After about 15 days on icy east coast groomers (no rails/boxes), I'm finding my 09 SL-R washing out too easily on sketchy ice patches. I'm considering getting my edges sharpened because i mostly freeride, and it's usually on icy groomers.

My 2 concerns are:

1) When edges are sharpened, do they actually shave away at the metal? If so, is there a limited number of times i could get my edges sharpened? How often do you guys sharpen your edges, or at least recommend getting them sharpened?

2) I've heard sharpening edges can completely throw off the feel of the board in a bad way (probably because of the increased responsiveness)... is this something that would most likely affect beginners? Or could it change the way I feel/ride for a while?

P.S. Has anyone gotten their edges sharpened at the Repair Center on the Vernon base of Mountain Creek? Any feedback? I feel like congruent with all the other things that Mtn. Creek does, it'd be a rip off and half assed...

[Edited by JoonHo on 2/22/2009 at 6:19 PM]

There is only one edge you really maintain on a snowboard and that is the side edge. When people refer to sharpening the side edge they usually mean just polishing it up with a diamond stone that will make it sharper without removing metal. You should do this at least after every third day out. You can do it yourself and you should learn how to it's idiotically simple. Once a season I may actually take a file to the side edge and remove a fair amount of metal and reset the edge, but I find this rarely necessary and I ride 70 days a year East Coast. 

...or you can just use one of the cheap standard quick tune edge sharpeners (...you're also going to need a grinding stone of some sort for hand grinding tough spots).  Zumiez has cheap edge sharpeners for $4.  They you the option of 90 or 88 degrees. 

sharpening really is super simple - just run your finger along the side edge (not base edge) and feel for protruding rough spots.  These tiny protrusions are "case hardened" metal that need to be gently ground down with the stone (sharpener won't do it and will just get dull if attempted).  Then, with the base facing away from you, lightly pull the sharpener along the edge only until it's sharp (check the edge with your finger after every pull).  This should only shave an extremely slim amount of metal every time you tune.

don't worry about your edges diminishing - that's what they're there for and why they give you so much metal in the first place.  Ride hard / tune often.

So what exactly are the bare minimum requirements for maintaining a sharp and fresh edge without messing with the base and edge bevels?

a) diamond stone for spot deburring - should always be used with an edge bevel guide?
b) cheap standard edge sharpeners
c) edge bevel guide?

Basically, i want to use the diamond stone with the edge bevel guide and deburr spots where necessary? then use those 4$ edge sharpener tools and give the edge several up and downs?

Try detuning the tip and tail to help the board feel less catchy and weird. Sharp edges under your feet are nice. :)

Find the contact points and use a file around any part of the nose and tail that doesn't touch the snow. Lightly detune 1-2" past the contact points using a diamond stone with soft pressure.