DIY Ski and Snowboard Waxing and Edge Tuning with VOLA tools.

Frequent waxing and edge sharpening of skis or snowboards isn’t just for racers and pros – everyone from beginners to expert will have a much more enjoyable experience with freshly waxed and tuned gear – you'll be safer and perform better. In this article we’ll explore the VOLA DIY range of ski and snowboard waxes and tuning tools and show you how it’s a lot easier than you might think to do it yourself at home - when you have the right gear. 

In this article we’ll cover: 

• VOLA Ski and snowboard wax 

• VOLA Ski and snowboard base and side edge tuning tools 

• A DIY guide to using your VOLA DIY waxing and tuning products to keep your skis or snowboard in top condition. 

Waxing has two functions. It helps your skis or snowboard glide freely over the snow, and it also helps to protect the base from rocks and grit.

Ideally you should wax your skis after every day on the slopes for optimal performance. In particular icy conditions strip wax off fast, and slushy spring conditions need fresh wax to stop your skis grabbing the warm wet snow. 

Ski and snowboard wax comes in a variety of different forms: solid bars, liquid, powder and sprays. However in this article we’ll deal with the solid bars of ‘hot wax’ that are most applicable to DIY ski and snowboard tuners. 

Solid ‘hot wax’ comes in different types for different snow conditions from very cold icy snow to warm spring slush. A universal wax like VOLA MX E-Wax is a non-fluoro wax that covers most conditions. Using a non-flouro wax is good for the environment because flouro-carbons are poisonous and can potentially harm wildlife. 

If you’re not sure what type of wax you need just ask us at Outside Sports in Wanaka or Queenstown and we’ll be able to advise you. 

You need to hold your skis or board securely when you’re waxing and tuning – upside down for waxing and on their sides for edge tuning. You can make a DIY holder like this one or much better invest in a SWIX ski and board vise like this one, which can attach to any workbench or table. 

Ski brakes need to be held up and out of way using a thick elastic band - or at a pinch, a bit of old bike innertube or a stretch tie. 

Your bases need to be clean and free of any embedded grit. Use VOLA wax remover to clean your bases of old wax.  

Quality skis like those we sell at Outside Sports have ‘sintered’ bases, where the polyethylene base material is slightly porous. That porosity grips the wax, but can also trap dirt, which is why we need to use cleaner before we wax.  

After you’ve applied the cleaner give your bases a brush over with a VOLA horsehair base brush to pick up any left-over scraps of wax or grit. 

If you want to get super technical you can condition the bases with a Vola brass brush with makes tiny grooves in the base for better wax adhesion. 

Once your bases are clean and your skis are held firmly and securely you can fire up your VOLA waxing iron and get started.  

Waxing takes around 15 minutes and there are three main steps: 

1. Apply the wax onto the bases 

2. Spreading the wax 

3. Scrapping off the wax 

4. Polishing 

To apply the wax to your bases hold the end of block onto the bottom of your wax iron so that the wax melts and drips onto the base. You want to drip a line of wax all the way along the centre of the ski. Snowboards being a lot wider will need two or three parallel lines of wax to get complete coverage.Don’t go to thick – we want to end up with a very thin film of wax on the base. 

Unlike a clothes iron, a ski wax iron has a flat base has a temperature range suited to ski wax 

Once you have your line of wax drips, take your iron and pass it slowly along the base to spread the wax evenly from tip to tail and edge to edge, then let the wax cool for 10 or 15 minutes until its cold to the touch. 

The part is where you’ll welcome the firm hold the vise has on your skis or board because you need to put a decent amount of effort into scraping. Using a VOLA wax scraper – either metal or plastic - scrape from tip to tail until it looks like there’sno wax left!! 

But there actually will be plenty of wax in the base thanks to the sintering! Make sure to keep the scraper completely flat across the base and be careful not to gouge it with the corner of the scraper. Remember to scrape excesswax off the side edges too. 

The final step is polishing the base with a VOLA polishing brush which is a little softer than the cleaning brush. Polish in long even strokes from tip to tail. Your polished bases should look lovely and glossy.  

Edge tuning is divided into two parts. Side edges and base edges. For the purposes of DIY tuningwe’re going to talk about side edge tunning along the sidewalls of your skis or snowboard. Depending on the hardness of the snow you’re dealing with you should side edge tune every four to eight days on the snow.  

Note: Always tune your edges and brush off traces of metal filings BEFORE you wax

Edge tuning is a fascinating and engrossing topic with lots of room for experimenting with edge angles and de-tuning portion of the edge. Tuning in general is specific to the type of skiing you like to do, the type of skis you have, and of course the snow conditions.  

Basically the sharper the edge angle, the greater the edge hold. The best angle for you depends on your skiing preferences. For everyday skiing on and off trail sideedge angles of 88–90°give you a nice a balance of grip and forgiveness. If you’remainly skiing the groomers 88° will give you decent hold on hardpack without feeling too hooky. For the early season when it tends to be icy,87°gives you nice degree of bite intohard snow.  If you like going into the terrain park to slide rails and boxes 89–90°is a good choice – but you might want to detune the tips and tails with to avoid them catching. Racers typically go as sharp as 85–86° for maximum grip at high speeds, but they are probably going to be tuning their skis everyday.  

Base edges are generally either flat or very mildly bevelled at 0.75°. 

VOLA have you covered with everything you need to tune your side edges at home. 

The VOLA Easy Sharp edge tuner is a simple to use tool that let’s you easily select edge angles between 90° and 87°. It comes with files and the holder with built in angles. 

The VOLA Edge Razor takes you to the next level with a motorised side edge tuning tool for precision tuning. 

Finallywe come to base edge tuning. The VOLA Base Edge Basic 0.75° is designed to sharpen and bevel ski base edges with a consistent angle of 0.75°. Its durable construction and ergonomic handle give you precise control and make it nice and easy to use at home.  

By the way you’ll need something to clean the metal shavings from your edge files. The VOLA wire brush is tailor made for the job. 

The VOLA Tuning Kit Plus is the easy way to get started tuning your skis and snowboards at home. The kit comes with: 

• 1 Edgerazor 

• 1 Club 88° square 

• 1 file 200mm 

• 1 file 150mm 

• 1 stone diamond 600 

• 1 nylon brush 

• 1 plastic scraper 3mm 

• 1 file card 

• 2 ski brake elastics