Critique my waxing technique

NateDude

NateDude

Member
Based on how last year went, switching to Oneball X-wax, this is what I'm thinking for this season;

Wax every 3rd Wednesday. Only after checking the 24hr mountain weather history, and the weekend forecast for each elevation I plan to ski in order to guess the right temp range.

Preheat the skis by leaning them above the baseboard heater for at least 8hrs. Starting with a brass brush to remove dirt and any leftover wax. Then wipe clean with a cloth. Set the iron to 135 or so. Heat one side of the graphite base prep bar on the iron and crayon it onto the cambered part of the ski only. Then drip the normal wax across the whole ski. Followed by ironing in all of the wax for several minutes until it really soaks in. But instead of scraping immediately leave the skis to sit overnight for the wax to cool and harden.

Then come back on Thursday and put on some Rage Against The Machine to get ready for scraping and polishing. Start by dressing the scraper with a file to get a nice crisp edge. Scrape the whole ski tip to tail to get the excess. Followed by corking the whole thing to work the remaining wax until all the horizontal lines from the scraper are gone. After that it's time to polish. Starting with the nylon brush to remove excess from the base structure, then moving to the horsehair brush to further refine the finish. Last step will probably be buffing with a felt pad.

With any luck I'll be able to top last years 74mph run. Am I missing anything?
 
[tag=189437]@DominatorJacques[/tag]

He and [tag=261198]@dolanslebensraum[/tag] are the only folks on your level my dude.

**This post was edited on Nov 4th 2021 at 12:17:27am
 
14340950:mystery3 said:
[tag=189437]@DominatorJacques[/tag]

He and [tag=261198]@dolanslebensraum[/tag] are the only folks on your level my dude.

**This post was edited on Nov 4th 2021 at 12:17:27am
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P sure dolan just takes baths in melted flouro wax with his skis then scrapes them with his teeth in the bath so no valuable wax gets wasted.

Then he goes and pins it straight down the steepest and straightest run at his mountain once or twice to test the speed then he goes home and does it all over again.
 
topic:NateDude said:
Based on how last year went, switching to Oneball X-wax, this is what I'm thinking for this season;

Wax every 3rd Wednesday. Only after checking the 24hr mountain weather history, and the weekend forecast for each elevation I plan to ski in order to guess the right temp range.

Preheat the skis by leaning them above the baseboard heater for at least 8hrs. Starting with a brass brush to remove dirt and any leftover wax. Then wipe clean with a cloth. Set the iron to 135 or so. Heat one side of the graphite base prep bar on the iron and crayon it onto the cambered part of the ski only. Then drip the normal wax across the whole ski. Followed by ironing in all of the wax for several minutes until it really soaks in. But instead of scraping immediately leave the skis to sit overnight for the wax to cool and harden.

Then come back on Thursday and put on some Rage Against The Machine to get ready for scraping and polishing. Start by dressing the scraper with a file to get a nice crisp edge. Scrape the whole ski tip to tail to get the excess. Followed by corking the whole thing to work the remaining wax until all the horizontal lines from the scraper are gone. After that it's time to polish. Starting with the nylon brush to remove excess from the base structure, then moving to the horsehair brush to further refine the finish. Last step will probably be buffing with a felt pad.

With any luck I'll be able to top last years 74mph run. Am I missing anything?
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"Wax every 3rd Wednesday"

Wax every 3rd day. You are missing several waxings.
 
14341068:DominatorJacques said:
"Wax every 3rd Wednesday"

Wax every 3rd day. You are missing several waxings.
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Exactly. I usually wax mine every other day. Homies missing out big time.
 
My method:

Think to myself... hmm I haven't waxed my skis in a while

Look at the bases. Damn they're starting to get white and crusty around the edges. Better wax em.

Proceed to do two more days on them cus I'm lazy

Preheat iron to... the middle

Either grab the brick of Hertel Super Hot Sauce or the red Swix wax I bought on evo to get over the minimum free shipping charge. Except they accidentally sent me a whole box instead of just one brick so I have a shit load. So yeah, the free wax usually.

Drip wax in a zig zag... ah shit I forgot to use the brass brush. Whatever, it's probably fine.

Drip wax in a zig zag or loopty loop or side to side until it's either just not enough or way too much.

Iron on the wax, I do try to make sure the wax looks glossy when hot and covers the whole ski

Wait for it to dry... well the first ski I did seems pretty dry. The bases aren't warm anymore. Let's just scrape this bitch. Either that, or forget about them overnight and scrape two days later.

