Waxing

(FAQ)

The objective of structuring is to impart grooves into the base material. This removes suction that a perfectly smooth base would produce, especially in wetter snows. The structure also channels water that is produced by the friction between the ski or snowboard base and the snow. A finer structure is desired in colder snows as it holds the smaller amount of water longer and helps the glide. Changing the structure frequently is not practical and should be done relative to major trends in the snow temperatures and time of year.

Shop base grinds with a precision machine and reliable operator can reestablish base flatness and level base edges in addition to imparting a uniform base structure. This may be your best option if your bases have had a lot of repairs, the base is out of true and numerous other reasons. The downside is that base grinds remove base material and will eventually wear down the bases. Any build up of an optimal glide from frequent waxing will also be removed and need to be recreated over time and numerous wax cycles.

Here’s a riller bar, used as a gauge, and a new ski’s factory base structure:
The home tuner can easily impart or abrade base structure with minimal base removal after base repairs, change of snow temps/season with a variety of structuring options. Coarse sandpaper, stiff metal/brass brush, pressing a threaded bolt, coarse file edge or rilling bar. Care needs to be taken to not trash the edges while structuring. Abrading the bases with coarse sandpaper, wire brushes, riller bar, saw teeth, files, etc definitely need to be cleaned up with finer sandpaper, fiber pads, scraper, etc to get rid of the ‘hairies’ and rough spots. This will reduce the initial structure depth and base impact.

After hot waxing and scraping or liquid wax applications, the structure needs to be ‘freed’ and polished to optimize the glide by brushing. Occasionally, rigorous brushing with a stiff metal brush is encouraged to freshen the structure and general cleaning.

Update: Monday, November 3, 2008 – 05:22 PM

A typical follow up question: for the cold mid-winter snow, what’s your advice for getting back a less aggressive/less coarse texture to handle the harder,dryer snow from the more aggressive/coarse spring texture I created??

Getting a base grind is the ‘correct’ method of getting your new structure and flattening your base, followed by any edge needed edge work and multiple wax cycles to resaturate the base. Perform any base repairs first.

If inclined to to do it yourself, simple DIY options (while using common sense) to reduce the structure include:
1) scraping with a sharp metal scraper or skiver
2) flat filing with a panzer/body, multicut or super coarse
3) sanding, followed by nylon fiber pad and freshening with a wire brush and/or a fine toothed rilling bar
4) using a Ski Visions base flattener and structuring tool with medium or fine structure

Preceding any of the above with a base cleaner/wax remover could be considered, but depending on how much base material removal really needed (possibly negligible), you might be better off not removing wax unless it becomes obvious. This way, you have fewer wax cycles to get your bases resaturated.

(FAQ)

Cleaning and regularly waxing your bases is the most common and easiest ski and snowboard maintenance task. It will protect your boards and optimize the glide and turns.

Basic Hot Waxing Steps:
1) Bring the skis or snowboard to room temperature if possible.
2) Place the board(s) on a good work surface that can secure them for scraping.
3) Clean the bases with base cleaner or hot scraping.
4) Drip, crayon, hot touch & crayon or hot touch iron smear solid wax onto clean and dry base. Less wax requires less scraping, brushing & mess to clean up.
5) While keeping the iron moving, spread and melt the wax evenly over the entire base. A trail of liquid wax should just follow the iron.
6) Work the wax in again to assure coverage
7) Let the wax cool and harden for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Scrape wax down to base with a sharp plexi scraper to an even, thin film.
9) Free the base structure by brushing out the micro-grooves/structure of the bases and polish to a nice sheen with manual or roto brushes (or both).
10) Clean up the mess and then go glide fast and make smoother turns!

However you wax your boards, be sure to clean the bases very well and pay attention to structuring to reduce suction for better slide, especially in wetter conditions. The Maplus liquids and sprays will achieve a higher level of saturation and durability than hot waxing with solid waxes by simply applying and rubbing in with cork or felt. Saving lots of time and effort, they are easier to apply and control amounts, less or no scraping or brushing is necessary for high performance. For optimal performance, add heat by moving a iron down the ski or snowboard, over a saturation. After at least 10 minutes and the wax has hardened, polish the excess wax with horsehair or nylon brush to expose the structure. When waxing, realize that you are trying to get the wax into the base, not on the base. Scraping and brush polishing removes the excess and exposes the base structure.

