Hot Press
to repair small but deep scrapes in the base of your snowboard.

Before you try this trick make sure you are used to working with P-Tex.

Definition - You use the hot press to fill small deep scratches on your board. P-Tex (Polyethylene) candles are used for the Hot Press instead of a more specialized material that is used in most snowboard shops for deep gouges.

This is very similar to using P-Tex to fix a scratch and both techniques are used to repair an abused board.

Tools - Once again, just like the P-Tex move you just learned, you are going to need a p-tex candle, a metal scraper, and something (like a blow torch) to light the candle. However, you are also going to need a Rasp (like they use for wood work) to scrap the excess P-Tex off. You can get one down at Home Depot if you can't find one in your dad's tools.

    If you don't have a torch available you can use a just a household candle. BIC lighters are not recommended because they are not suppose to be lit for over 30 seconds. You also want to be in a well ventilated area, these fumes will get to you.

   Now things get a little different from the P-Tex.

   Once you get a big glob of melted P-Tex it is time for the hot press. Check again real quick to make sure you don't have any black carbon specs.

    Here is the fun part. Take your glob with one hand and your metal scraper with the other. Quickly shove the whole liquid hot glob into your small, deep gouge on the board. Quickly put your metal scraper on top and apply a lot of pressure directly on top of the glob that is now in the gouge.

    WARNING, if there is a lot of P-Tex it may ooze out of the sides of your metal scraper so watch yourself. A P-Tex burn hurts a lot worse then you might think.

    While everything is relatively hot, twist the candle of P-Tex so that it separates from the glob that is now attaching itself to your base.

    You will need to hold the scraper steady with a fair amount of pressure until you feel everything start to cool down. Once everything has cooled down slowly bend the scraper so that it pulls away from the glob and your base. Do this slowly as to not disturb the P-Tex that is now in your snowboard.

    Let the P-Tex dry for a while. A while is a relative term of course but make sure it is the same temperature as your base before you continue with the next step.

    Take your Rasp now and gently start rasping down the miniature mountain of P-Tex that was left on your base. Don't use much pressure because you don't want to pull the whole chunk out.

    After you get the P-Tex level with the rest of your base finish making it smooth with your metal scraper.

    Usually if you did this correctly the P-Tex will stay at least a season, however if your gash was too big/wide/deep to begin with and you just wanted to avoid going to your local shop and paying to get a real fix then you might only get a ride or two, maybe even a day out of it.

    Basically it boils down to if you really gouged your board up you had better pay to have it fixed.

- Wright Hollingsworth

Video Clips P-Tex Backroll 180K

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