Scrape scrape scrapety scrape until there's no more big flakes of wax just tiny crusties

Nylon brush until it looks shiny as heck

Horsehair?.......... nahh it's fine.

Take some pictures cus it's shiny and I'm stoked for skiing

Done, let's ski
 
Based

14341182:betz said:
My method:

Think to myself... hmm I haven't waxed my skis in a while

Look at the bases. Damn they're starting to get white and crusty around the edges. Better wax em.

Proceed to do two more days on them cus I'm lazy

Preheat iron to... the middle

Either grab the brick of Hertel Super Hot Sauce or the red Swix wax I bought on evo to get over the minimum free shipping charge. Except they accidentally sent me a whole box instead of just one brick so I have a shit load. So yeah, the free wax usually.

Drip wax in a zig zag... ah shit I forgot to use the brass brush. Whatever, it's probably fine.

Drip wax in a zig zag or loopty loop or side to side until it's either just not enough or way too much.

Iron on the wax, I do try to make sure the wax looks glossy when hot and covers the whole ski

Wait for it to dry... well the first ski I did seems pretty dry. The bases aren't warm anymore. Let's just scrape this bitch. Either that, or forget about them overnight and scrape two days later.

Scrape scrape scrapety scrape until there's no more big flakes of wax just tiny crusties

Nylon brush until it looks shiny as heck

Horsehair?.......... nahh it's fine.

Take some pictures cus it's shiny and I'm stoked for skiing

Done, let's ski
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I have one kind of wax, I put it on when my bases look dry and I don't scrape

This ain't a world cup race guys
 
14341206:abar. said:
I don't scrape

This ain't a world cup race guys
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Dude you're a fucking savage

How will anyone know you're the best skiier on the mountain if you're not zooming past them on the flats at world cup speeds?
 
14341182:betz said:
My method:

Think to myself... hmm I haven't waxed my skis in a while

Look at the bases. Damn they're starting to get white and crusty around the edges. Better wax em.

Proceed to do two more days on them cus I'm lazy

Preheat iron to... the middle

Either grab the brick of Hertel Super Hot Sauce or the red Swix wax I bought on evo to get over the minimum free shipping charge. Except they accidentally sent me a whole box instead of just one brick so I have a shit load. So yeah, the free wax usually.

Drip wax in a zig zag... ah shit I forgot to use the brass brush. Whatever, it's probably fine.

Drip wax in a zig zag or loopty loop or side to side until it's either just not enough or way too much.

Iron on the wax, I do try to make sure the wax looks glossy when hot and covers the whole ski

Wait for it to dry... well the first ski I did seems pretty dry. The bases aren't warm anymore. Let's just scrape this bitch. Either that, or forget about them overnight and scrape two days later.

Scrape scrape scrapety scrape until there's no more big flakes of wax just tiny crusties

Nylon brush until it looks shiny as heck

Horsehair?.......... nahh it's fine.

Take some pictures cus it's shiny and I'm stoked for skiing

Done, let's ski
Click to expand...

Dont forget to get wax shavings everywhere and half ass sweep them up because you are stoned then have your girl come in 10 min later and almost fall on her face.
 
13119464.jpg
Don't forget this shit. its basically cocaine for skis
 
1. Go to the 30 year old south hedges ski wax room and collect wax scrapings

2. Put them in muffin pans then in the oven at 200°

3. Sell pucks for $15 to the rich tourists at Big Sky over Christmas
 
14341214:betz said:
Dude you're a fucking savage

How will anyone know you're the best skiier on the mountain if you're not zooming past them on the flats at world cup speeds?
Click to expand...

I zoom past them on the steeps at world cup speeds
 
One time when I was really stoned I decided not to scrape so that my wax would "last longer". Fuck was that a mistake, I had to double pole it just to get off the chairlift for the first couple runs

14341182:betz said:
My method:

Think to myself... hmm I haven't waxed my skis in a while

Look at the bases. Damn they're starting to get white and crusty around the edges. Better wax em.

Proceed to do two more days on them cus I'm lazy

Preheat iron to... the middle

Either grab the brick of Hertel Super Hot Sauce or the red Swix wax I bought on evo to get over the minimum free shipping charge. Except they accidentally sent me a whole box instead of just one brick so I have a shit load. So yeah, the free wax usually.

Drip wax in a zig zag... ah shit I forgot to use the brass brush. Whatever, it's probably fine.

Drip wax in a zig zag or loopty loop or side to side until it's either just not enough or way too much.

