Are you a ski tune master of waxing off?

[sb]

Nice brushes.

[Djongo Unchained]

Nice brushes.

Thanks, a bunch of them came in a summertime yard sale score. Iirc, about 7 hands and a short roto plus about $125 in wax, all for $25.

As I'm waxing frequently, I really only use the roto and 2 yellow tokos.

I had them out as I think lvovsky was looking for some, seeing if I had something he wanted.
Those SVST rotos only work on their handles, proprietary shize.
But bomber...

[XXX-er]

Them XC skiers are way more into the waxing cuz no gravity right ?

So what i notice with an XC ski is that I wax a brand new higher performance XC ski ( hot wax/ scrape/ brush it all off ) and before the end of a 1.5hr sesh most of the wax is gone to the point the bases are going whitish especialy on the inside edge of a skate ski & especialy if its icy

the more wax jobs I get into that ski the longer before the bases start to go white until eventualy I can skip a wax job and get 2 days out of 1 wax job before it starts going white

so now I have taken to doing multiple wax jobs on a ski without bothering to scrape the wax, in other words I just heat & let cool on the bench with the same thick coat of wax, I might do the heat/ cool cycle 10 or 12 times

[EWG]

I think DJ is making a good point on wax - how fast do you need things to be? A super good wax job will start off real damn fast and probably be just "very good" by day two. A normal good wax job will start off fine the first day and be "very good" day two as the snow burnishes it. They kind of meet in the middle as the wax wears. So you have to decide how good you want things.

I'm typically waxing 3-5 pairs of skis as a time, so I go for normal good. If I know I wanna be fast the next day or two I might spend more time on it. I also don't give a ton of shits about wax. I carry a good bit of muscle and am fairly heavy compared to some, so I'd go downhill quick on rough plywood, let alone a decent wax job. it's really only if I'm in a place like LCC where I'll be traversing all day that I want the speed. Or if I'm skiing with DJ when he's uppity.

My process is super simple - hot wax aiming to keep the wax thin, let cool for a couple hours, scrape, roto. I like the idea of hot scrape, but I'd be a little afraid it would leave the bases drier than I want (letting the wax cool lets it set into the structure.) Maybe I'll give it a try and see how it works.

Edit: XXX-er, yeah, for nordic I go to town, because I can't have my lovely skate skiing wife feeling like she's going slow. I'll hear about that. Lot more time spent brushing there.

[fleaches]

After you iron out the wax, if you hot scrape off the excess and re-iron. Your time, cold scraping and shavings are vastly reduced. Shown at 2:05 below.

(Interestingly, the 2nd video in my post #76 (and re shown in #90) was switched somehow. WTF? I switched it back.)

Good tip

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[Djongo Unchained]

EWG - that's fucking hilarious. Can't recall ever being called 'uppity', too funny.
And the plywood!

I'm usually only doing my skis unless a mag needs some helps. Fosho If I was doing 3-5 pair, I'd not go so high end on finish.
The roto makes kicking the finish up a notch fairly simple.

[sb]

Lol, i have all my old hand brushes. They need moar luv.

I tend to use my roto shit the most.

I laft, at times my skis are so slippery i can barely put them on.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Actually rotobrushing outside would be very doable for me. Would a cheap 18v cordless screw gun be fast enough? Are those XC Man things any good?
Usually have good luck brushing the old fashioned way, but hey, more ski stuff.

[EWG]

Actually rotobrushing outside would be very doable for me. Would a cheap 18v cordless screw gun be fast enough? Are those XC Man things any good?
Usually have good luck brushing the old fashioned way, but hey, more ski stuff.

Yes on XCMan. I would assume any 18v drill would work, but the off-axis pressure could kill a really crappy one over time, maybe? But I think you'd be fine. The faster it spins the better though. Saves time.

[Djongo Unchained]

Yer gonna DIE!!!!!


But not from inhaling wax.

[kootenayskier]

I wax my skis about once a week, or when temperatures change, using various Swix PS series wax. I clean the bases with citrus base cleaner, then crayon just enough wax over the whole base, iron it in, rub off the minimal amount excess wax with a scotch brite pad, then rub/polish (removing even more wax) the base with a shop towel. I waxed more conventionally for years, but don’t notice any performance benefit for what I do (all mountain skiing) and this way is much faster and way less messy. I put the extra time into maintaining clean, sharp, beveled edges.

[skinipenem]

School me on rotobrushes to purchase.

School me on cleaning bases prior to each wax.

Please

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[J. Barron DeJong]

School me on rotobrushes to purchase.

