You pro tuners make it look easy!

[Eric@ict]

I’ve always had a shop take care of my skis, which meant 3-4 times a year I visited them and watched as they worked their magic. This year, I decided to wax and tune myself. Waxing is a true art form. Using old skis, my first coat was very heavy and I didn’t let them cool enough. No need for pushups tonight! Thick not dry wax sucks! Cleaned polished and applied a second coat, trying to concentrate on the amount of wax and application process using the iron, better but still way too much wax in my opinion. I’ll let it dry overnight and see how easy it is to work with in the morning.

I checked edges and I do have a few nicks to clean up on one pair and a nasty side edge from a machine that I know won’t clean up by hand. I dress it the best I can, but it skied fine last year, so I won’t go after it too hard. It’s close to my tip. It’s one if the things I’m disappointed in my shop with. After reading a lot on tuning and waxing, some of the things I’ve experienced should not have happened. With that said, The only complaint I’ve really had is my base edges under the boot were white after about 2-3 runs. The skis are only 2years old so I am not sure they have had enough wax applied. I plan on hot waxing them a few times to see if that stops.

if you guys have any tips for a new guy, I am open to suggestions and recommendations.

 

[mdf]

There's lots of instructional videos and posts out there. So I'll just wax (har har har) philosophical instead.
There are perfectionists and pragmatiists -- I'm somewhere in the middle myself.
Set all you side edges the same -- it's easier. Get dedicated side tools -- the multi-tools are pretty horrible.
Check your files or stones for colored residue indicating the sidewalls are getting in the way -- trim them back if they are (google for details, using the site:pugski.com syntax).
Temperature-specific wax is better than universal, but universal is better than no wax.
The fiberlene method (which I learned from a few @Atomicman posts) will cut down on wax waste and mess.

If you like to learn from videos, look for youtube videos from @Jacques or Start-haus or Toko.

Flattening bases is for a shop, but the rest really is not that hard.

edit to add -- by the way, in the profile picture I am currently using, i'm just finishing up tuning my skis in the parking lot outside the motel at Jackson Hole during a Gathering.

another edit to add -- I've gotten bettter at low-mess tuning since then. Last year at Big Sky we tuned our skis inside on the wet bar in the condo we rented using the thick bags from the expensive grocery store for protection. We took turns holding each others skis while the other worked in place of a vice.

 

[Eric267]

Not a shop rat here but fairly competent home tuner.

* gummy stones are your friend! There is a good amount of edge damage that can be fixed with just a hard and a soft gummy. You are far less likely to do damage with one also which is helpful for the learning process.

*ALWAYS do all edge work and wipe clean prior to wax

* rotate your wax bar at different angles to create "sharp points" as you melt from the corner of the iron. This will help to control the stream of the drip for even distribution and less mess. Paying attention to the amount you scrape off/sweep up when done will help you judge how much is needed during application so as not to waste

* temper your skis when possible. Going right from a cold car or garage onto the tuning bench slows the process a bit


As said above look for videos from Start~haus on YouTube. Some are a bit advanced for a beginner but they are filled with crazy knowledge

I like this one 8 part series from backcountry for basics
https://www.backcountry.com/explore/ski-tuning-in-8-easy-steps-8-videos

 

[Jacques]

I’ve always had a shop take care of my skis, which meant 3-4 times a year I visited them and watched as they worked their magic. This year, I decided to wax and tune myself. Waxing is a true art form. Using old skis, my first coat was very heavy and I didn’t let them cool enough. No need for pushups tonight! Thick not dry wax sucks! Cleaned polished and applied a second coat, trying to concentrate on the amount of wax and application process using the iron, better but still way too much wax in my opinion. I’ll let it dry overnight and see how easy it is to work with in the morning.

I checked edges and I do have a few nicks to clean up on one pair and a nasty side edge from a machine that I know won’t clean up by hand. I dress it the best I can, but it skied fine last year, so I won’t go after it too hard. It’s close to my tip. It’s one if the things I’m disappointed in my shop with. After reading a lot on tuning and waxing, some of the things I’ve experienced should not have happened. With that said, The only complaint I’ve really had is my base edges under the boot were white after about 2-3 runs. The skis are only 2years old so I am not sure they have had enough wax applied. I plan on hot waxing them a few times to see if that stops.

if you guys have any tips for a new guy, I am open to suggestions and recommendations.

Don't try to learn waxing with an iron too hot.
One needs to learn to "read the wax"
Heating the base to the edges, and over heating at the edges needs to be addressed.
The edges are a heat sink. With a good base bevel one must focus some heat to the edges. With an edge high ski, one must use caution to not over heat the edges.
You may need to scrape away those gray parts of the base and start over again.
Maybe I talk about that here.
If not go listen to this one here.
These are long, but you might learn what you seek. Good luck.