Iron on the wax, I do try to make sure the wax looks glossy when hot and covers the whole ski

Wait for it to dry... well the first ski I did seems pretty dry. The bases aren't warm anymore. Let's just scrape this bitch. Either that, or forget about them overnight and scrape two days later.

Scrape scrape scrapety scrape until there's no more big flakes of wax just tiny crusties

Nylon brush until it looks shiny as heck

Horsehair?.......... nahh it's fine.

Take some pictures cus it's shiny and I'm stoked for skiing

Done, let's ski
Click to expand...
 
14341327:NateDude said:
One time when I was really stoned I decided not to scrape so that my wax would "last longer". Fuck was that a mistake, I had to double pole it just to get off the chairlift for the first couple runs
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Folks that don't scrape and brush don't know the difference.

Wax in, not on.
 
14341352:DominatorJacques said:
Folks that don't scrape and brush don't know the difference.

Wax in, not on.
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Definitely. But is there really that big of a difference between finished with nylon and finished with horsehair? Or making sure to use the brass before hand? These are the things I'll skip if I'm lazy, and I don't think I can really tell the difference.
 
14341365:betz said:
Definitely. But is there really that big of a difference between finished with nylon and finished with horsehair? Or making sure to use the brass before hand? These are the things I'll skip if I'm lazy, and I don't think I can really tell the difference.
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Clean is best. Prior to waxing, clean with brass etc. I use Swix Glide Wax Cleaner.

As for brushing............I brush a lot. Skis get faster.

 
Doesn't everyone know blue is the freestyle crayon??

14341388:Thegenericskier said:
Red crayon is definitely best for speed the blue one is the better tasting and it helps technique
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If I could suggest anything, I would recommend using waxing paper. Underneath the iron during waxing process. Let’s you go slower and spread more evenly without burning, scorching or bubbling.

That being said… wax is just for people who need wax.
 
Anyone know if swix still makes speed granulate? They're like graphite/wax pellets. My dad has a stockpile that I use sometimes but I've started rationing it cause I can't find any online.
 
14341663:jompcock said:
Anyone know if swix still makes speed granulate? They're like graphite/wax pellets. My dad has a stockpile that I use sometimes but I've started rationing it cause I can't find any online.
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I believe those have been discontinued since the ban on fluorocarbons. Stockpile what you got haha. But I would love to know if I’m wrong.
 
14341664:munro said:
I believe those have been discontinued since the ban on fluorocarbons. Stockpile what you got haha. But I would love to know if I’m wrong.
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Damn I'm almost down to my last can. Excuse my ignorance but couldn't graphite pellets be made without fluorocarbons? Maybe I'll buy some graphite powder and make my own.
 
14341418:DominatorJacques said:
Clean is best. Prior to waxing, clean with brass etc. I use Swix Glide Wax Cleaner.

As for brushing............I brush a lot. Skis get faster.

Click to expand...

I think my main takeaway from this video is brass is better to finish with for wet snow. Being from California, this is relevant to my interests.

Also using a metal scraper. I mean I would have been more pissed if he scraped off all the wax in like 10 passes. It seems to take me about as long, but I constantly sharpen my plastic scraper. and yeah I keep going when I'm "still getting wax". Main reason I don't wanna scrape unless I'm stoned lmao it takes forever
 
14341722:betz said:
I think my main takeaway from this video is brass is better to finish with for wet snow. Being from California, this is relevant to my interests.

Also using a metal scraper. I mean I would have been more pissed if he scraped off all the wax in like 10 passes. It seems to take me about as long, but I constantly sharpen my plastic scraper. and yeah I keep going when I'm "still getting wax". Main reason I don't wanna scrape unless I'm stoned lmao it takes forever
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I can do it faster, but for the video, I waste a lot of time.

Yes, for wet snow, don't polish!
 
All temp wax, hot box, scrape and brush if I'm bored. Bare minimum is a rough scrape. Skis still faster than everyone else spending an hour and three different brushes.

Spring I use yellow with a graphite rub and don't even think about scraping, and my skis are still faster than anyone else
 
Huh.. You've piqued my interest given that I'm primarily skiing in the Cascades

14341797:DominatorJacques said:
I can do it faster, but for the video, I waste a lot of time.

Yes, for wet snow, don't polish!
Click to expand...
 
14341797:DominatorJacques said:
I can do it faster, but for the video, I waste a lot of time.

Yes, for wet snow, don't polish!
Click to expand...

