Are you a ski tune master of waxing off?

[wyeaster]

I'm afraid of destroying my edges so I try to avoid damaging them and I don't shave unless I have to. I should probably get out my oldest board out and practice

[Skidog]

Yesterday was the first time I've ironed wax in years. I usually just wait for a hot summer day, crayon the wax on, then lay the skis in the sun for a few hours. Reapply more wax when parts of the base appear dry. A few hours of this, then let them cool and store for the next winter.

I don't bother to scrape the wax off; the first run does it for me. I'm told if I don't wax often, my bases will dry up; but some of my skis are 10 years old, and are still going strong. Ymmv.

My experience too. I like rarely wax. Maybe once a season with the tune if that. Never summer wax, ever. Skis seem fine to me. Rarely passed.

[trex_9]

haha, same here. I've seen that Coombs tuning session video before but am very concerned I'm going to do some irreparable damage to my edges going at that without knowledgeable help..

[MMP]

there are some pretty handy edge bevel guides that make it idiot proof. You can swap from a panzer into a diamond stone and if you can hold something flat, you're golden.

[wyeaster]

i was fine with doing my edges on my old boards but then i got me some magnetraction and other than detuning a few spots and smoothing out some bad dings i leave it alone. i should quit being a scaredy cat, although they're in good shape for the most part.

[teledad]

For resort skis in the winter - drip on universal wax, run the iron over it a couple passes, done. Let the first run or two scrape off any excess. Takes 2-3 minutes per ski if the iron's warm.

I do scrape BC skis to keep wax off the skins. And brush to set up structure on warm spring days. But the rest of the time I like to keep it simple.

[NakedShorts]

For resort skis in the winter - drip on universal wax, run the iron over it a couple passes, done. Let the first run or two scrape off any excess. Takes 2-3 minutes per ski if the iron's warm.

I do scrape BC skis to keep wax off the skins. And brush to set up structure on warm spring days. But the rest of the time I like to keep it simple.

^^^^
THIS

If you are not a barney and learn how much wax is needed to do a pair of skis (ie...2 or 3 quick passes of dripping wax from tip to tail) you will be fine waxing and riding without scrapping or brushing. Unless you guys are going for personal bests, bc, or racing, LEAVE the wax on the skis. DO NOT be retarded and glob on the wax (or try to use an iron to do your ptex work, yep I heard someone on a chairlift say this once). It lasts longer too. Scrapping is just wasting wax you dummies. Your garage will thank me.

Use the notch to scrape your edges and be DONE.

10 - 15 minutes at most.

However, (Time Killers)
Warm skis are better than cold for wax absorption (plan ahead).
You should also clean the bases.
They do need to dry.
Oh and you have to hold the brakes back with something.
Iron must be warm too.

Tune first then wax (BTW).

I grew up racing and used wax that was very expensive, for this type you only barely touched the wax to the iron and rubbed on the ski (repeat until desired coverage).

[LiveLarger]

It certainly doesn't take 30 minutes to wax your skis.

Take a look at the swix tutorial here. He spent three minutes on a ski? I spend around ten minutes on a pair in total. Cooling off not included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iif2fMxGQA

[MagnificentUnicorn]

For resort skis in the winter - drip on universal wax, run the iron over it a couple passes, done. Let the first run or two scrape off any excess. Takes 2-3 minutes per ski if the iron's warm.

I do scrape BC skis to keep wax off the skins. And brush to set up structure on warm spring days. But the rest of the time I like to keep it simple.

^^^^
THIS

If you are not a barney and learn how much wax is needed to do a pair of skis (ie...2 or 3 quick passes of dripping wax from tip to tail) you will be fine waxing and riding without scrapping or brushing. Unless you guys are going for personal bests, bc, or racing, LEAVE the wax on the skis. DO NOT be retarded and glob on the wax (or try to use an iron to do your ptex work, yep I heard someone on a chairlift say this once). It lasts longer too. Scrapping is just wasting wax you dummies. Your garage will thank me.

Use the notch to scrape your edges and be DONE.

10 - 15 minutes at most.

However, (Time Killers)
Warm skis are better than cold for wax absorption (plan ahead).
You should also clean the bases.
They do need to dry.
Oh and you have to hold the brakes back with something.
Iron must be warm too.

Tune first then wax (BTW).

I grew up racing and used wax that was very expensive, for this type you only barely touched the wax to the iron and rubbed on the ski (repeat until desired coverage).

If you're dripping wax on the ski you're still using more wax than if you rub your wax on the iron an then run the iron over the ski base.

[LiveLarger]

If you're dripping wax on the ski you're still using more wax than if you rub your wax on the iron an then run the iron over the ski base.

