The Aluminum Oxide stone; Aluminum Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Alu Oxide stone, Oxide or Oxide stone and sharpening stone are some terms used to refer to a sharpening stone. In contrast to hard natural sharpening stones, this material is man-made.
These stones are made for sanding and polishing steel, something that is called in English “Sand & Gravel” calls. Oxide stones are just as effective as diamond, but are much less aggressive than the much hyped diamond files. In addition, the purchase price is much more pleasant because the material is easier to produce.
Aluminum Oxide is very suitable for deburring your Ski & Snowboard edges. In fact, it is the only “go to”-tool when you base edge wants to set well. Because of the less aggressive effect, you have much less chance that you will scuff your ski or snowboard base. And that is important; because a ski base that is not flat has an irregular drainage, which has a very negative effect on your performance.
Method
Just like filing your Ski or Snowboard the operation is quite “simple”, you start with a rough Aluminum Oxide stone. When filing you will hear a scraping noise on the uneven parts, once that scraping noise is gone, you are done. Then continue with a medium and fine Oxide stone until the edge is razor sharp.
Unlike a normal file, you don't have to worry about the direction of the grind, although we advise you to turn your stone regularly. This way you can avoid one side wearing unevenly.
For your Base Edge you can sand this Oxide stone, by hand, flat against your Ski or Snowboard base. If you want to grind overhanging, you obviously use a Base Edge Tool. For your Side Edge you obviously also use the necessary tool to grind the right angle.
If you don't have such tools yet, and you want the advice of Wax & Board? Then buy a fixed, non-adjustable tool (File Guide) because the "multi-degree" tools wear out quickly and therefore produce incorrect angles. In addition, you must also take into account that these Oxide stones are quite thick, which means that they usually do not fit in those adjustable sharpening tools. Therefore, choose a File Guide with a fixed angle, and a loose clamp.
Grit
Aluminum Oxide stone is made in 3 different “grits”, namely coarse, medium & fine. As just described, you always start with coarse Oxide stones and work your way up to fine.
You can probably guess that there will be some deviation between these categories for each manufacturer, so we would like to provide you with the following guideline:
- Coarse is 150 to 200 Grit
- Medium is 250 to 400 Grit
- Fine is 400 to 800 grit
For proper filing we suggest purchasing a kit with three different grits to achieve optimal results.
If you have experience with sharpening knives, you probably already know that this alone will not give you a razor-sharp edge. For that, you need to finish the sharpening with Whetstones, or natural hard sharpening stones. Think of Ceramic, Arkansas or Translucent.
This is not strictly necessary, but if you want to race, this finish can make a significant difference.
Wear
Because Aluminum Oxide stone is not a hard natural rock, it will of course wear out. How quickly this will happen of course depends on the condition of your Ski or Snowboard. But there is a way to minimize this, namely by moistening these Oxide stones first.
There is specific "Honey" oil on the market that will reduce wear but also e.g. the clogging of the rock. When grinding, small particles are released that creep into your Aluminum Oxide stone after which the effect decreases.
If you can't find this right away, you can also consider WD-40, and if that's not within reach, wet them thoroughly with clean water every few minutes. You can do this by dipping the Aluminum Oxide stone in water until all the air bubbles are gone.
WD-40 and water works slightly less well than the specific “Honey” oil, but it is certainly better than filing dry.