That's you? I wasn't expecting an older gentleman such as yourself on newschoolers. Major college professor vibes lol. Where did you get that accent?? haha.

14341848:NateDude said:
Huh.. You've piqued my interest given that I'm primarily skiing in the Cascades
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We getting schooled out here, spring slush sierra cement & cascade concrete lets gooooo
 
14341862:betz said:
That's you? I wasn't expecting an older gentleman such as yourself on newschoolers. Major college professor vibes lol. Where did you get that accent?? haha.

We getting schooled out here, spring slush sierra cement & cascade concrete lets gooooo
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I'm quite light, so waxing correctly makes a big difference for me.

One can do whatever they like, but then there are "best practices" too.

One can go way deep into the rabbit hole. Main thing is .........are you having fun?

 
You might consider adding a bar of multi purpose soft wax into the mix.

Also, doing a combo drip with graphite wax helps with hot sticky snow.
 
14342688:larilinesign said:
You might consider adding a bar of multi purpose soft wax into the mix.

Also, doing a combo drip with graphite wax helps with hot sticky snow.
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Graphite is great for dry snow. It repels dirt, but is not hydrophobic, so not the best for wet snow.

14342705:hoodratz47 said:
Base cleaner?
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Swix Glide Wax Cleaner, not "base" cleaner or wax remover.
 
14342705:hoodratz47 said:
Base cleaner?
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If your looking to strip old wax off your skis I recommend paint thinner with a buffing pad. I work at a ski shop and thats all we use and it works like a charm
 
My process is very close to OP's, but I wax after 5 to 8 ski days or earlier if the bases look dry. Waxing is very comforting and offers some serious zen and that's why I love it.

I use nylon & horse hair roto brushes only and never understood what the cork brush would add to it. Care to elaborate?
 
14343359:tominiemenmaa said:
My process is very close to OP's, but I wax after 5 to 8 ski days or earlier if the bases look dry. Waxing is very comforting and offers some serious zen and that's why I love it.

I use nylon & horse hair roto brushes only and never understood what the cork brush would add to it. Care to elaborate?
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So for me every 3 weeks ends up being every 3-6 ski days. I dont let the bases get very dry

I use the cork because when I scrape I'm generally not doing long passes down the whole ski. Ill go back and forth to work one area at a time while working my way down the whole length. So even when I've scraped most of it off, the scraper leaves little horizontal lines in each place I stop and change direction. Using the cork eliminates that because the friction between it and the base creates enough heat to make the wax smear in that spot and smooth it out. I'm using it to reestablish a smooth surface after scraping. That surface is what I then brush and polish to the point where I have trouble standing in the lift line.
 
14343359:tominiemenmaa said:
My process is very close to OP's, but I wax after 5 to 8 ski days or earlier if the bases look dry. Waxing is very comforting and offers some serious zen and that's why I love it.

I use nylon & horse hair roto brushes only and never understood what the cork brush would add to it. Care to elaborate?
Click to expand...

What Nate said.

14343429:NateDude said:
So for me every 3 weeks ends up being every 3-6 ski days. I dont let the bases get very dry

I use the cork because when I scrape I'm generally not doing long passes down the whole ski. Ill go back and forth to work one area at a time while working my way down the whole length. So even when I've scraped most of it off, the scraper leaves little horizontal lines in each place I stop and change direction. Using the cork eliminates that because the friction between it and the base creates enough heat to make the wax smear in that spot and smooth it out. I'm using it to reestablish a smooth surface after scraping. That surface is what I then brush and polish to the point where I have trouble standing in the lift line.
Click to expand...

Nate, you might want to work on your scraping technique.
 
14342949:PissWizard69 said:
If your looking to strip old wax off your skis I recommend paint thinner with a buffing pad. I work at a ski shop and thats all we use and it works like a charm
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Won't that break down the porous structure of the base, preventing it from absorbing as much wax? I either use base cleaner or a cheap wax and scrape with a metal scraper to pull dirt from the base. That downvote wasnt me btw
 
14342949:PissWizard69 said:
If your looking to strip old wax off your skis I recommend paint thinner with a buffing pad. I work at a ski shop and thats all we use and it works like a charm
Click to expand...

Can I get the name of this shop so I can make sure to never get wax done there lol
 
14342768:SofaKingSick said:
i've never been aware of a spray-on that lasts and works well. worth trying? i'm all butthurt at my current slow bases and i wax them pretty well/often
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Yeah I think this stuff is worth trying. They sponsor my friend who goes like 80mph on his snowskate. He turned me onto the stuff.
 
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