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Any DIYer will find years of usefulness for an array of gear and home projects, repairs and maintenance out of Big Gator Hand Drill & Tap Guides. They can be used on flat surfaces (like skis & snowboards), corners and round items (like ski poles and bike frames). With or without clamping, these handy guides should be in every DIYers toolbox.

Big Gator Tools was established in 2005 and is now marketing the most universal patented drill and tap guides ever sold. Guides are made from a special nickel alloyed steel that is heat-treated and ground along bottom surface to assure stability and accurate perpendicular alignment on flat surfaces. All guides have a 90 degree V-groove along the bottom that allows perpendicular alignment on round parts as well as corners.

TAP GUIDES: Holes are sized for ANSI Standard and Metric Ground Thread Taps.

Standard V-TapGuides can handle tap sizes: ( 0-80, 1-64, 1-72, 2-56, 2-64, 3-48, 3-56, 4-36, 4-40, 4-48, 5-40, 5-44, 6-32, 6-36, 6-40, 8-32, 8-36, 8-40, 10-24, 10-32, ¼-20, ¼-28, 5/16-18, 5/16-24, 3/8-16, 3/8-24, 7/16-14, 7/16-20, ½-13, ½-20, 5/8-11, 5/8-18)

Metric V-TapGuides can handle tap sizes: ( 1.6mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 16mm)

STI TAP GUIDES: (Screw Thread Inserts)

STI-UNC V-TapGuides can handle standard ground STI hand tap sizes: (Unified Coarse Threads: 9/16-12, 1/2-13, 7/16-14, 3/8-16, 5/16-18, 1/4-20, 12-24, 10-24, 8-32, 6-32)

STI-UNF V-TapGuides can handle standard ground STI hand tap sizes: (United Fine Threads: 5/8-18, 9/16-18, 1/2-20, 7/16-20, 3/8-24, 5/16-24, 1/4-28, 10-32, 8-36)

DRILL GUIDES:

Standard V-DrillGuides are made for 17 standard drill sizes: (1/8 to 3/8 in 1/64 increments) Covers all the drill sizes in a standard 3/8 drill index except drill sizes smaller than 1/8”. Heat treated for durability like drill bushings. It’s like having a portable drill press anywhere! Straight perpendicular alignment wherever you go.

Metric V-DrillGuides can handle drill sizes: 3, 3.3, 3.5, 4, 4.2, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 6.8, 7, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9, 9.5mm

Here is a video from Tom Hintz, owner/publisher of NewMetalworker.com made this video as part of an independent review of the Big Gator Drill and Tap Guides. (Please note that the tap guides do not need to be clamped in place like in the video to hand tap.)

For additional information also see: Drill and Tap Guides for Hand Drilling

Now that you skimmed the pond due to proper waxing and technique (and hopefully not your good gear) , it’s usually a sign for most that it’s time to put your boards in storage.

Following is a recent bulletin from Toko:

TECH BULLETIN
Source: Toko Brand Management Office, Heber City, UT info@TokoUS.com 866-TOKO-USA

Here are Toko’s recommendations for storage waxing of skis. First clean the
skis well. This can be done with wax remover or by simply brushing the bases
out well with a copper brush depending on how dirty they are. Then drip on a
generous amount of NF or LF Red. Iron it in making sure that there is enough
wax to provide a thick layer on the base and that the iron is hot enough to ensure
a good bond between the wax and the base. This ironing procedure is normal,
but sometimes a person rushes through storage waxing and the wax is not really
heated outside of that it becomes liquid. The ski bases often times don’t even
become warm. This will result in air between the base and the ski and less
protection.
Red is our choice for storage waxing as Blue is so hard that it is more difficult to
make sure that there is no air between the ski and base and Yellow is so soft that
it gets “eaten away” quicker. NF or LF Red is perfect because their consistency
is perfect.
If waxing Alpine skis, slop the wax over the edges and cover them too.
A SUMMARY:
1. Brush skis out well with Copper Brush
2. Iron in System3 Red or LF Red making sure adequate wax is used and
that the wax is heated in well.

See the Toko Information Center for more tips and helpful hints.

In addition to the aforementioned rationale for using a medium temperature wax versus soft/warm temperature wax for storage, it is more likely that it will be appropriate for the initial snow temps you’ll encounter next fall than the soft. In the fall/early winter, for those wishing to minimize extra steps, time and expense, you might be good to go by simply scraping, brushing.

Side wall removal is necessary to allow the edge cutting tools to cut or polish the edges. If you are seeing plastic in your files or stones, it’s time for you to remove the side wall where the top of the side edge meets the side of your boards (see image upper left). The SkiMan Ergo Razor Side Wall Planer works basically the same as variations and it’s cousins branded under several ski and snowboard tuning tool companies.

If disassembled, simply put the post in the hole in the planer body and tighten with the knob or included hex wrench so it looks like this:

You can flip the direction of the blade for pulling on the left or right side. The knob also controls the in and out location of the blade to position it relative to where the edge meets the side wall. The two screws on top are for setting the height. The blade should just skim/plane the side wall in thin slices. Adjust deeper as needed and as you use repetitive strokes. If it skips, it’s cutting too much and you need to back off.

The blade post can accept either a round blade or a rounded square for optimal planing depending on side wall shape. The hex wrench can be used to replace or rotate the blade to a fresher and sharper cutting edge.