 

[Doug Briggs]

White bases, or base burn, while obscured briefly by waxing will come right back. The only way to eliminate base burn permanently is to remove it either through scraping with a steel scraper or having them ground, which should remove all base burn.

 

[hbear]

Sometimes the white residue is just excess wax that wasn’t completely brushed off or coming out of the base.

A quick scrape with your fingernail on it will let you know if that’s the case. Base burn is unmistakable.

 

[Scruffy]

As @mdf stated, the fiberlene method of waxing will cut down immensely the amount of wax you'll need to scrape off; of course you'll still need to learn how much wax is enough to melt on and iron in--which is much less than you think, and from the sound of it much less than you've been doing. My first attempt at waxing skis many moons ago, I also applied too much wax and did not scrape enough. It was an interesting adventure on the mountain that next day
BTW - depending on where you ski and the snow surface characteristics, you may need to wax your skis often. Skiing in the north east, and not racing, as a general rule, I'll wax after every 2-3 days of skiing. Don't be daunted by that, once you get it down, waxing pretty quick and easy. Have fun with it.

 

[Eric@ict]

Thank you to all for the encouragement and advise. Second coat wax was better, but still too much. Letting it sit overnight is key, scraping was a breeze.

I will scrape the bases on the one pair, but only have an issue from toe to heel binding. Is it ok to only scrape the small area instead of the complete base?

Someone mentioned the area I ski. Colorado 90% of the time summit county. Washington state, is the other place.

I’ve watched many videos on you tube and those are great. Nothing like hitting all modalities of learning to fully understand a task. With that said this type of interaction is tops. The fiberlene method is neat. I’ll try that later. Thank you again for putting up with the new guy.

During my reading on this site, I noticed many had to find work arounds for an area to wax due to space. I too had that concern, so built a movable box out of pine. Thought was when not using, I can stand on end. Here are some pics of my wax/tune box. Hope it helps others who are taking the plunge. It is 6 foot x 12inches. Used 1inch pine to build to keep the weight down for easy moving.

 

[Scrundy]

Did the fiberlene thing for years also. Wife got me a Roto Brush last season, it’s the bomb. Now I just scrape and roto brush. So much quicker and much nicer finish. Like advised above edges first then wax, any heavy burs are taken out with a stone and then edges worked with a medium or fine diamond stone. Only detuning done is the very tip and I do it with a bluestone rock or deer antler, gave up the gummy stone.

 

[NE1]

What I do to prevent base burn on the edges: after scraping and cleaning the base (i.e., prior to waxing), rub a strip of hard (cold temp) wax down each edge, covering about 1/4 inch of the base on each side. Then hot wax as you would normally.

 

[Steve]

Mike Desantis told me last week that if I'm going to hotwax to use a lot of wax. He advocates using the Pro-Glide (formerly the Wax Wizard) which is kind of like a cork, you rub the wax on with it. https://skimd.com/pro-glide

He's not into us heating up his beautifully ground skis.

So his advice is to use a lot of wax and keep the iron moving, don't try to slowly spread a small amount of wax all over the skis (which is what I've been doing for years.) He says to put a nice river down near each edge of the ski, not just droplets.

Another thing he taught me many years ago was to pull up slightly on the iron while waxing.

 

[hbear]

Yes, more wax is safer than using too little. A touch more “wasted” wax but pennies in the big picture for those not using flouro powders (if you are, you would likely know precisely how much wax you need).

Hot iron directly touching a wax less base when trying to spread a tiny drop of wax around is a recipe for base burn in the hands of a rookie for sure.

 

[Scruffy]

Most beginner waxers apply way too much wax, so too little is usually not the issue. Before anyone takes a waxing iron to their skis they should do some research and watch a view good videos to see how it's done. Also, your wax iron has to be set to the correct temp. Usually marked on the wax package, or just below smoking. If you keep your iron moving you should not have any fear of burning your bases, providing you have a film of wax and the temp set just below smoking.

 

[Johnny V.]

Sometimes it's also helpful to crayon wax on the bases before you drip it on-that way you're assured that all of the base has at least a thin coat.

 

[Steve]

Good thinking @Johnny V.

 

[Scruffy]

Sometimes it's also helpful to crayon wax on the bases before you drip it on-that way you're assured that all of the base has at least a thin coat.

Yes. I do this every time I wax. I've also taken to crayoning on wax at the end of the season for storage wax. I use to give them a good iron melted trip coat and then iron it in and not scrape them for storage, but I have a lot of skis in my rotation and usually not a lot of time, so to make it less a chore, now I just crayon on a good coat and it serves the purpose of keeping the bases from trying out and the edges from rusting. The added bonus is, I don't have to scrape the storage wax before the first day out on them the next season; the crayoned on coat is thin enough I just ski it off.

