Does anyone wax their own skis?

This thread will probably rediculous. You could obsess about it and pretend you are a WC racer. And then you certainly are in the right place. Or you could just wax for the conditions like a normal person. Using a quality wax from a place like this http://www.slidewright.com/

I just cork in some Hertel wax on a regular basis. In major glop I sometimes use Zardoz or a quick liquid flouro.

 

I've played with vanilla level hotwaxing & IMO the benefit/cost ratio fails badly most of the time. For most recreational skiers getting too obsessive w/ hand hotwaxing is silly, unless you happen to like waxing as a hobby.

 

regarding ecimmortal's comment about where this will go... 

I hotwax simple paraffin wax. From a local shop I pick up a stick of cold, cool & warm waxes each season. Takes no time and I enjoy it. Agree that unless racing, no need to get crazy with layering and such. I find corking to require more effort than a quick hotwax & scrape. YMMV.

 

The cost of hotwaxing is minimal after investing in a bench, vise, scraper and iron and I think results are better than corking.

Dude, just iron and scrape this: http://www.slidewright.com/proddetail.php?prod=TK4020001401064&cat=54

 

Or you can crayon, and cork it.

 

Spindrift, how do you like Hertel?

Or you could do what I did, build you're own vice.  It works well and I'm actually thinking about marketing the design.  There's just some refinements needed on it.  I believe I've built a better mouse trap so to speak.
 

THIS BELONGS IN THE TUNING FORUM or the BEGINNER ZONE,,,,,,,,,,,  You know what I am about to type,,, J....

I wax because I like it. Sometimes in certain conditions on cat trax back to the lifts, my buds who never wax glide right on past me. But most of the time, I glide by them. Off piste, which is where I like to spend my time, I'm not really sure if there's too much of a difference. I like to think I'm keeping my bases healthy.

I like it. But I'm a simple guy wrt wax. It crayons on easily - more easily than most. Corks readily. Seems to cover a broad range of temps. Reasonably durable per application (at least a day or two). Takes me maybe 2 minutes to wax up a pair of skis. If I am inclined to hot wax, it works fine for that. 

 

I can't say it is the best or sexiest wax ever. But it works well for me.

I wax and work on my edges, but I'm a bit of an equipment-minded guy.  Going to take years to recoup my outlay on waxing and edging gear, but I'm happy nonetheless.  I enjoy it.

 

As a casual skier I don't mess with anything fancy in the wax department; hydrocarbon waxes, one warm, one cold is enough for me. 

 

To reply to an the earlier post, 'corking' is a method of waxing that doesn't require the use of an external heat source like an iron.  Wax is 'crayoned' (i.e. rubbed or smeared) onto the base and then a cork (or similar) is rubbed across the surface to provide heat from friction, allowing the wax to penetrate into the base.  For my money I prefer to use a powerpoint rather than elbow grease (multiple pairs of skis, plus GF's skis, plus other hangers-on pulling favours) but that's a horses-for-courses type of thing.

 

As Finndog says, there's no end of information in the Tuning forum on this topic.

Clamp ski in vise, brush, hot wax, let cool, scrape and brush. A good wax job makes skiing and turning much easier. I really don't think most non-racers have a clue what a difference it can make. The crappy wax job the shop will put on does not even begin to compare. Pick up a Swix waxing instruction booklet for information about preparing the base by cleaning it and by removing loose fibers. It really isn't all that important to get the wax perfect for the snow conditions and temperatures unless you are racing. Its more important to get the base clean and free of contaminants and debris and get a good smooth coat of wax with the excess removed. The biggest incentive to a really good wax job is getting a coat of wax that will last the day. Snow is extremely abrasive and  the relatively thin layer of wax that will work well will tend to wear off, especially on man made snow therefore the incentive to add certain specialty waxes in high wear areas. Forget about the fluoride unless you're racing.

Last 2 seasons I used the basic, all-temperature hydrocarbon wax from RaceWax.com.  Works just fine.  I used it in all conditions / temperatures.

 

This year, I switched to Hertel Super Hot Sauce.  Hertel is also an all-temperature wax. Works very well. This wax is hydrocarbon and also has a bit of flouro in it also.  Seems to last very long between hot waxing.

 

Both of these are very inexpensive as far as ski waxes are concerned.  I would recommend both, probably Hetrel more so than the other.

