How to wax your board in a tiny aparto

[damian 0]

If you live in a small apartment and have no workbench or vice it is still quite possible to painlessly wax your board and even do the edges. It helps to have a friend around to hold the board though. Here is what I have devised as a solution.

 

- Get two pillows, preferably firm and heavy ones.

- Put pillows end-to-end along toe edge of a double bed, or along the side edge of single bed. You can use a table, but the pillows slip on the table and the table itself may not be so stable. A bed is rock solid and has no slipping.

- Put a thick old blanket on the pillows and bed. Cover the whole area.

- Lay your tools out on the blanket next to the board. Your bed has now become a real workbench

- Take bindings off the board and lay deck down lengthwise on the pillows. The nose and tail should be approx hanging over the end of the pillows. This helps heaps in holding the board in place. The pillows give a raised platform for working the board upon and also aid in stability as they are soft.

- go to town melting wax on the base and when it has dried get your friend to hold the nose and scrape away from nose to tail. They do not have to hold the board very tightly, just gently keep the nose steady. If the rail sinks into the pillow whilst scraping then get them to elevate the nose a little.

- Between each scrape use your vacuum cleaner to suck up the scrapings that build up at the tail of the board. This is a good way to make sure no mess accumulates and keeps your bed clean.

 

My GF and I did two boards very easily this way on the weekend. I also cleaned up the edges. No mess and a very good result. The constant pauses to vacuum are essential.

[Kumapix 0]

I just hot wax the board carefully, let it dry and then throw it in the car. I scrape in the parking lot before riding. It only sucks if the weather is real cold, then the wax gets all hard

[sock_monkey 0]

Kumapix, do you clean up the scrapings?

 

You should always dispose of wax scrapings properly. Ski waxes are chemicals and they damage the environment. Skiing already leaves wax residue on the hill, why cause even more damage unecessarily.

 

If you are hot waxing in a small space make sure you have proper ventilation. Those vapours are toxic.

 

 

 Quote:

Hydrocarbon materials (ie. Paraffin) are composed of petroleum waste byproducts (from gas and oil refinement). As such, they are non-renewable and unsustainable. Furthermore, these waxes have been shown to contain many chemicals that are present in burning diesel fuel.

 

Worse, though, many of these chemicals (eg. benzene, toluene) are known carcinogens; you are breathing and releasing these vapours while hot-waxing your skis.

 

Fluorocarbon materials (perfluorochemicals) are the most strongly bound synthetic (man-made) chemicals ever.

While they are extremely hydrophobic (water repellent), fluorotelomers, fluoro-alkyl polyethers, and other PFCs do not biodegrade for tens of thousands of years; think DDT to the tenth power.

 

Previously considered inert and safe, PFCs and many of their toxic byproducts (PFOA, PFOS, C8) have been linked to birth defects, cancer, respiratory arrest and blood contamination the world over. Over ninety percent of North Americans now have measurable amounts of PFC material/toxins in their blood with concentrations highest in children. These numbers and concentrations are building yearly as PFCs degrade into their terminal byproducts (those that are so environmentally persistent).

Again, in a worst-case scenario you are breathing and releasing these polymer fumes while tuning your skis. Furthermore, you are creating a market for ephemeral, disposable forms of these hazardous materials; manufacture of PFCs necessitates toxins, and results in toxins. A lose-lose situation where wax scrapings are thrown out, off-gas is in the biosphere and your blood, and the wax worn off your skis gets into the watershed and/or sensitive wilderness habitats.

It's all bad.

[quattro 1]

Wax in my tatami room all the time. As stated use plenty of ventilation and or respirator. I don’t but some people do. Spread a drop cloth on the ground. Mount some vices to a table. Mount board / ski to vice. I then use my iron to drip wax on to my skis. Then iron in with your iron. Don’t use too much heat if it starts smoking its too hot. The smoke is toxic. Once its ironed in use a scraper to scrape of excess wax. Next step is to use your brushes too take it down to a fine layer. Different brushes for different waxes and base structure. It’s also not wise to mix fluro carbon with hydro carbon on your brushes.

[Kumapix 0]

hmmm, never thought about that

[Ausbc 0]

My board is in desperate need of a wax and I hop on the plane in Just 3 days. I have a small little hob of wax (the size of a credit card and half an inch thick) but no iron or scraper. I could buy a cheap iron tomorrow, but if I use my mum's iron will it be ruined?

 

Any ideas of how I could improvise for a scraper?

 

Is it really necessary to brush to get it really fine? I've never really bothered with that...

