I couldn't believe how much work it took to shape and abraid the UHMW sidewalls on my first board. It was definitaly worth it though. It's heavy stuff, so use sparingly for impact, compression, or dampening locations. You have to flame treat this stuff just right to make it adhere. Most people reccomend by cm/s with a particular flame so much distance from the UHMW after its been abraided. I just go by sight and feel after having practiced on a couple of scrap pieces. You can see the stuff that peels off from sanding/filing start to carbonize and then evaporate if you watch it closely while torching it. Then you back off enough to get a consistent carbonization based on your speed, flame distance, and angle(you may have to shield around corners of already treated surfaces to avoid ruining them). You should be able to rub your finger across the surface. It will have carbon residue on it, but much carbonized (many very small burnt looking peels as opposed to any shine) surface area will remain on the UHMW. Your good to go if the surface absorbs a drop of water as opposed to beading it. Like G-man above said. Clean with acetone. I did this after flame treating and then washing with dish soap and water first though. Carbon skins, pine w/oak core, UHMW sidewalls, and not a bit of separation after 9 days on them. the UHMW is tough stuff that doesn't change alot with temp, but it is tricky to prep and will dull your tools. Do it.
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