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Just picked up my board from my local shop after putting it in for a wax and a tune up and I'm a little vexed at what the guy said. My Japanese isn't the best but he seemed to be telling me that I needed to scrape the extra wax off my board before hitting the slopes. He demonstrated this by scraping some wax off with his finger nail. Is this normal? I would've have thought that the shop should've done this before giving me back my board. If so, what exactly do I use to scrape the wax off and how much is meant to come off?

wakaranai

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Are you sure he said that? How much did you pay?

When I pay money for tuning, I expect the board to be scraped.

If some guy ever tells me that I have to do it myself, then I will probably brake the board on his head... veryangry

 

Before you start scraping the board, take a close pic of the base and post it here. You might have not understood what he said.

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While we're on the topic, I've seen wax solutions for snowboards that don't require an iron. What's the deal with these? Are they effective? 

Also, all of the shops I've been too in Osaka don't do a wax only. They want to do a whole service (obviously for more money).

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For the money you spend on getting a shop to wax your board, you could use about the same amount and buy a kit and start learning to wax your board yourself. It's a bit of trial and error at first, but once you get the hang of it I would even infer you can do a better job than they do at the shop since you would spend more time with it and attention to detail. Last year I started a thread on this very top and 'samurai' gave me some invaluable advice. Here's a link to the thread:

 

http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/244481/Re_Wax_on_wax_off.html#Post244481

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That's some good advice Endless Winter...would save US a packet doing 6 boards everytime!!! We always say we will do it and never do! I also always say I will put thick wax on all my edges when I store the board between trips to stop it oxidising, but never get around to that either.

 

If there is a fair amount of wax coming off with the fingernail thing I would be worried it was gonna ride slow, last wax I got done the fellow was talking me through it all, and he said the point was to fill and seal, but not have any excess wax - therefore to scrape it all off afterwards. Struck me as silly to apply and then scrape off, but the board did ride like a charm when he finished with it - nice and quick.

 

And same is said by Samurai in that other thread:

Originally Posted By: samurai
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.

 

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Originally Posted By: Endless Winter
For the money you spend on getting a shop to wax your board, you could use about the same amount and buy a kit and start learning to wax your board yourself. It's a bit of trial and error at first, but once you get the hang of it I would even infer you can do a better job than they do at the shop since you would spend more time with it and attention to detail. Last year I started a thread on this very top and 'samurai' gave me some invaluable advice. Here's a link to the thread:

http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/244481/Re_Wax_on_wax_off.html#Post244481



Cheers Endless. I watched a video on YouTube and it doesn't look too hard.
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Looks scraped, but it could use a brushing to bring out the base structure and get you less resistance/more speed. Wonder if he was saying something like, "yes it's been waxed, see? It comes up with my fingernail even if it looks like there isn't much on it"?

 

You should be good.

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Doesn't look properly scraped to me, unless you have a pretty scratched up base. The first close-up picture you took has kind of a round pattern in it which looks a bit like it coulda been made by an iron... how does it feel? It should feel like plastic rather than wax.

 

When I first learnt how to wax, was all rather disappointed that you pretty much have to scrape off as much as you can get off the board after all the "effort" of spreading it everywhere first, so if you are getting any significant amount coming off on your nail, its not properly done. You want it scraped right down to the p-tex - so if it feels waxy at all and your hand doesn't slide smoothly over it you need to buy a scraper. The tool for this is a straight edged piece of perspex. If it has been scraped though, you might still want to buff it to a nicer finish. In your local ski shop you will find them selling twin packs of kind of scouring pad type things; one dark grey and one white. The white one is the one you want to use last. (The dark one is for removing old wax before you put new wax on).

 

And with all scraping/buffing activities don't forget to go only in one direction: tip to tail.... which is why that circular pattern bugs me a bit.

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Having a bit of extra wax isn't going to hurt or last more than the first couple of runs - but the circular pattern suggests that it wasn't scraped.

 

Waxing your own skis / boards is a mellow way to drink a beer and chat/dream about snow... but don't get the iron too hot, make the wax smoke or breath in the smokey (fluorochloride) fumes. A quick scrape is that all that is really needed unless your are racing when a super smooth surface and a buff makes a big difference.

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No idea about boards as I don't snow board just ski, and not sure if people do they same to their skiis.

If I get a bit of corrosion or crap on it I just simply run my belt sander along the bottom of the ski, smooth it up, slap a drop of wax on it if I think it needs it and i'm good to go. Not sure if skis have to be waxed after every few uses or not, actually I usually don't bother about waxing, I don't think my level is good enough to notice the difference. Plus my 90kg frame seems to be more than enough weight to propel myself down the mountain anyway.

 

When I bought them from the shop the shop waxed them and said they should be good for the season, which they were. Do others actually wax their skiis or just snow boards?

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You take a belt sander to the bottom of your skis?! Ive not heard of that before!

I do a hot wax, scrape and wipe with the green pan cleaner thing. I find when I do this, its like attatching rockets to the back of my skis! Acceleration due to gravity is the same regardless of your weight, and if you are heavier, there will be more friction so you will accelerate more slowly - a good wax will help reduce friction. However, once up to speed, you will have more inertia than a lighter person, which should help power you over any flat spots!

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