Crayon approach to waxing

[mdf]

OK, first it was a revelation to realize that I apparently do NOT have the messiest garage in the world after all!

Second, crayoning harder waxes is pretty hard. Ha ha.

So......I clamp my heat gun in my second vise and use it to soften the wax. Works great. Uses less wax, and makes scraping easier.

I'd like to know what @Jacques thinks about this.

The touch-and-crayon approach is sort of similar. Touch the wax bar on the iron very briefly, then crayon a stroke or two. Repeat, alternating rapidly.

 

[Tom K.]

The touch-and-crayon approach is sort of similar. Touch the wax bar on the iron very briefly, then crayon a stroke or two. Repeat, alternating rapidly.

That sounds simpler. I'll have to give it a whirl. Thanks!

 

[James]

^ To scrape super hard waxes like Swix 4, hit a section with an iron, scrape, then repeat, working the length of the ski.
Trying to scrape without heating will have the wax exploding off off like scraping varnish.

 

[EricG]

The touch-and-crayon approach is sort of similar. Touch the wax bar on the iron very briefly, then crayon a stroke or two. Repeat, alternating rapidly.

I may have misspoke early about my use of the crayon method. I always touch the iron with the wax block before rubbing on the ski as @mdf described. I'm not just rubbing hard wax on the ski.

 

[Steve]

 

[JimL]

I've been using @mdf's touch-and-crayon method since I first read about it decades ago in Witherall's How the Racers Ski.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Trying to scrape without heating will have the wax exploding off off like scraping varnish.

I think that if your wax is exploding your iron wasn't hot enough.

 

[Tom K.]

^ To scrape super hard waxes like Swix 4, hit a section with an iron, scrape, then repeat, working the length of the ski.
Trying to scrape without heating will have the wax exploding off off like scraping varnish.

I run into this with some brands of wax more than others. Had never considered "re-ironing" for easier scraping. Thanks!

Regarding Ski MD, I used that for a winter with darn good results, but would hot wax about every fourth time. Then I had what I'll call "the elbow incident" and rubbing that much/hard didn't really work anymore.

Bummer, since it was a GREAT way to re-wax on ski trips away from my waxing bench.

 

[Steve]

It's a good upper body workout for sure. Mike put such a beautiful structure on my skis and is so adamant about me not ruining it with hot waxing, that I'm trying his way entirely this season. So far I've had great results, cruise past people on the flats even on a second day (I try to do it every day.)

I asked Mike about once in a while doing Graphite Zoom Renew hot wax, and he said "why? you can't replace the graphite in the base. It doesn't do anything." Based on years of arguments on epicski about some "conventional wisdom" that is questionable. Like base burn, oxidation. This is so quick and (aside from possible tennis elbow problems) easy and my skis look beautiful after maybe 20 days on them, so I'm schticking to it.

 

[Steve]

I stopped storage wax a few years ago, never had a problem.

 

[Jacques]

OK, first it was a revelation to realize that I apparently do NOT have the messiest garage in the world after all!

Second, crayoning harder waxes is pretty hard. Ha ha.

So......I clamp my heat gun in my second vise and use it to soften the wax. Works great. Uses less wax, and makes scraping easier.

I'd like to know what @Jacques thinks about this.

I crayon on waxes all the time. Usually much more than shown in the video from the OP.
Need good layer of wax. Don't use a super hot iron if you don't have a nice layer of wax.

 

[Jacques]

^ To scrape super hard waxes like Swix 4, hit a section with an iron, scrape, then repeat, working the length of the ski.
Trying to scrape without heating will have the wax exploding off off like scraping varnish.

Really, it's fine to scrape super hard waxes when they are warm just after ironing, just don't brush out until fully cooled.
Super hard waxes only need 45 minutes to an hour to fully cool.

 

[Sibhusky]

For hard waxes like CH3 and 4, I use the Fiberlene before cooling, then re-iron to soften the wax again and scrape, rewarm and scrape. Not enough to make it liquid, just to soften it. Then hit it with the rotobrush.
I'm not a member of the crayon crew unless it's a bit of fluoro in the spring. (Bought a buck of it a couple seasons back which will probably last longer than the rest of my skiing career.)

 

[Wilhelmson]

I've settled on cold-crayon red, then drip on some green, and iron it all in together. They've been gliding nicely from very cold to regular cold.

 

[Jacques]

I've settled on cold-crayon red, then drip on some green, and iron it all in together. They've been gliding nicely from very cold to regular cold.

So you are hardening the wax with that mix.
When one does that, the wax really needs to be worked over well with the iron to get it to fully mix well.
I do that sort of thing quite often.
If it is a blend that I might often use, I will mix the wax in a pot first, then no need to work quite as hard with the iron to get a good mix.
It's pretty self-explanatory, but here is how I do it.

 

[Wilhelmson]

So you are hardening the wax with that mix.
When one does that, the wax really needs to be worked over well with the iron to get it to fully mix well.
I do that sort of thing quite often.
If it is a blend that I might often use, I will mix the wax in a pot first, then no need to work quite as hard with the iron to get a good mix.
It's pretty self-explanatory, but here is how I do it.

Cool. For my rec needs I find that cold crayoning red preps and protects the base to accept the dripped on green. I don't run into any wax-base separation. I don't know if its much better than just slapping on some Hot Sauce, but it seems to hold up better. Of course it's not a substitute for pure green and scraping and brushing for 40 minutes.

 

[cantunamunch]

Cool. For my rec needs I find that cold crayoning red preps and protects the base to accept the dripped on green. I don't run into any wax-base separation. I don't know if its much better than just slapping on some Hot Sauce, but it seems to hold up better. Of course it's not a substitute for pure green and scraping and brushing for 40 minutes.

There should also be an immediately noticeable difference in the 'ropiness' of the ironed on wax, too.

 

[Daves not here]

I crayon as well when I hot wax - just keeps things cleaner in the end. I have adopted a plan of Hot Wax Clean + Hot Wax the WOD every 6-8 days. I have been utilizing the Rays Way daily in between hot cycles. Testing it out this year and it seems to be working pretty well. I mainly use Purl Purple until it gets to extremes on each end ... which is rare.

 

[TheArchitect]

It's a good upper body workout for sure. Mike put such a beautiful structure on my skis and is so adamant about me not ruining it with hot waxing, that I'm trying his way entirely this season. So far I've had great results, cruise past people on the flats even on a second day (I try to do it every day.)

I asked Mike about once in a while doing Graphite Zoom Renew hot wax, and he said "why? you can't replace the graphite in the base. It doesn't do anything." Based on years of arguments on epicski about some "conventional wisdom" that is questionable. Like base burn, oxidation. This is so quick and (aside from possible tennis elbow problems) easy and my skis look beautiful after maybe 20 days on them, so I'm schticking to it.

I picked up a Pro-Glide last year but have yet to use it. I think I might try it for this weekend. What wax are you using with it?

 

[Steve]

I have some LF7 and LF8 I've been using this season, works great and I'm not polluting the atmosphere. I do wear gloves while I rub it on so I don't get flouro's in my pores!

I also have Zoom and Graphite Zoom I've used it with.