Spot on. You are wasting wax, money and creating work for your self. If you use a fiberlene paper as well, then you will be having even less work with scraping. Check out the swix video I posted above.

[MMP]

It's like a drywall taper, if done right, the residual is next to nothing. I scrape and brush, but the scrapings are next to nothing. The kids waste like no ones business.

[Damian Sanders]

Here's a few of my tips (ex shop tech, tuning skis seriously at home for about 20 years):

Dripping vs. Rub on: If a base appears oxidized (whitish), scotchbrite it first. Drip on and iron for about 5+ minutes, get the ski nice and warm overall, and the base will take a bunch of wax. If not oxidized, rub on wax followed by iron or cork is fine. Generally, if I'm going to bother heating up an iron, I'm going to drip wax, to get maximum wax absorption.

Cork: Get a wax cork. You can scotchbrite, rub on and wax the middle 50% (most important for glide and takes the most wear and tear) of a pair of skis in a couple minutes in a parking lot if needed.

Wax type: I gave up on Temp specific wax over 15 years ago, it's worthless. I use a 2:1 ratio of Dominator Zoom Graphite universal wax and Swix Low Flouro universal wax. I get very good glide in all snow and temps with this.

Scraping: Try not to damage you base structure with your scraper or scotchbrite. I use a large stainless brush to remove the last bit of surface wax and get down to the base structure, quick and provides a smooth enough finish.

Maintaining: any day with a ski that's not freshly tuned, I scotchbrite any minor storage rust or oxidation, and diamond stone edges to remove burs as needed. Cork wax if the base is really dry.

Bonus base repair tip: Get an old 40W soldering iron and some base repair ribbon from Tognar, etc. Do your own base welds. They hold up much better than plain PTEX. I've got like 5 or 6 types of ptex/ribbon/string in my tool kit.

[Lindahl]

Here's a few of my tips (ex shop tech, tuning skis seriously at home for about 20 years):

Dripping vs. Rub on: If a base appears oxidized (whitish), scotchbrite it first. Drip on and iron for about 5+ minutes, get the ski nice and warm overall, and the base will take a bunch of wax. If not oxidized, rub on wax followed by iron or cork is fine. Generally, if I'm going to bother heating up an iron, I'm going to drip wax, to get maximum wax absorption.

Cork: Get a wax cork. You can scotchbrite, rub on and wax the middle 50% (most important for glide and takes the most wear and tear) of a pair of skis in a couple minutes in a parking lot if needed.

Wax type: I gave up on Temp specific wax over 15 years ago, it's worthless. I use a 2:1 ratio of Dominator Zoom Graphite universal wax and Swix Low Flouro universal wax. I get very good glide in all snow and temps with this.

Scraping: Try not to damage you base structure with your scraper or scotchbrite. I use a large stainless brush to remove the last bit of surface wax and get down to the base structure, quick and provides a smooth enough finish.

Maintaining: any day with a ski that's not freshly tuned, I scotchbrite any minor storage rust or oxidation, and diamond stone edges to remove burs as needed. Cork wax if the base is really dry.

Bonus base repair tip: Get an old 40W soldering iron and some base repair ribbon from Tognar, etc. Do your own base welds. They hold up much better than plain PTEX. I've got like 5 or 6 types of ptex/ribbon/string in my tool kit.

By rubbing on wax, in the earlier context, I think they mean heating up the wax with an iron and rubbing the wax on the ski, then iron the rubbed on wax into the ski. You use less wax this way than dripping, but you still get the same penetration as you would when dripping - you're still ironing it in.

I think you're talking about rubbing on wax with no iron? And just corking it?

[Damian Sanders]

By rubbing on wax, in the earlier context, I think they mean heating up the wax with an iron and rubbing the wax on the ski, then iron the rubbed on wax into the ski. You use less wax this way than dripping, but you still get the same penetration as you would when dripping - you're still ironing it in.

I think you're talking about rubbing on wax with no iron? And just corking it?

I thought they were talking about rubbing the wax on the ski cold, then ironing it in. I'll do this, but only if the base has a bunch of wax in it already, is perfectly flat, and isn't showing oxidation. On a dry oxidized base, I prefer to put on an excess of wax and make sure it has ample time to soak in as much as possible, across all of the ski. If the ski base isn't perfectly flat, having a bit of excess wax will make sure everything is covered and melted when iron. I don't worry about wasting a bit of wax, and I wax about every 5 to 8 days depending on wear and tear.

I've never heard of pre-heating the wax on the iron then rubbing in, but I guess that would work.

[Gepeto]

Surprised no one has stopped in to boast about their 9:49.271 edge and wax ninja technique

I was waiting for the ugly death to happen first.

