Hot Waxing Approach

[Dwight]

Here is one way at the 3 minute mark.

 

[1chris5]

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 tried your method today without success. I love the crayon method (now I have tons of wax lying around) but will have to get the blue paper shop towels. I hope there's enough winter left in Palmerton, PA for one more test this year. Thanks for the info.

 

[pete]

Damn all of you recommending the crayon (or is that craaaa-aan) method. took it literally and now my kids have no blue ones with which to color ...

on serious side, having tried for first time in long, the iron method, it seems pretty forgiving less one needs to prep an edge with any method. I think I will try a hot box but with now 50F+ weather and direct sun, may leave newly waxed ski's in the sun to let em soak it up.

Having no race needs, about anything short of a grind or edge should let me squeak by.

 

[Carl Kuck]

I just gave the Phil Express method a try tonight. I use a bit more pressure on the iron than I think @Philpug uses, but the towel idea works great! The wax application takes about the same amount of time, but the 1-pass towel wax removal step is much faster (IMO) and neater than all that scraping. I did two coats on the Rallys, a prep coat of Toko NF Black followed by a coat of Hertel Hot Sauce. I corked them, and then brushed them with a nylon brush (no power tools, sorry)... Since these are going to Utah for a week and will most likely see service every day of the trip (aside from running the race course, although I may do that too just for grins and handicap comparison), I will likely do Zardoz over the top of that every day after skiing. No tuning facilities in the condo.

 

[Blue Streak]

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.

+1
I started the same routine this season.
It takes me 5-10 minutes.
Wastes no wax.
Eliminates the need for scraping.
It's the only way to fly!

 

[James]

Some brands of blue shop towel don't work without a massive increase in iron temp. Not good.

 

[cantunamunch]

Some brands of blue shop towel don't work without a massive increase in iron temp. Not good.

LOL.

(I can't be the only one who had the old 'ice cube under a quilt in a freezing room- what happens?' question put to them in science class, can I?)

 

[James]

If you're willing to wait the rest of your life for it to melt the wax, ok. Though you're point is obtuse.

 

[cantunamunch]

If you're willing to wait the rest of your life for it to melt the wax, ok. Though you're point is obtuse.

As is the ice cube after a day or so. The takeaway from that class was that thermal equilibrium does *not* stop exchange mechanisms.

But, sure, I could have been more direct about 'get the ski hot and put the towel directly into the melt, letting it wick through to the iron'.

Credit to my science teacher, she made the point in a way that stuck for four decades-ish.

 

[James]

What's the ice cube story? 32 deg f room, 32 deg quilt, 32 deg ice cube is put under the quilt?
Is that the setup? Cube probably becomes a sphere. I don't see it melting completely.

 

[cantunamunch]

kinda lentil shaped - evaporative loss and re-condensation is the biggest driver - but yeah. In our case, wicking is the biggest driver, so we need to use it to our advantage.

 

[James]

Well when you have the right blue paper towel it transmits heat pretty well so it melts the wax without having to get the iron excessively hot. The stuff that doesn't work may be too tightly woven or the material is slightly different.

It's possible that the one that ruined the ski was due to the digital iron being confused. It had to go up to 165c and still didn't work well. That was a Maplus digital ( not a good iron). However I recently encountered a similar thing but just didn't turn it up. Good iron-Star electronic non digital. The blue towels were very dense.

Have never had an issue using fiberlene from Swix or the like for the same task. It's just much more expensive.

 

[cantunamunch]

Have never had an issue using fiberlene from Swix or the like for the same task. It's just much more expensive.

Talking of expense, has anyone else noticed the 'tex' style nonwoven pads climbing in price beyond what one might expect? A generic box for less than $20 is -almost- a thing of the past.

 

[Bill Talbot]

Every time I see this thread two distinctly different images come to mind...

 

[cantunamunch]

Yeh, but I bet you spend lots of time scraping and brushing that.

 

[Ken_R]

So far I have had good results with THIS . It really drives the wax into the base nicely. I am no racer though but for normal resort use it has worked fine.

 

[Yo Momma]

I just gave the Phil Express method a try tonight. I use a bit more pressure on the iron than I think @Philpug uses, but the towel idea works great! The wax application takes about the same amount of time, but the 1-pass towel wax removal step is much faster (IMO) and neater than all that scraping. I did two coats on the Rallys, a prep coat of Toko NF Black followed by a coat of Hertel Hot Sauce. I corked them, and then brushed them with a nylon brush (no power tools, sorry)... Since these are going to Utah for a week and will most likely see service every day of the trip (aside from running the race course, although I may do that too just for grins and handicap comparison), I will likely do Zardoz over the top of that every day after skiing. No tuning facilities in the condo.

Welcome to the world of "Easy Peasy" .......sponsored by Phil! LOL........... also ........... once I upgraded to a Rotobrush and drill........ I NEVER looked back........... it will change your life as much as the no scraping method. HATED SCRAPING! I can't even imagine life w/o my Rotobrush and if it broke I would have a new one w/in two days...... yes I need a Life!!! LOL It makes prepping multiple skis an absolute breeze.

 

[James]

Love scraping waxes 7 and softer. There should be some squeal as the scraper peels it off. Likely your scrapers are dull.
The mess is a different story.

 

[Yo Momma]

Likely your scrapers are dull.
The mess is a different story.

Good point but Nah............I'm a tech-weenie dentist addicted to toys, cleanliness and order......so I was using a scraper sharpener before every set of skis.....my buds say that when working on my Odyssey it looks like a surgical operation complete w/ mask, gloves and work scrubs! UGGH....... Anal retentive dentist here!.......I have limited indoor space, so it was scrape outdoors and the MESS! OMG .......little wax ribbons everywhere........... when they started showing up in my pj's in bed........that was it!!! LOL

 

[cantunamunch]

scrape outdoors

I begin to see why you disliked scraping

and the MESS! OMG .......little wax ribbons everywhere........

Hunh. Slanting the scraper just ever so slightly makes the ribbons go in one direction - where I can flick them off with my hand. BOOM -> crock pot full of scraped wax (OK I cheated by starting it with a single block of Gulf wax, but now it is 4-5 inches deep.)

... when they started showing up in my pj's in bed........that was it!!! LOL

*has no comment on ... pj stickiness*