Solution for scraping wax off skis

[Noodler]

I apply rotational pressure so that the leading edge of the iron can rise above the dripped wax more readily and the trailing edge has more pressure allowing the wax to spread. I don't rotate so much that the leading edge is elevated, nor do I press down, per se.

I also take at minimum two passes so the ski is warmed and the wax spread on the first pass. On the second pass the wax is spread more and more evenly heated than in the first pass. I have about an inch or three of 'shiny' wax following the iron.

Scraping also pushes the wax into the base. A lot more forcefully, I would guess, than simply the iron.

Interesting technique you use with the iron. I have always tended to just "float" the iron on the wax pool and let the weight of the iron do its thing. It's only when I add the fiberlene towel do I push on the iron and allow the excess was to be absorbed by the towel.

 

[James]

I often use the slight rotation of the iron in the hand too. Towards trailing edge. Or two hands tipping it back slightly.
I don’t iron powders but I think you pretty much have to do that. Or do the place flat, lift, flat, on and on.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Here are illustrations of what I do in the shop.


Put the wax on frugally. Only practice will let you know what the right amount is. If you have to scrape a lot of wax off your side edges or sidewalls, you are applying too much.


The first pass from tail to tip. It spreads the wax across the ski and warms the ski. If you look closely, you'll see the line of dripped wax still is slightly visible. Note the slick is about 25 mm long following the iron which is moving away from the camera.


The 2nd (or return) pass goes from tip to tail. The ski is already warm, the wax mostly distributed already so the second pass does a nice job of completely melting and spreading the wax.


After two passes. Note that you can see the structure clearly through the wax. This is Holmenkol LF Universal, btw. It is somewhat hard and slow to melt. This was a casual wax job, not a customer ski; I didn't do any p-tex repair. Base grind and disc edging only.


The bottom ski has been scraped with a very sharp scraper. I collected the wax to show how little actually comes off during scraping. That pile of scrapings is pretty insignificant. You need your scraper sharp and straight to get this kind of result. With this harder Universal wax, I use one edge of the scraper per ski, sometimes per pair of skis depending on how flat the bases are (not all waxing is done to just-ground bases).


This is after first brush pass.


After final roto-brushing. The color variation from top to bottom is due to lighting for the most part. This ski is good to go although for racing, I would have done some more brushing. Even so, the structure is crisp and nearly wax free.

As you can see the difference between scraped only and brushed is pretty minor. You spend a lot of time brushing if you don't have a sharp scraper and pay attention to the areas that aren't getting well scraped.

 

[crgildart]

I did a quick video of my scraper sharpening hack so folks can see how I do it without a bench or sharpener at all sometimes. Couple callouts. I actually do it with a lot more pressure and securely using two hands. In the video I'm holding the phone in one so one handed wasn't a solid, really good way to get a good refreshed edge.
Also, remember these are $5 scrapers so absolute precision isn't necessary for the task at hand Regardless, you can totally do this to refresh your edge out in the field for a quick fix then square it up better again using your home tuning bench scraper sharpening set up later.

It does take practice to get good doing it this way, and again it works much better using two hands to hold the scraper and ski steady when dragging it across.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I did a quick video of my scraper sharpening hack so folks can see how I do it without a bench or sharpener at all sometimes. Couple callouts. I actually do it with a lot more pressure and securely using two hands. In the video I'm holding the phone in one so one handed wasn't a solid, really good way to get a good refreshed edge.
Also, remember these are $5 scrapers so absolute precision isn't necessary for the task at hand Regardless, you can totally do this to refresh your edge out in the field for a quick fix then square it up better again using your home tuning bench scraper sharpening set up later.

It does take practice to get good doing it this way, and again it works much better using two hands to hold the scraper and ski steady when dragging it across.

I've used the ski edge for removing hanging p-tex from base-hits and for removing ice from climbing skins and bases.

 

[Marker]

I apply rotational pressure so that the leading edge of the iron can rise above the dripped wax more readily and the trailing edge has more pressure allowing the wax to spread. I don't rotate so much that the leading edge is elevated, nor do I press down, per se.

I also take at minimum two passes so the ski is warmed and the wax spread on the first pass. On the second pass the wax is spread more and more evenly heated than in the first pass. I have about an inch or three of 'shiny' wax following the iron.

Scraping also pushes the wax into the base. A lot more forcefully, I would guess, than simply the iron.

I usually do three passes with the fiberlene method to get everything up to temperature so the wax is easily absorbed. I've adopted @Jacques method of moving the iron down the ski in an rotational oval pattern to get the center of the iron over the metal edge during part of the pass, which helps with wide skis (it also minimizes the amount of wax needed to cover the base). The passes with fiberlene do have more pressure, but doubt that really matters. I think the extra passes with the fiberlene just gives the hot wax more opportunity to penetrate the base, and it picks up debris that doesn't brush out or wipe off with isopropanol/water that I use for cleaning the base and lubricating the edge tools.

 

[Jacques]

I usually do three passes with the fiberlene method to get everything up to temperature so the wax is easily absorbed. I've adopted @Jacques method of moving the iron down the ski in an rotational oval pattern to get the center of the iron over the metal edge during part of the pass, which helps with wide skis (it also minimizes the amount of wax needed to cover the base). The passes with fiberlene do have more pressure, but doubt that really matters. I think the extra passes with the fiberlene just gives the hot wax more opportunity to penetrate the base, and it picks up debris that doesn't brush out or wipe off with isopropanol/water that I use for cleaning the base and lubricating the edge tools.

