Do-it-yourself Ski Wax

Originally Posted by dchan

Originally Posted by dchan

Originally Posted by ssh

Will do... He mentioned heating the iron to just before it smokes (not sure how you tell that!)

Originally Posted by ssh

A friend (who may choose to identify himself) recently told me that he has used parafin to great advantage. It doesn't last as long, but works fine. Also, he mentioned that he rubs it on first, and thus uses less than if he just drips it on. This works especially well for softer waxes. I'm going to try this for Sunday...

Originally Posted by Ruxpercnd

I always get stuck going to candle parties with my wife. So I salvage the old candles and use them to hot wax my skis. These are scented candles and smell good when waxing. She just recently tossed a very large candle about nine inches in diameter with three wicks. I will have wax for a long time. I also have a bar of regular ski wax.

Paraffin is a hydrocarbon, a long thin molecular chain . This wax will absorb deeper into the structure of your ski base, but is physically delicate and doesn't last.

Ski wax is a combination of hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon has a more complex molecular structure, making it tougher. and is more water repellant. Hydrocarbon and Fluorocarbon don't like to mix, so the manufacture of ski wax is not easy.

I feel comfortable using old candles to wax my skis because I hot wax each time I go out. I don't worry about durability. Hey, some people never wax their skis!

BTW - almost all chocolate contains paraffin. Truthfully, in a pinch, like when snow is sticking to your skis, you could smear a hershey bar on your skis to get down the hill.

Originally Posted by jstraw

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...8/MN101233.DTL

"Less visible innovations include high-tech ski waxes capable of working at all temperatures and snow types. One such product has been marketed as "Super Hot Sauce," an "all-temperature, all-conditions" ski wax developed by University of California at Davis chemist Timothy Donnelly.

The wax features a soaplike surfactant added to the waxy mix in a formula that brings the soap molecules to the surface when needed. It's all designed for durability, flexibility -- and, most of all, extreme slipperiness.

Originally Posted by US5114482

The perfluoropolyether diols include those containing --OCF2 --and/or --OCF2 CF2 --and/or --OCF2 CF2 CF2 --units and the like. See, for instance, Burguette et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,833. The synthesis of perfluoropolyether diols is known in the art. See, for instance, Caporiccio, "A New Series of Lubricants for Magnetic Recording Media from Bifunctional Perfluoropolyether Derivatives", Symposium on Memory and Advanced Recording Technologies, San Jose, Calif. (1986). One particularly preferred perfluoropolyether diol is a perfluoropolyethylene diol commercially available from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, Industrial Chemical Products Division, St. Paul, Minn., under the tradename FC 2202. Other perfluoropolyether diols are also commercially available. For instance, a perfluoropolyether diol containing a mixture of --OCF2 --and --OCF2 CF2 --units is available under the tradename of FOMBLIN Z DOL from Montedison, S.p.A. (Milan, Italy).

The perfluoropolyether diol is incorporated into the ski wax as a lubricity agent. Surprisingly, it has been found that ski waxes containing such perfluoropolyether diols provide excellent lubricity over a wide range of temperatures, from as low as about -20 DEG F. (and lower) to as high as about 50 DEG F. (and higher). That is to say that the optimal performance of the wax is not limited to a specific narrow temperature range as heretofore found with prior art ski waxes. Additionally, such ski waxes have an appreciable lifetime on the ski surface. The lifetime of the wax is the time between first waxing the skis and when the skis need to be waxed again. In fact, lifetimes up to about three days can be achieved by the use of the compositions described herein as opposed to an average lifetime of several individual runs from currently available ski waxes.

Originally Posted by waxwhizard

It's not just about the cost of wax but also how much you waste in applying it. If you use the waxWHIZard you will get the benefit of hot waxing and use 90 % less wax. Check it out at http://www.alpineskituning.com

Originally Posted by Ruxpercnd

I salvage the old candles and use them to hot wax my skis. These are scented candles and smell good when waxing.

BTW - almost all chocolate contains paraffin. Truthfully, in a pinch, like when snow is sticking to your skis, you could smear a hershey bar on your skis to get down the hill.

Originally Posted by DrFRAU

LOL!
but I have TONS of half-used candles lying around -

Originally Posted by comprex

For the complete "1960s Toko silver wax" look just take some graphite lock lube and sprinkle it on the bases before you rub your paraffin in in in . . .