DIY Infrared heat waxer

[Comish]

So I understand there are some newfangled wiz bang infrared heat waxing machines out there. Anyone have any opinions on the wax job they provide versus the old standard ironed in wax or the iron over a sheet wax to avoid the scraping?

Anyone tried a DIY type solution ala this: https://blog.greenicewax.com/2016/10/03/using-infrared-heat-to-wax-skis-and-snowboards/

Cost is right versus the few $k machine

 

[cantunamunch]

Anyone tried a DIY type solution ala this: https://blog.greenicewax.com/2016/10/03/using-infrared-heat-to-wax-skis-and-snowboards/

Cost is right versus the few $k machine

^the line between that and DIY light-bulb-powered hot boxes gets very blurry by the time you encase the IR-treated skis to illuminate the entire base and to stop shop dust from settling into your wax.

 

[David]

My local shop has one of these. As he explained it to me it's a hotbox in less than a minute without cooking the binding and especially the ski and it's bonding agents. He did 2 of my skis. I haven't noticed any difference but I believe it will help with the base longevity and wax durability.

 

[Jacques]

OMG here we go again! Heat is heat.

Advantage = Nobody gonna' over heat your base!
Advantage over other methods in the right hands = none.

Heat is heat.

I have been hot boxing skis for several years up to as high as 150 F. Never had any issues other than great results for base preparation.
As long as the skis are not damaged or already bad from construction, it not a problem.
A ski binding can handle 150+F no problem.
The grease used has a much higher dropping point than that. Then again if one re greased a binding, who know what they used? Worse case, you drip some grease on the ski below.

See this test video.

 

[Captain Furious]

How long do you keep the skis in the hotbox? I just ran mine overnight for about 12 hours. I'd love to know what the recommended time and temp is. Thanks

Bill

 

[DanoT]

The big advantage of infrared be it DIY lamp or commercial machine is it uses less wax and more importantly requires no wax scraping and is very fast when compared to iron on waxing.

Infrared lamps are used for quick drying paint by body shops and according to a bodyman that I have talked to it is the heat penetrating properties of infrared that contribute to the quick drying.

I have a dry sauna with infrared heat panels and the owner's manual talks about the health benefits of the penetrating infrared heat.

For more than 25 years my ski chalet has been a 5th wheel trailer and I have a lot of experience with electric space heaters. I have found that infrared space heaters, while quite bulky, seem to throw out the most heat and other RVers have had similar results.

So,

Heat is heat.

is not something that I subscribe to.

 

[Tom K.]

The big advantage of infrared be it DIY lamp or commercial machine is it uses less wax and more importantly requires no wax scraping and is very fast when compared to iron on waxing.

Subscribed!

 

[Jacques]

How long do you keep the skis in the hotbox? I just ran mine overnight for about 12 hours. I'd love to know what the recommended time and temp is. Thanks

Bill

I run about 150F. Rather than 12 hours, I would run 4 cycles of 3 hours cooling skis totally each time. Or 3 cycles at 4 hours.
Heat and cool, heat and cool. That's what gets the wax in.

 

[Captain Furious]

I run about 150F. Rather than 12 hours, I would run 4 cycles of 3 hours cooling skis totally each time. Or 3 cycles at 4 hours.
Heat and cool, heat and cool. That's what gets the wax in.

AWESOME!!! Thanks, Jacques!

Bill

 

[Jacques]

The big advantage of infrared be it DIY lamp or commercial machine is it uses less wax and more importantly requires no wax scraping and is very fast when compared to iron on waxing.

Infrared lamps are used for quick drying paint by body shops and according to a bodyman that I have talked to it is the heat penetrating properties of infrared that contribute to the quick drying.

I have a dry sauna with infrared heat panels and the owner's manual talks about the health benefits of the penetrating infrared heat.

For more than 25 years my ski chalet has been a 5th wheel trailer and I have a lot of experience with electric space heaters. I have found that infrared space heaters, while quite bulky, seem to throw out the most heat and other RVers have had similar results.

So,

is not something that I subscribe to.

Hmmmm........IDK about that.
I use 1500 watts of infrared heating elements in my hot box. It's not light though. It's heating elements. Anyway the box said as much. Maybe I got ripped off.?

 

[Jacques]

AWESOME!!! Thanks, Jacques!

Bill

BTW you can run down to 125F or so for a super soft wax. Harder waxes will do better if you can achieve 150F ish.

 

[DanoT]

Hmmmm........IDK about that.
I use 1500 watts of infrared heating elements in my hot box. It's not light though. It's heating elements. Anyway the box said as much. Maybe I got ripped off.?

I have never hot boxed my skis and so I don't much about it, but I do have access to a Wintersteiger Infrared "Future Wax" machine. Based on Jacques description of his hot boxing technique I would say that the Infrared system would not give as desirable results nor is it intended to.

Where Infrared waxing excels is in comparison to iron on waxing, and not in terms of finished results but in terms of speed and using less wax and making less mess.

 

[cantunamunch]

[QUOTE="DanoT, post: 285228, member: 76"
Where Infrared waxing excels is in comparison to iron on waxing, and not in terms of finished results but in terms of speed and using less wax and making less mess.[/QUOTE]

and waxes with additives like moly, graphite or powdered FC are still iron only.

 

[Jacques]

[QUOTE="DanoT, post: 285228, member: 76"
Where Infrared waxing excels is in comparison to iron on waxing, and not in terms of finished results but in terms of speed and using less wax and making less mess.

and waxes with additives like moly, graphite or powdered FC are still iron only.[/QUOTE]

I always rub on a bit of any graphite wax before I touch and rub the rest on. Then I iron like normal making several passes. Then I can see the graphite working in.
When I hot box a ski, I always iron it again after it cools. Then again, I can see the graphite work in.
I agree. Graphite needs or seems to like some physical working and not just a static hot boxing.
When done correctly one can see the graphite after a total scraping and total brushing.
You can really see it good on a other than black base, yet can still see it on a black base.

 

[DanoT]

Graphite??? I use universal shop wax... I am not racing anyone.