 

[Jacques]

Most beginner waxers apply way too much wax, so too little is usually not the issue. Before anyone takes a waxing iron to their skis they should do some research and watch a view good videos to see how it's done. Also, your wax iron has to be set to the correct temp. Usually marked on the wax package, or just below smoking. If you keep your iron moving you should not have any fear of burning your bases, providing you have a film of wax and the temp set just below smoking.

IDK about that sometimes. Ever look at some wax manufactures temp. settings for some harder waxes?
Maybe they assume a quick pass of the iron and maybe one more.
You talking temps. to melt a base for sure! Anything above 250 F can do it!
My camp says less temp. and a bit more time.

You can go higher than 250 F, but you better move fast. Then you will not heat the base evenly. You will have cold edges etc. Good luck.

Maybe look here if you like. These are softer waxes. You will need up to 220 to 240 F for hard waxes, but don't push it!

 

[Jacques]

What I do to prevent base burn on the edges: after scraping and cleaning the base (i.e., prior to waxing), rub a strip of hard (cold temp) wax down each edge, covering about 1/4 inch of the base on each side. Then hot wax as you would normally.

The burned areas must be addressed first. Here is how you can do that.
Then you must work in a soft base prep. wax first, such as Dominator Base Renew waxes. Then work in hard waxes. Hard waxes need a base to adhere to.
If you go straight to a hard wax, it won't "stick" as well as if you have a soft wax for it to "stick" to.

 

[François Pugh]

I use the drip, iron, let dry overnight and scrape in the morning method. Wax is fairly cheap, so I don't worry too much over wasting some. I wax my skis the night before skiing, and check the temperature forecast for the next day to choose my wax. One thing that makes a BIG difference is having a sharp plastic scraper. You can sharpen them yourself instead of buying sharp new ones.

 

[Henry]

Eric, here's my minimalist way to wax & tune skis.

First for the tune...have a shop give them a full tune yearly. I get mine done as soon as I feel all the rocks are well covered. The shop's machines will properly flatten the base and put the correct angles on the edges. If they ask what structure you want on the base...that's the size & depth of the necessary grooves you want in the base plastic. A very light structure is best for cold snow. A very coarse structure is best for wet snow. I tell them medium-light for my skiing. I hope they'd ask what edge angles you like. Some shops are simple minded and say, "we always do 1° base and 1° side angles." No thank you. I like 0.7° base and 3° sides on my hard-snow skis and 1&2 on my deep snow skis. You can decide what angles you prefer.

For touching up the edges...You'll need a way to hold the skis. Invent something. You can find a way to hold them or make something using plans or photos you'll find in a search for ski vises. You'll need a strong rubber band to hold the brakes back. The rubber bands off asparagus or broccoli work well. You need guides. Whether you use a steel file or diamond "file" or grind stone, you need the guide to get consistent angles. There are multi-tools where you can dial in the angles you like. Some are for either bases or sides, some can be used on either. They're OK and better than free hand. I prefer individual guides for base and sides of the angles I prefer. You'll need cutters. If you buy a file, buy only a file made for ski edges. A hardware store file isn't hard enough and will soon be dull. A 6" file is OK, but...a file is for removing a lot of steel. That's removing some of the life of the ski. I use diamond stone, one coarse, one fine. When a rock is hit it raises a burr on the edge. This raised burr is work hardened and often too hard to be cut with a file. An abrasive stone or diamond stone will remove the raised bit. You don't need to file good edge away to remove all the damaged spots, just the raised bits are trouble. A few strokes from tip to tail with the coarse stone in the guide to remove the high bits and sharpen the edge, then a few strokes with the fine stone to smooth it, and you're good. If you mark the length of the side edge with a black felt tip marker, then file or stone away just enough of the steel to remove all the ink, you're probably good. The edge is sharp when you can draw the back of your thumb nail across it and it'll scrape off some nail.

For wax...I really like Hertel Super Hot Sauce universal wax and Dominator Zoom universal wax. Sure, a temperature specific wax runs faster, but I'm fine with these. You'll need a way to hold the skis. Invent something. You can find a way to hold them or make something using plans or photos you'll find in a search for ski vises. You'll need an iron. A cheapo from a tuning equipment outfit ($35 & up) or ebay ($20 & up) works OK. Wipe the bases clean & dry. (Base cleaner is good, but you can do without it.) Heat the iron so it melts the wax but doesn't smoke. Hold the iron vertically, hold the wax against the sole of the iron, and dribble some on to the base. It'll take a few tries to get enough and not too much. Iron the wax into the base, always moving the iron, never stopping. Do not let the ski get more than barely warm. When you have an even coat, stop, let it cool and harden. Minimalist--remelt the wax and immediately wipe it off with a paper towel. Wipe off as much molten wax as you can, go skiing. Yep, it'll be sticky for the first few feet, then you're on your way! You can scrape & brush the new wax if you like, but if you don't you'll still have a fun day skiing.