Hot Waxing Approach

[Philpug]

Don't forget a nice single malt

 

[cantunamunch]

 

[Yo Momma]

Ooh it's a ski waxing party...........

 

[AmyPJ]

I have taken the express route. Heat wax bar on the iron then while hot, rub onto base. Then iron slowly with no pressure, no rotation of the iron, lightly with temps that the wax look clear for abotu 4-6" behind the iron. With this method, there is very little excess wax on the ski, so there is no need to scrape. I will take a blue shop towel under the iron then go from tip to tail which will absorb most of the wax then I wil rotobrush once cool. No scraping, very little waste or mess.

This visual learner is having trouble visualizing this. Would love a quick video of the process )

 

[KevinF]

Use the towel between the iron and the base and it absorbs the wax..no need to scrape..and no wax shavings to clean up.

I'll try shop towels this year. I have to set up my tuning bench again soon (season is getting closer!), so I'll give that a try. Less cleanup is good.

 

[razie]

I do the crayon method with the expensive race waxes... otherwise it takes more time for me and it's more fussy. Maybe I didn't put in the time to get used to it, but the thought of hot iron on unprotected based messes with my head. And possibly with my Head. /I use plenty of cold hard waxes and that may account for my perception.

I do things the normal way and order a lot of wax.

As to wax absorption, a pass at about 3mm/sec yielded the best results in some scientific tests. That's what I've been doing for over two seasons: one pass to melt it and one or two slow passes to "absorb" it. I'm too lazy to change iron temp, so I slightly adjust the gliding speed if the trail of molten wax is too long.

 

[quant]

No one rubs on the wax and then melts it in using a heat gun while on vacation (less mess)? No one turns the ironing board in the hotel room upside down to use as a ski workbench? Where are the innovators?

At home I use a dedicated waxing iron (labeled "Holmenkol" but I have no idea who makes it) in the traditional way, hot but not too hot, with the same temperature setting marked with a Sharpie given I am going through a 250 gram brick. When the wax runs out I'll buy something else and figure out what temp. works for that wax.

 

[Dwight]

I have taken the express route. Heat wax bar on the iron then while hot, rub onto base. Then iron slowly with no pressure, no rotation of the iron, lightly with temps that the wax look clear for abotu 4-6" behind the iron. With this method, there is very little excess wax on the ski, so there is no need to scrape. I will take a blue shop towel under the iron then go from tip to tail which will absorb most of the wax then I wil rotobrush once cool. No scraping, very little waste or mess.

I just did 14 pairs last night using pretty much this method. No more dripping for me. It was easier and saved a lot more wax mess. Though I did scrape one or two times on some skis. I just like scraping.

I used a roto brush for the first time. I did two full length passes. Do people usually only do one or multiple pass with the brush? Thanks

 

[Yo Momma]

I used a roto brush for the first time. I did two full length passes. Do people usually only do one or multiple pass with the brush? Thanks

Welcome to Roto World! "You can check out any time you like, but you will never leave!" (Hotel Cali) A few passes back and forth w/ the roto brush. Then I touch up w/ a nylon brush if needed then finish w/ Fibertex fine ( http://www.tognar.com/fibertex-scotchbrite-pads-fine-medium/ ) Then Zardoz ( http://www.tognar.com/brands/Zardoz.html )

 

[Dwight]

Welcome to Roto World! "You can check out any time you like, but you will never leave!" (Hotel Cali) A few passes back and forth w/ the roto brush. Then I touch up w/ a nylon brush if needed then finish w/ Fibertex fine ( http://www.tognar.com/fibertex-scotchbrite-pads-fine-medium/ ) Then Zardoz ( http://www.tognar.com/brands/Zardoz.html )

I use the fibertex at home with no roto brush.

 

[Yo Momma]

I use the fibertex at home with no roto brush.

Yes before waxing I use the Fibertex "Coarse", to touch up spots Medium........... then after waxing the Fine........ they work great.

 

[UGASkiDawg]

I have taken the express route. Heat wax bar on the iron then while hot, rub onto base. Then iron slowly with no pressure, no rotation of the iron, lightly with temps that the wax look clear for abotu 4-6" behind the iron. With this method, there is very little excess wax on the ski, so there is no need to scrape. I will take a blue shop towel under the iron then go from tip to tail which will absorb most of the wax then I wil rotobrush once cool. No scraping, very little waste or mess.

This doesn't work as well on ch5 or harder waxes. The block hardens to fast for me get wax on the ski. Works great for 6 and up....but I still have to scrape.....use too much wax I guess

 

[Primoz]

If you would use so little wax that you wouldn't need to scrap off (well you always should anyway ), then you are actually touching ptex with iron without anything inbetween and that's absolutely not good for ptex.

 

[Yo Momma]

That's exactly why we keep the iron moving............. no pauses, just nice fluid stroking............ ( reference song in post #19 )

 

[bbinder]

I use Raysway tool -- now marketed as Proglide by Mike Desantis at www.skimd.com when I travel. Fast, easy, no wasted wax.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

This visual learner is having trouble visualizing this. Would love a quick video of the process

I second that request!

 

[cantunamunch]

This doesn't work as well on ch5 or harder waxes. The block hardens to fast for me get wax on the ski. Works great for 6 and up....but I still have to scrape.....use too much wax I guess

Use a bigger contact surface, like the fattest side of the block you're holding. Using the narrow side is only a rate control for quick-melting waxes and that job is done by the hard wax in this case; we're not actually protecting our fingers or anything.

But I expect you know that if you're using CH5 on any regular basis.

 

[KevinF]

I used CH5 with disturbing frequency two winters ago (i.e., 14/15) when it was non-stop cold in New England. The crayon method (i.e., melt the wax on the iron and scrub on the base) seemed to work for me... I wouldn't get very far before I needed to remelt the wax on the iron. Maybe a little wasteful, but it worked.

I was waxing the skis up the other day in prep for the season starting again; you can definitely get a lot farther with the softer waxes before needing to remelt the wax block.

 

[Chris Walker]

I used to use a Hertel hot waxer to roll on a thin even layer of wax and then iron it in. It worked well but took a long time for the wax in the machine to melt and changing to a different temp wax would've been tough (I used ia universal wax at the time). I switched to the hot crayon method described herein, and it works well for me. I forego the towel and iron step, so I still do scrape, but t much less than I would with the traditional drip method.

 

[Mendieta]

This video from our sponsor Slidewright seems to be showing the Crayon method, right?