Paying attention to those fast cooling edge base interface areas will help avoid base burn at the edges.
Thing is that the fatter the ski the more it can become a bit convex with iron heat, just like the camber changes with base heat.
Anytime we heat one side only of something it's like a bi-metal spring bending from heat.

 

[crgildart]

Paying attention to those fast cooling edge base interface areas will help avoid base burn at the edges.
Thing is that the fatter the ski the more it can become a bit convex with iron heat, just like the camber changes with base heat.
Anytime we heat one side only of something it's like a bi-metal spring bending from heat.

That's why I wax my topsheets every time I wax my bases! It evens it back out...

 

[Noodler]

I did a quick video of my scraper sharpening hack so folks can see how I do it without a bench or sharpener at all sometimes. Couple callouts. I actually do it with a lot more pressure and securely using two hands. In the video I'm holding the phone in one so one handed wasn't a solid, really good way to get a good refreshed edge.
Also, remember these are $5 scrapers so absolute precision isn't necessary for the task at hand Regardless, you can totally do this to refresh your edge out in the field for a quick fix then square it up better again using your home tuning bench scraper sharpening set up later.

It does take practice to get good doing it this way, and again it works much better using two hands to hold the scraper and ski steady when dragging it across.

That's a poor man's version of this relatively inexpensive tool:

But I'll throw you some credit for always having "your tool" available no matter where you are.

 

[crgildart]

That's a poor man's version of this relatively inexpensive tool:

View attachment 89727

But I'll throw you some credit for always having "your tool" available no matter where you are.

I leave skis unscraped in the ski box because I don't always use every pair I bring. Scraper in boot bag or ski pants pocket, with sharpener always there.. And my sharpener is easier to sharpen than that one.. How you sharpen your sharpener? Mine gets sharpened every time I tune my skis.

 

[Marker]

We typically alternate weekends between home and Killington during ski season due to w**k and life. We'll be back up next weekend into Tuesday. So I'm going to the gym tonight and then home to tune and wax my skis for the next trip! I only have two pair of all mtn to do as the others didn't get used much or at all in our last trip over NY.

 

[Mr Neverhome]

Scrape until no wax comes off anymore. Brush like crazy!
Don't be afraid to brush with steel, brass, copper after scraping wax. As a mater of fact, do use them.
Polish with nylon or horsehair for dry snow. If wet snow, do not polish.

Brand new to this awesome forum and completely new to tuning skis so please forgive the stupid question. I just got roto brushes (brass, nylon and horse hair) and I’m using them after scraping to finish waxing. My question is, by doing the edge sharpening first, then waxing/brushing, am I making the edges dull by using the brass brush? Thanks in advance!

 

[KingGrump]

Brand new to this awesome forum and completely new to tuning skis so please forgive the stupid question. I just got roto brushes (brass, nylon and horse hair) and I’m using them after scraping to finish waxing. My question is, by doing the edge sharpening first, then waxing/brushing, am I making the edges dull by using the brass brush? Thanks in advance!

The ski edge is much harder than the brass bristle.

 

[Mr Neverhome]

The ski edge is much harder than the brass bristle.

Ok, thank you! So, If my sequence is: edge sharpen, wax, scrape, brass, nylon, horse hair...done, does that sound sound right?

 

[KingGrump]

done, does that sound sound right?

Not done. Go ski, otherwise wasted effort.

Sounds about right.

 

[Jacques]

Brand new to this awesome forum and completely new to tuning skis so please forgive the stupid question. I just got roto brushes (brass, nylon and horse hair) and I’m using them after scraping to finish waxing. My question is, by doing the edge sharpening first, then waxing/brushing, am I making the edges dull by using the brass brush? Thanks in advance!

No, but I speak of hand brushing. With a roto, brushing is another beast.

 

[James]

Ok, thank you! So, If my sequence is: edge sharpen, wax, scrape, brass, nylon, horse hair...done, does that sound sound right?

Nylon is usually used for polishing. Scrape> Brass > horse hair. Roto you can probably skip the brass. Be wary of brass rotos as they can shed strands. Not good in the eye.

 

[Doug Briggs]

The brass brush won't dull your edges. With a roto or by hand.

 

[Noodler]

Since this is the latest thread discussing waxing, I'm here with an update on the "fiberlene method". I have previously posted that I was using some disposable towels I had found on Amazon instead of fiberlene. I recently ran out of those and while looking for a replacement I found these. I'm happy to report that these are much better than the other Scott towels I was using. I think they're also better than actual fiberlene. They have much more absorption capacity, so the end result was that I literally didn't need to scrape the base at all. I was able to go straight to brushing. I also like that the towels are longer at 17" and that allows one towel to do a pair of skis. The length provides more room to move the iron along the towel while moving along the length of the ski.

So there's your solution for scraping wax off skis. Use these towels and you won't need to scrape at all.

 

[udailey]

I have the tuning gear but not the patience. I take the skis to the hill and while in the back of the truck I pull out the metal American Express card and quickly scrape excess wax then give it maybe two passes with a stiff bristle natural hair brush. Then ski. Skiing takes off wax real well