 

I'm not a WC racer or even Beer league racer - so no point in obsessing over it.  I also somewhat enjoy going in the garage for a little quiet time, just me, my skis and some cold beer.  Go on YouTube, or any of the ski wax websites, they'll have easy "how to" videos.

 

I definitely recommend doing it yourself.  A good hot wax from a reputable ski shop is usually fairly expensive - some good shops charge $60 +.  If you get a cheap, $15 machine hot wax, they just run it through regurgetated old wax that they've run tons of dirty skis through.  I had a shop that installed my bindings do a "complementary" wax and I had to scrape and clean it all off - it was filthy.

I just wax a little here and there with some standard ski wax.

 

1 Layer rubbed on. In this one try and drip the wax in areas that you really need some help in then even it out.

 

2 Melt the layer on

 

3 Another rubbed layer  

 

4 Melt that layer as well.

 

I took the same approach a few years back.

I purchased a starter kit from RacePlace which came with a helpful DVD.

 

http://www.the-raceplace.com/BEAST-Ski-Tuning-Systems-s/817.htm

I used to have a racing daughter who did my skis.  Then she went to college and took all the stuff with her!  I was addicted to well-tuned equipment and now had to fend for myself.

 

Started out just ironing wax on.

 

Next season started brushing and scraping.

 

Following season started keeping my edges nice by using diamond stones.

 

Finally this season, started doing my own sharpening.

 

I still take them in once a season for a base grind. 

 

Strictly use plain old hydrocarbon from RaceWax.com.  Tools are from various places, mostly RaceWax and SlideWright, with a few items from local shops or one of the racing catalogs.  I now try to wax and polish every 60,000 feet of vertical (equalizes short and long day issues).

swix

No need to get crazy about it, however, a good "short cut" to keep them waxed with least effort is to let it soak for a long time before you scrape it.

 

I have a new skis I havent even mounted yet, but I waxed them once, scraped a few days later, and did it again and have left them to sit for a few weeks till I need it.  Its good habit to leave a coat of wax on when they sit for a while too.

 

Now when I do go ski they will be totally soaked and fresh since i can just scrape it right before I go.

amen to that, pegged me for sure, hahaha.
 

I hotwax every time the ptex is visible on my bases, right now with a bakoda cold wax. Drip on the wax and iron it on tip to tail, then brush with a stiff nylon brush tip to tail (of course) and repeat. You can really tell when the wax is wearing off on a cold day, not the best on warmer days, but it protects the bases and glides great with the right snow temp.

I hot wax scrape and brush before skiing, when I can.  Sometimes I get lazy and go two or three days in a row on one wax, but seldom do more than two days without waxing.  I have waxes for different temperatures, cold, warm, and in between, with waxes from different companies having different ranges, but often I can't guess the temperature and end up using an "all-temperature" wax.  I don't bother with base layer, etc.  Freshly waxed, scraped and brushed skis work well enough for me, unless I really screw up choosing which temperature wax to use.

I Do,

Not including rentals 80% do not.

as much as 25 to 50% of gear on the slopes needs wax. It matters in the park and pipe for consistent run up to a trick.

timing is everything.

also reduces fatigue

I wax every 3 ski days.

Another shameless plug for Hertel Hot Sauce. It just works.

I wax my own.  My family has nine sets of equipment (four snowboards, five pairs of skis) for which I take responsibility, so there's no way I would want to drop them off at a shop to get waxed every time.  I'd be there every day of the week and I'd need a second job!

 

Tuning tables and vices plus $80 irons are nice, but if on a budget can lay your skis flat across something sturdy such as milk crates (I use two heavy toolboxes).  I bought a $30 Swix iron but I've read of guys using a $10 Wal-Mart clothing iron dedicated to ski use.  Acrylic scrapers are cheap and metal scrapers are $2 at Home Depot.  Scotch Brite pads cost very little.  In other words, you can put yourself together a waxing station for under $20, not including wax.

 

For wax I mix all-temp Dakine Indy fluoro plus One Ball Jay Black Magic graphite and that covers most conditions.

If you have nice skis it is just rude not to maintain them.
That means waxing every couple of days and stoning the edges every 5-10 sessions.
They will stay nice until you get sick of them if you do this.

this thread should be moved to the bginners zone!  PLEASE.....