Last season I (finally) started attempting rails and board slides on the boxes and the like. someone I was snowboarding with commented that I should have my edges de-tuned if i am going to keep practicing the board slides.
should i have my edges de-tuned? (and what does that mean?)

Hey Mark,

There may soon be an article on this site that will answer all your questions.
We talked a lot about these things in another topic.

The topic called "tuning shop services"

http://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/123/

Hey Mark,

Detuning is the rounding of the board's edge at certain points or areas. Most commonly we detune the contact points (see http://www.boardworld.com.au/content/category/board-characteristics/ to see a diagram of where the contact points are) to make the snowboard less 'catchy' when initiating a turn, which minimises the chance of catching an edge. This is done by using a gummy stone, diamond stone, file etc..

Detuning has advantages and disadvantages; it can be done to varying degrees and for different reasons. Detuning your edge reduces the chance of catching an edge and makes the board overall more forgiving. However it also removes your edge, which will reduce the amount of edge hold you have.

A lot of snowboarders who regularly ride rails will detune their edges in the area between their bindings, to enable the board to slide over rails with minimal risk of the edge digging in. Of course, proper technique will also stop this from happening. How much you detune your edge is ultimately up to you and what you feel a need for. Have you been having any problems with your edge digging in during boardslides? If not I would suggest detuning your edge isn't entirely necessary. You should only detune your edge as much as you need, any more will reduce overall edge hold for riding for no reason. Personally I only very slightly detune my edges between the bindings, reducing the chance of catching an edge on rails, but also keeps more than enough edge for riding on the mountain.

With detuning, definataly start small first, especially if you only have one snowbaord. Once you file that edge away, there is nothing you can do to get it back. Next time you take your snowboard in for a tune, ask them to put a slight bevel on the base edge (maybe start with 2 degrees). This lifts the edge off the snow/rail to a small degree, enabling the snowboard to slide over rails with greater ease, but also keeps a sharp point for holding an edge.

There will be more articles in the tuning section soon. In particular there will be one from Darren Morgan, the tuning technician at STM. He goes into great detail about edges and bevels.

If you a have any more question on this please let me know.

wait for that bevel article before you go ruining your edges with an oldschool file... bevel is super important. i know cats who ride a reallll mellow bevel with super sharp edges and jib with the best of them...

i ride alot more jibs than i do jumps, and rode w/ semi-sharp edges allll year. Tuned it once (Kyle, blackcomb tuning under carleton lodge, only guy who does magna well IMO) and never looked back. To this day I havn't caught edge unless it was doing something with improper technique (check out my switch front tails next time youre int he terrain garden if youre looking to see someone bail incessently... still cant get that slide pressed properly..) <--- if you dont press, dont committ, dont know wtf youre doing (like me with S.FStail), you will catch edge, sharp or not

happy jibbing!

thanks guys, big help.
i am reluctant to grind away the edges if i can never get them back (and yeah i only have the one board).
much better to focus on technique i think
- thanks

Good call. Next time you get your board tuned ask for a 2 degree base edge bevel. This will give you a bit of clearance for sliding rails and I doubt you will even notice a difference for normal riding. We should have the article with bevels up within a week.

Base bevel is more important and more effective than taking a file to your board's edge. A lot of good jib boards come with a standard base bevel of 3 degrees.