HELPFUL TIPS:
-We recommend cleaning the ski or snowboard bases with Maplus detergents and then applying a hot Maplus Racing Base after each race or after preparing the ski or snowboard bases and edges.
-All traces of basic wax must be thoroughly removed before applying racing wax: scrape off the wax and then brush and polish thoroughly.
-If you clean the ski or snowboard bases with a detergent immediately before applying racing wax, we recommend heating the wax so the detergent can evaporate completely.

-We recommend the following iron temperatures to melt Maplus ski or snowboard waxes:

-120°C (248°F): Universal;
-130°C (266°F): (Soft – Soft Graphite)Racing Base, (P1-P2-P3) Hot;
-140°C (284°F): (P1-P2-P3) Med; Race Base Medium
-150°C (302°F): (P1-P2-P3) Cold;
-160°C (320°F): (Hard – Hard Graphite)Racing Base, P4.

If used improperly, the waxing iron can damage the ski or snowboard construction.

(FAQ)

The clothes iron has always been used as a low cost method for melting and applying wax to ski & snowboard bases. An amusing irony regarding tools versus gear, is that many skiers will go to great lengths and expense to purchase performance ‘tools’ for their feet, and great lengths to spend very little for 2nd and 3rd rate tools for their hands to take care of their expensive gear, trashed day in and day out. I’ve been no different, but once you use a nice tool, irons a case in point, and realize it’ll do a better job, in less time, it’s hard to go back.

-If it’s only about cost, a conventional iron will work OK, but requires extra time, steps and attention to making sure the holes don’t retain old wax. While still warm, use a lint free towel to draw out wax and do it a again when you fire up for the next waxing.
-Wrapping with tin foil or filling the holes with JB Weld and smoothing is an option for some.
-If it doesn’t have an accurate thermostat, you’ll be guessing. If it’s smoking, it’s too hot.
-Likely end game going cheap is it’ll end up in the land fill and you’ll buy a better one later.
-Fiber pads work great for cleaning iron bases

-Better is a conventionally shaped iron without the holes, with an accurate thermostat, but still has an edge that scrapes the wax.

-Best is an iron with an “Arc” shaped iron plate which allows wax to flow to the center of the iron reducing waste and overflow with an accurate thermostat and a thick sole plate to retain consistent heat and evenly distribute wax.

Different waxes have different temperature requirements and work best when applied with recommended temperature settings.
.Many feel using a clothes iron is a Really Bad Idea, whether it’s a new or old iron. Basically, you really have no idea what temperature you’re getting, so you risk either burning the bases or not getting enough heat to get the desired wax saturation. Additionally, a clothes iron has a much broader temperature swing whereas a dedicated wax iron as much tighter temperature tolerances. You’re paying hundreds of $$$ for skis…why subject them to a cheap iron?

It can also be not hot enough and be as effective if you are too conservative guessing the temperature. Defeats the purpose somewhat if not getting complete liquefaction and flow.

Can you accurately (or care enough) to set the temperatures in this range for instance:
-We recommend the following iron temperatures to melt Maplus ski or snowboard waxes:
-120°C: Universal;
-130°C: (Soft – Soft Graphite)Racing Base, (P1-P2-P3) Hot;
-140°C: (P1-P2-P3) Med; Race Base Medium
-150°C: (P1-P2-P3) Cold;
-160°C: (Hard – Hard Graphite)Racing Base, P4.
If used improperly, the waxing iron can damage the ski or snowboard construction.

One method gauge iron temperature is whether or not the wax smokes when touched to the iron. Generally, if it’s smoking, it’s too hot for the wax and possibly the base. Never let the iron sit for any length of time on the base and keep it moving. Using a teflon sheet between iron and base helps to protect the base. Using a lint free fiber towel between base and iron can also provide some protection and draw off excess was to reduce scraping.