School me on cleaning bases prior to each wax.

Please

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For cleaning I’d use one of these:



They’re less aggressive than the traditional base cleaners so won’t strip out the wax that’s penetrated deeper into the base. Hot scraping works, but wears down base grind texture and is more time consuming as well.

[Duffman]

Interesting. I was taught to only hit scrape if possible because it would keep the base more saturated with wax. So that's Fudd, and base cleaners are good? How often do you clean ?

[J. Barron DeJong]

Interesting. I was taught to only hit scrape if possible because it would keep the base more saturated with wax. So that's Fudd, and base cleaners are good? How often do you clean ?

The old school base cleaners are strong solvents, basically mineral spirits or citrus based version of that, and they’ll strip out wax from deeper in the base. Those newer cleaners are alcohol based (but not ethanol, isopropyl, or methanol) and aren’t nearly as aggressive, so just cleans the surface.

My order of preference from best to worst would be those alcohol based cleaners -> hot scrape -> traditional base cleaner.

Others might disagree though.

[XXX-er]

i don't think you need to use a base cleaner all the time

for spring time smoo on the snow or glue transfer on touring skis

other wise its not necessary

[Lvovsky]

Thanks, a bunch of them came in a summertime yard sale score. Iirc, about 7 hands and a short roto plus about $125 in wax, all for $25.

As I'm waxing frequently, I really only use the roto and 2 yellow tokos.

I had them out as I think lvovsky was looking for some, seeing if I had something he wanted.
Those SVST rotos only work on their handles, proprietary shize.
But bomber...

Yes! I’ll take some roto goodness that anyone has sittings unused!

[skinipenem]

Mainly concerned with cleaning the dirt from the base area of our local hill off between waxings.

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[Djongo Unchained]

Yes! I’ll take some roto goodness that anyone has sittings unused!

Be more specific, waddya looking for?
Roto brushes, roto brush handle.

As stated the brushes are not all interchangeable between brands.
SVST ones don't interchange at all.

XCMan, and some others might. Pick a handle first then look for brushes.
I have only SVST but I may have a Racewax horsehair around.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Yer gonna DIE!!!!!


But not from inhaling wax.

Meh. Already kinda dead inside.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Oh god, ease off the base cleaner. I almost never use it. A little on a paper towel or rag to clean an area that needs a big repair. You want your bases to be impregnated with wax, not dried out and brittle.
It can be good for getting the wax off guides and stones.

[PhishingME]

I only use base cleaner after a base grind. Hot scrape with your warmest wax does a fine job and helps to saturate the base too.

[Lvovsky]

Be more specific, waddya looking for?
Roto brushes, roto brush handle.

As stated the brushes are not all interchangeable between brands.
SVST ones don't interchange at all.

XCMan, and some others might. Pick a handle first then look for brushes.
I have only SVST but I may have a Racewax horsehair around.

I need (want?) both brushes and handles. Only have hand brushes.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Oh god, ease off the base cleaner. I almost never use it. A little on a paper towel or rag to clean an area that needs a big repair. You want your bases to be impregnated with wax, not dried out and brittle.
It can be good for getting the wax off guides and stones.

I never use the old style base cleaner or the citrus stuff, but do use the new style stuff before each hot wax. It’s does not dry out the bases like the old school stuff. You wouldn’t want to use the new style stuff to clean you’re tools either, it’s not aggressive enough.

That said, unless you’re going to be racing at a high level (not me), it probably doesn’t really matter what you do, just pick a process that works for you and be a dick about it!

[AlpiNord]

Oh god, ease off the base cleaner. I almost never use it. A little on a paper towel or rag to clean an area that needs a big repair. You want your bases to be impregnated with wax, not dried out and brittle.
It can be good for getting the wax off guides and stones.

You keep perpetuating 'the not even close to being accurate myth that base cleaners dry out bases and make them brittle.' If true then why aren't you afraid of a frickin' 250-300 degree iron melting your bases?

I'd be real surprised if I would get a better glide on my skis if I just hot scraped and didn't use a topical base cleaner to remove surface oils, grease, diesel, dirt, grime, 'gradoo', pine tar, skin glue, etc off the bases before waxing ever time.

If you only hot scrape, you are mixing whatever is on your bases with the new wax which reduces adhesion of the wax and therefore durability…..not to mention reduced glide.

If you still can't deal with this reality, then you might at least consider brushing first and wiping off with water or a diluted cleaner of some kind. Then hot scrape with the wax of the day (WOTD) vs a soft wax to save redundant steps, time, money, material, waste & energy getting out the door.