 

I only waxed 3 times last year in 3 months riding, and yes, I was the slowest boarder on the cat-tracks

 

But riding powder, do you think having a fast/well waxed board is even that important? I think it definitely makes a difference on hard packed snow, but in powder I can't see it really being that important...

[sock_monkey 0]

it ruins the iron so don't even think of putting it back in the laundry room.

 

and your board/ski is still in contact with the snow, so yes it does make a difference even in powder. since the trudge across the flats is way worse in powder, i'd make sure my board/skis were as fast as possible

 

sharp edges however are not as important.

 

to improvise a scraper 100 yen shop might have something usable. in a pinch, a sturdy ruler, bookend, cutting board... just make sure whatever it is is straight and hard. (insert puerile joke here)

[damian 0]

It sounds like the other guys on this thread are the pros, but here is my input any way:

 

- Iron: I once wrapped up my clothes iron in heaps of aluminium foil. It worked ok, but not the best experience. And somehow a little bit of wax managed to get onto the iron surface anyway. It may have been wax vapour condensing on the inside of the foil?. A specialised waxing iron can cost a bit of cash. Try going to kmart and buying a poor quality clothes iron for crumbs. I bought one recently for €9. Great value.

 

- Scraper: it really helps if it is thick and stiff and the width of your board. A ruler is not stiff enough, nor have a sharp enough 90 degree edge. It helps if the scraper is easy to grip, so a narrow ruler is also bad in that respect. A CD case is too brittle and again does not have that nice hard 90 degree edge. The name 35cm long triangular plastic plate on top of my work computer would do a great job, but no use to you. I would go to a hardware store or again, kmart, and look for a general purpose plastic scraper, 30 cm long, 5-10cm wide and >3mm thick. I am sure they sell them, or a good piece of perspex will do well enough.

 

I have heard of people maximising a limited amount of wax by re-ironing on the scrapings and scraping again. They scrape and re-iron the scrapings until the scrapings run out.

[quattro 1]

Scrapers are relativly cheap $5-10 at a ski shop. Get one for snow boards there wider. Irons on the other hand can be expensive. A good wax iron may cost $100. But you can get away with a chep travel iron or if your SO has an old iron. You might be able to use it Rember once you use it no clothes afterwards. one other thing teflon or no stick bottoms is a no go. Your edges will start to scape, flake the no stick into you wax.

[Ezorisu 0]

I use a cheap travel iron that I got at Tokyu Hands. Anything will do as long as it doesn't have any of those little steam holes on the surface - those let the wax into the iron where the wax overheats and releases the toxic smoke. It's pretty hard to find a modern "non-steam" iron here in the States, even at a discount mart, but you might have some luck if you check at a recycle shop or second-hand store or something like that.

[Ausbc 0]

Thanks for all the advice poeple, appreciated. Still, I have no iron or no scraper. But I don't have much to do today so i'm going to focus my attention on:

 

- Finding an old iron from a charity donation store.

- Improvising a scraper from something around the house.

- Getting this bloody board waxed!

 

If all else fails, I'll ask around at the lodge i'm staying at when I get in on Saturday night (27th Jan)....otherwise, if anyone in Niseko Hirafu wants to lend me their iron, then you're a legend.

[sakebomb 0]

I have my little "kit" that consists of 2 cheap Homac stools a drop sheet and all the other bits and pieces (including a waxing iron from a 2nd hand shop) I am lucky to have a small balcony so I can do most of it outside and contain the mess for appropriate disposal. Now the only problem is all my mates and mates mates want their boards done.

[quattro 1]

Sakebomb

 

You should let your skis cool indoors after you finish ironing your wax in. It's not good to let them cool outside. For some good tips go to http://www.tognar.com/tips_tricks_information_ski_snowboard_waxing_tuning_repair_tools.html

They have the most complete selection of tuning stuff for your glide I've seen. They also will ship internationaly

[sakebomb 0]

Good tip Quattro...I actually wax inside so the board is nice and warm otherwise the wax isn't going to get into the base. That link is a very good reference point for doing your own gear.

[rigor mortis 0]

att. QUATTRO

i use an old travel iron which seems to do the job ok. however it has a teflon plate. you mentioned that this is no good. i didnt quite understand your explanation - can u run it by me again...

[rigor mortis 0]

sorry quattro, on closer inspection, i get it. thanks.

it hasnt been a problem yet, ill go carefully around the edges though from now.

[tsondaboy 0]

I usually remove the bindings and put the board flat on the ironing board. Of course you need to cover the board with garbage bags if you are planning to use it in the future for its original purpose. I bought at a recycle shop a 70s iron for 1000 yen that works perfect. The base though seems to have something like Teflon that started to come of.

I usually wax with toko carbon wax around Dec-Feb and normal wax from Mar~.