To save time, wax and mess while hot waxing solids, Hot Touching is better than dripping and then ironing, especially with harder, cold waxes.

Hot Touching & Crayoning uses the least amount of solid wax, total effort, time and is the least messy. By briefly touching a bar of wax against the base of a hot waxing iron, the wax softens and is easier to apply to the base by crayoning a section of a ski or board at a time. When the crayoning becomes less effective, repeat the hot touch and crayoning until the base has a reasonably even and thin coat of wax. Then make several passes with the iron to liquify and evenly spread the wax over and into the base.

(If you are concerned with a hot iron and a very thin layer of wax on your base, using a sheet of teflon between will protect the base and make for smoother ironing.) Let cool & harden, scrape and brush. The scrapings will be minimal compared to drip/hot waxing and scraping.

Hot Touching and Smearing is similar to Crayoning. The difference is after touching the wax bar to the base, you smear the wax onto the base with the iron. This can be somewhere in between the dripand crayoning methods in both technique and amount of wax applied.

Following hot touching and smearing with a light hot scrape or fiberlene between base and iron can be comparable to crayoning requiring minimal scraping and brushing.

A ‘cheat’ to include in your bag of tricks if you are in a hurry, got over zealous dripping wax while hot waxing or simply wish to reduce time, effort and mess while scraping after the wax cools and hardens, etc, is Light Hot Scraping.

After the wax cools for a minute or two, take a sharp plexi-scraper, held with even, light to moderate pressure at a 60° (+/-) angle towards you and pull down the full length of your ski or snowboard.

This should leave a relatively even, thin and smooth coat of wax.

You may also notice that the resultant semi-warm and moist scraping contains dirt, old wax or other deleterious materials, depending on prior steps.

Follow the scraping with a pass or two with your iron to re-liquify the wax and to assure that the scraping didn’t pull out the wax from the base. Let cool and harden, then scrape normally to remove the remainder and brush to free the structure. The scraping time and mess should be substantially reduced.

This is contrary to conventional wisdom and practices where hot scraping is typically a separate step with a soft wax than the application of the wax of the day. Basically, Light Hot Scraping combines the two techniques into one. It also can be additionally helpful when applying hard, cold temperature waxes, where the scraping and brushing requires much more time and effort.

Since the objective of hot waxing is to deliver wax into the base and NOT onto the base, it’s hard to imagine that this procedure would reduce the durability or performance of a given wax versus conventional practices, but it may take some experimenting to see if there is a noticeable difference or downsides, relative to ones personal goals or needs.

(FAQ)
Fiberlene (or lint free) towels are excellent for removing dirt and old wax after using wax remover to clean the base or absorbing wax and dirt in base when placed between iron and base. It is also can be used as a final polisher and cleaner after waxing and scraping because of it’s slight abrasiveness.

Heavy duty shop towels are also durable, absorbent, readily available and handy to have around. They do not, however, stand up to heat as well as fiberlene towels. Though lower in lint (and more durable) than household paper towels, they are not ‘lint free’. If you are looking for those extra little performance enhancements, fiberlene is generally your better choice. If you are more pragmatic, the shop towels are a very good option for most cleaning tasks. If you cut the rolls in half, the 5 1/2″ (140mm) sections are a handier size and fit the width of skis and scrapers nicer.

Using heat from a temperature controlled waxing iron is one method used to reduce scraping and mess since excess wax can be absorbed. Couple that with crayoning, and you can get down to little or no scraping, depending on preferences. This also can be very helpful or desirable if you don’t have time or energy to deal with extra scraping and brushing required for hard waxes.

You could argue that it may be best to let the skis or snowboards cool so the wax hardens. Then when you reheat and use the fiberlene/wax removal approach, you might be more likely to draw the top layer of liquified wax.

This also can be used in lieu of hot scraping where theoretically, old wax, dirt and gradoo can be drawn off versus using base cleaners.