After planing you may wish to touch up the planed area with a fine file, sandpaper and/or tex pad.

For more side wall planing and cutting tips, see: Planing and Cutting Back SideWalls.

Updated: 4/7/13 for additional information.

Newsletter 04/04/13

The most noteworthy recent additions, changes and news include:

Another snow season went zipping by in a flash. Hopefully, you were able to take advantage of whatever snow conditions were available and definitely tapped those precious powder days. We did and snuck out often between store and customer priorities which left little time for newsletters up until now. With the snow melting, our bikes, hiking boots, boats and camps beckoning it’s been long overdue for us to touch bases.

Spring Snow Conditions: A real challenge to good glide during highly variable conditions is providing good base structure to channel water and hitting a balance between a durable wax that also runs well. A coarse structure and a low fluoro wax really helps a consistent glide when riding over all the various snows you might encounter. Here is but one Tips Blog post on the subject: Prepping for Sweet Corn & Crust

Putting your Boards to Bed: We’re not ready yet and hopeful for some spring ascents, but for those storing your skis and snowboards, don’t forget to perform repairs, tune the edges and seal the bases with wax. Check out: Putting Your Boards to Bed

Binding Mounting: One simple tool we added is a Boot Sole Center Gauge

This can be used to measure your boot soles and placed on your skis to verify BSC location. In addition, we spent a fair amount of testing various boot positions with an adjustable binding to see how truly different locations on the ski affect performance. It’s been interesting and more on that topic will be in the future. So please keep checking our Tips Blog posts.

Briko-Maplus Race Base Medium: Due to several requests for smaller quantities of one of our tried and true, super durable and universal favorites, we have prepared 120gr bars for sampling and purchasing. Be sure to check out the Briko-Maplus Waxing Manual for excellent tips and base prep background.

Site Changes: FYI we have gone through a major behind the scenes revamping of our page links and simplified our category structure. We have hopefully redirected older links to current pages. If you find any links that are not working, please let us know so we can correct the stragglers.

Here is our list of Sale and Clearance Items ranging from 10 to 60% off!. Free shipping in the US for orders over $100.

The ever popular & versatile Cinch Ski & Snowboard Vise is 30% off as are Toko Low Fluoro waxes, among other deals.

Bike Tool Deals: To help you get your bikes in top form, here is a Coupon code for an additional 20% off Code: NL043013BK on popular ParkTool and top drawer Var bike tools.

Client Rewards: To accrue and redeem your 5% Client Rewards points, you need to login to your account before checkout. You may have redeemable points ‘in the bank’ and you will need to login to double check and utilize them. You can also use your login to check on order status along with past orders..

Please let us know if there you have questions or know of products that could be a good fit to our store, so we can offer you and others more options!

Best regards and Thanks for your continued support!

Terry Ackerman

SlideWright LLC

Along with Tips, News & Techniques, past Newsletters can be found in our Weblog where you can subscribe to the RSS Feed.

FAQ

One of life’s simple pleasures is getting out for skate skiing, touring or making turns on a warming bluebird day, with an inch or so of wet sweet corn on firm crust or solid base. Spring & summer predawn hikes on crust to harvest morning corn is right up there.

The best corn comes after a freeze of transformed, wet snow from the day before. The snow is no longer flakes or crystals, but saturated ice ‘kernels’ known as frozen corn. Depending on timing, aspect and other factors, this can start out like a coral reef, a very abrasive crust, sun-cupped, or ‘icy’, among other consistencies. As it melts and transforms again to wet corn, how do you prepare your boards to perform well all day in these variable conditions?

If you wax with a warmer & softer wax for the warmer, wet conditions, you can easily wear off the wax on highly abrasive, colder snows, while you wait for conditions to moisten and soften (or not). If you wax with cold wax, you may miss out on the best glide and enjoyment when it becomes prime time.

One option is to simply wait until conditions soften and you hit it when the conditions are best and wax accordingly. This may be easier said than done for some and as the unreliable weather can change, this plan may backfire.

We’ve found the best balance between ideal wax temperatures for glide and abrasive snows is to start with an aggressive base structure, wax with a very durable mid and broad temperature base liquid or solid wax like Briko-Maplus Race Base Medium, and top it with a warm temp Low Fluoros like Briko-Maplus Universal Hot or LP2 or Toko Dibloc LF.

The base structure doesn’t seem to matter relative to the coarse, frozen snow, but makes a huge difference when the snow becomes saturated by channeling water and reducing suction. The durable base wax provides a longer and better protection for the bases and runs very well in a wide range of condition if the softer wax wears off. Depending on how the day goes, the LF wax may be perfect for the entire day and will provide an extra bump in glide.

Additionally, since it is a softer wax, it can easily be reapplied if desired or necessary by crayoning/rubbing on solids, wiping on cream/paste or liquids, or spraying (most convenient and durable option) high-melt waxes and then corking and polishing with a brush.

(Minor revisions & updated links 3/26/13)

With the new season fast approaching with expectations of much more snow than last year, here is the 2012-13 Briko-Maplus Wax and Tool catalog. As with all of our tools and supplies, if it is not found in our store we probably can order it for you. So drop us a line if you have questions or are looking for something.

Here is the Briko-Maplus Waxing Manual for detailed instructions for waxing applications. This covers hot, liquid, powder & grip waxing from recreational to elite racers. waxing

Updated: 2/15/13