angle from 1 deg to 5 deg in 0.5 deg increments both base and side
- and also each kit has a Sharp/Rigid Plexiglass Wax Scraper (knotched on one corner for removing wax from edges)
:::The snowboard kits have a 9 inch scraper
:::The ski kits have a six inch scraper
- and lastly, Ski Brake Retainers
:::Snowboards do not require these and they are not included in the snowboard kits
:::Quality kit has one pair (two) of the strap style retainer
:::Deluxe kit has one pair (two) of the rubber with hook style retainer
What do the tools do?
- edge tool sets angles for boards and skis
- diamond stone is used to maintain edges weekly
- wax is rated for all conditions
- wax scraper removes excess wax that slows skis
- metal scraper and ptex are to repair base gouges
- edge stone is for removal/repair of edge damage by hand before filing
- gummi stone is for edge rust removal, detuning, and burr removal
- file brush used to keep files free of metal waste from edge work
- brake retainer holds the ski brake during edge tuning
Everything kits
These RaceWax kits include:
- Either a ski Quality or Deluxe Kit
- Ski Man vise (very durable)
- Wintersteiger waxing iron (our best seller)
- Full-sized nylon brush (3x5 inches, kits from others are usually 2x3)
- Either one or two large bars of wax (The universal is a good all around wax and the warm-rated wax is great for skiing and also hot-wax-scrape-cleaning)
