Wax on wax off

[Endless Winter 0]

I'd like to learn the proper way to wax my snowboard. I've been doing it myself for several years now, but it seems like it's always a hit or miss when trying to get it right. So I have a few questions for anyone who can help. Why are there chips of wax that remain after scraping? Do I need to scrape the wax down even better? Is base wax even necessary? If so do I need to re-apply it every time I wax my board? I'd welcome any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks

[samurai 0]

you mean base-prep wax? think of it like a conditioner that will allow the wax you apply each time to flow more evenly, soak in more evenly, and last longer. The graphite base-prep gets applied by me once or twice a year. The graphite in base-prep also fights static that exists in new snow. Perhaps you've experienced that severe friction in new, cold snow. That's static. I highly recommend applying a coat of base-prep early season, scraping, and then just waxing as you normally do. it's worth it. It will also help with those chips you mention.

 

Your iron should be as hot as you can get it without seeing any smoke. (~130) You should move your iron slowly and your wax coat should be smooth, not streaking. Streaking results from moving too quickly, resulting in wet wax over dry... which means nothing penetrated the base during that pass.

 

here's my basic procedure: 1- drip on. 2- run the iron slow enough to spread out the drip marks into a coat. 3- run the iron in non-stop, consistant passes from tip to tail. Those last passes literally take at least one minute to complete in one swipe from tip to tail. (the wet patch behind your iron should stretch at least 5 cm. (depending on the temperature of your room.) My final coat has no streaks, is completely smooth, and is a consistent depth (.5mm or so) all the way from tip to tail. (that makes for easy scraping, and that's why I'm particular about it. You don't want a thick layer or even thick patches that take 30 minutes to scrape away.)

 

Buy a new scraper and keep it clean and sharp. Scrape until you can't scrape anymore. You only want wax in the pores... and even then you want to buff it out with a 3M scotch-bright pad or nylon brush or, if you're real techy, horsehair. (just grab a clean green pad from under your kitchen sink) buff tip to tail.

 

I scrape and buff at the resort. That's too messy for the house. My wife would kill me.

[Endless Winter 0]

Excellent suggestions, thanks samurai!

I can see what was giving me problems before. Perhaps I wasn't passing the iron over my board slow enough to get an even coat. I was under the impression that the iron could damage the board, so I think I always moved the iron faster than you suggest. One minute seems like a long time for one pass over the board. Won't the board get damaged by an iron moving that slow? I'll try it out though.

I also think my scraper has dulled a bit. Does a regular file keep the edge to it?

Yea, I was talking about base prep. I will try out your idea using graphite base wax. I've been reluctant to buy it because it's pricey. As far as the regular wax that becomes the second coat, what do you think of wax with high fluorocarbon? Is it that much better?

Thanks for helping. I'll try not to ask too many more questions.

[samurai 0]

toko graphite base-prep is not expensive. It's light grey and about 2000yen per block.

 

high and low fluoros, imo, aren't necessary for the recreation or even the lifestyle rider. Racers, yes.

 

an iron will damage your board if it is too hot. hence the no smoke limit. I know 1 minute seems like a long time, it is. Your board will be quite warm at the touch, and the camber will probably be reversed while it cools. don't worry. racers store their boards in hot boxes (around 130) for days on end. If your iron is smoking, so is your base and eventually the glues inside.

 

just keep it mild and keep it moving... slowly.

 

and yes, file your scraper.

[Endless Winter 0]

I just purachased a new scraper and a block of graphite yesterday.

This morning after cleaning off the old wax I gave it a try and applied both graphite and base wax following your advice. Lo and behold it came out really good. Better than ever before. I think before I was never applying the wax correctly and not scraping properly. I'll wait a short while before applying a regular coat of wax and repeating. I sure appreciate your advice. I've never boaded in Yamagata, but if and when I do I'll have to look you up and buy you a cold one. Thanks again!

[abelere 0]

do you guys clean the base much in a season. For example getting the wax remover out and putting a fresh coat on. Or do you just keep reapplying a top coat?

[Kumapix 0]

no. yes.

base cleaner is a waste of money

[samurai 0]

I never clean my bases. If I ski in mud, I may hotscrape. (just scrape immediately behind the iron.)

 

I wouldn't consider any cleaning chemicals unless I had skied through an oil puddle.

 

I'm not as techy as I sound here. I wax every couple of days or so, but I never remove any wax because the temperature changed. I just apply the current conditions' requirements over the top and scrape away again. besides my base-prep, I only use two or three different waxes or some combination thereof to fit whatever the snow conditions are. And, usually they are pretty consistent.

[abelere 0]

guess its just a way of making extra money for the ski accessory companies then.

cool thanks for that.