Never used a rotobrush - never crayon wax - definitely like a few minutes with the sticks and force the time before each use as a busy schedule will allow. A good debrief of the last ride goes hand in hand for a proper tune&wax, 25 minutes. Tailor the tune to the condition of course, wet and warmer and I pay attention to structure. cold and dryer and I try to get closer wax temp. Brass on the front end and nylon on the back end. Usually hot scrape. Glide is a game changer at a big hill. east coast meh. manmade sandpaper will lay waste to a nice waxing effort. So I don't work so hard on the finished wax product and hone in on the tune.

[dcpnz]

I thought they were talking about rubbing the wax on the ski cold, then ironing it in.

.......

I've never heard of pre-heating the wax on the iron then rubbing in, but I guess that would work.

Im no ski tech but I know trying to rub a cold wax on a cold ski ain't gonna transfer any wax.
Touch wax to iron, rub on ski. Repeat length of ski. Simple, quick, easy. Better than dripping cos less waste and easier to iron cos you don't have to melt the big drops again on first pass.

[wyeaster]

I always rub cold wax on a cold board and then drip a little. I hadn't heard of heating the wax then rubbing until recently so I do a little of that, too.

[LiveLarger]

I've never heard of pre-heating the wax on the iron then rubbing in, but I guess that would work.

This is SWIXs recommend way of waxing. Watch the tutorial I posted further up in the thread. But, it's not "rubbing in" It's rubbing on. Then iron.

[Damian Sanders]

This is SWIXs recommend way of waxing. Watch the tutorial I posted further up in the thread. But, it's not "rubbing in" It's rubbing on. Then iron.

Yeahhhh, that's interesting. I was first taught to wax as a child in the 80's, with the drip method. Also got tuning instruction from XC ski coach who owned a shop, an alpine ski coach, worked in a shop, and finally some instruction (mostly in setting and measuring bevels) from an ex-world cup ski tech and product manager. And I've read a good amount online and in print articles. I've NEVER seen the method in that swix video of heating the wax and rubbing it on. Looks time consuming, but certainly a good way of putting on a measured amount of wax. Keep in mind he's also using fiberlene paper (to help spread the wax...?), which most people don't use. So whomever came up with this, it's totally a new thing. I do rub on wax cold then iron if I only need a bit of wax and the iron is already hot from another pair of skis.

Here's the same swix guy using the standard drip method to "saturate" a base with wax, like I would normally do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJZ_Vo3DUIw

Here's a race tech drip waxing exactly like I do - drip on, then multiple passes with the iron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhjzPpAJDBU

Speaking of new things, go and google the meaning of the term "snow bunny", you might be in for a surprise, I was.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Yeahhhh, that's interesting. I was first taught to wax as a child in the 80's, with the drip method. Also got tuning instruction from XC ski coach who owned a shop, an alpine ski coach, worked in a shop, and finally some instruction (mostly in setting and measuring bevels) from an ex-world cup ski tech and product manager. And I've read a good amount online and in print articles. I've NEVER seen the method in that swix video of heating the wax and rubbing it on. Looks time consuming, but certainly a good way of putting on a measured amount of wax. Keep in mind he's also using fiberlene paper (to help spread the wax...?), which most people don't use. So whomever came up with this, it's totally a new thing. I do rub on wax cold then iron if I only need a bit of wax and the iron is already hot from another pair of skis.

Here's the same swix guy using the standard drip method to "saturate" a base with wax, like I would normally do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJZ_Vo3DUIw

Here's a race tech drip waxing exactly like I do - drip on, then multiple passes with the iron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhjzPpAJDBU

Speaking of new things, go and google the meaning of the term "snow bunny", you might be in for a surprise, I was.

Are you really too dense to get how it works better to apply wax this way, it conserves wax and makes it easier to work into the base. Nobody care about your credentials, this is common sense.

[galibier_numero_un]

I can't believe that after 40 years I discovered heating the wax by touching it to the iron and than crayoning it onto the ski before ironing it in. It hasn't exactly been life changing, but at the same time, it's sped up the process, saves wax, and results in an easier cleanup.

Thanks goes out to Terry at Slidewright for pointing this out earlier this year.

Cheers,
Thom

[Lindahl]

Are you really too dense to get how it works better to apply wax this way, it conserves wax and makes it easier to work into the base. Nobody care about your credentials, this is common sense.

I laughed

[Damian Sanders]

Are you really too dense to get how it works better to apply wax this way, it conserves wax and makes it easier to work into the base. Nobody care about your credentials, this is common sense.

Look you little twat, it's certainly not common practice, and any advantages are marginal and only applicable in certain situations. I doubt you can tune your way out of a paper bag.

[My Pet Powder Goat]

Tune off!!!

[2FUNKY]

efight!