Waxing Question
 

Okay, so I have started waxing my kids and my boards myself. Did the hot wax
with base prep wax and then hot wax with all temp wax (local "hill" has had
spring like conditions with temps in 50s so snow is very wet and slushy).
Scrapped well, 3M pad polish, and brush with combo brass/nylon brush. I then
did a flouro glide wax (the one in the bottle with applicator on top).
Polished well with pad and brush.

Bases looked great and slid through the soft and slush like no tomorrow on
day one. Came home, 3M padded the bases to remove the white build up that
had accumulated along the leading front edge of the board where it would
ride over the slush and along the edges. Bases looked good after this, still
nice and dark. Day two was okay, but not as fast as day one. Did the same as
after day one, and bases still did not look too bad. Day 3 was much slower
with less glide. At the end of the day, after buffing it was obvious the
area near the edges had lost alot of wax and remained lighter in color after
buffing. My youngest son who still hits the "safety heel side brakes" too
much, his board on the heel side had lost much of wax along that edge. Other
boards also had lost alot of the wax along the edges only.

I know part of it is the trash buildup of junk from the man made snow and
they had lost alot of base over the past week due to temps and rain. The
loss of wax along the edges is to be expected as this is the snow contact
point. I guess what I am asking, is how long should I expect a good wax job
to last? Should I do the flouro after every day to help? I think I remember
reading at one of the suggested web sites (racewax.com) maybe, that very wet
and slushy is quite hard on the wax job?

Any ideas? Can I rehot wax just the edge area or is that a no-no?

Thanks

Your board maintenance routine is very impressive. I personally wax my
boards after about 4 days of use, so your experience sounds just about
right for regular use. On powdery runs you might be able to extend it
up to a week, but on hot summer slush like at Mt.Hood in Oregon the
snow is like sandpaper and you almost have wax every day. You can rehot
wax just the edge (nothing wrong with that in my opinion) you might
also consider using something like a Wax Whizard
(http://www.alpineskituning.com/raysway.waxwhiz.htm) to help maintain
the wax in your base, this wouldn't replace a hot wax, but you could do
it instead of buffing your board each night after using it... it would
rewax your base a tiny bit. Hot waxing will still be better in general
though.

--Arvin

ttalb wrote:
I know part of it is the trash buildup of junk from the man made snow and
they had lost alot of base over the past week due to temps and rain. The
loss of wax along the edges is to be expected as this is the snow contact
point. I guess what I am asking, is how long should I expect a good wax job
to last? Should I do the flouro after every day to help? I think I remember
reading at one of the suggested web sites (racewax.com) maybe, that very wet
and slushy is quite hard on the wax job?

Any ideas? Can I rehot wax just the edge area or is that a no-no?

Thanks

I wax my boards less often than every 30 days....
The reason?
I'm a snowboard tech at our local shop....at least from '93 to '99,
and a ski tech back in the '70's.
I need to wax EVERY day, if I'm gonna bother to take advantage of the
glide.
Usually after about 7 long runs, wax on the edges is already
completely gone, with plenty in the center to rub outwards.
I usually ride with guys who wax every sesh, and they get better
glide in the flats.
I also sometimes ride with guys who ride 100+ days, usually kid
freestylers, and they just never wax.....choosing to pick time of day
and steep runs if needed.
Skill is more important than a great regular wax job.

I usually ride with guys who wax every sesh, and they get better
glide in the flats.

This is the main reason I wax often. Actually, since I moved from Mt Hood
which has lots of flats to Mt Bachelor which has fewer flats, I've not felt
the need to wax as much.

The other benefit of waxing often that matters to recreational riders is
that a well-waxed base will suffer less damage when you have minor
encounters with rocks and have a sintered base. The wax fills the space
between ptex particles and supports the base somewhat under monor incursion.
If you really take a big dig out of your base, waxing makes no difference -
but for smaller dings it does.

Mike T



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LeeD wrote:
I wax my boards less often than every 30 days....
The reason?
I'm a snowboard tech at our local shop....at least from '93 to '99,
and a ski tech back in the '70's.
I need to wax EVERY day, if I'm gonna bother to take advantage of the
glide.
Usually after about 7 long runs, wax on the edges is already
completely gone, with plenty in the center to rub outwards.
I usually ride with guys who wax every sesh, and they get better
glide in the flats.
I also sometimes ride with guys who ride 100+ days, usually kid
freestylers, and they just never wax.....choosing to pick time of day
and steep runs if needed.
Skill is more important than a great regular wax job.


To be honest, I virtually never wax because when I get it done, it only
seems to last 1/2 an hour. I get it done sometime early in the season
and then after the end to protect the board during the summer. It's
pretty easy to anticipate flats and just go fast before you get to them.

I get it done sometime early in the season
and then after the end to protect the board during the summer.

I'm curious-- what is the best way to store a board? You say that
waxing helps pretect it over the summer. Interesting.

Also, which is the best position for storing a board? Laying it flat or
standing it up? Would storing it one way or the other have a negative
impact of the core's springiness over time?

Dan

I store upside down on L brackets, so the camber doesn't get
flattened.
I use a bar of ivory soap, rubbed on the metal edges, but waxing
makes sense also, as does a drop of oil on a rag.
Now that I need oil to keep my work tools sharp, maybe I'll switch to
that.
Don't think the "spring" would change, but the static camber would.
Local knowledge is key.
Wax if you race.

While pondering the Universe, (ttalb)
wrote SFbuf.673530$_o.563828@attbi_s71:

Bases looked great and slid through the soft and slush like no tomorrow
on day one. Came home, 3M padded the bases to remove the white build up
that had accumulated along the leading front edge of the board where it

white build up? I've seen crud and mud and tar.. but white?
Not sure I would be using the scotchbrite every day as its more to
open up the base immediately after waxing.

Suggestion on here last year that worked great is to use one of the
citrus all purpose cleaners on the base. I did two very light applications
and was able to remove all the tree sap and other gunk that was
accumulating from the warm weather. I think that with a quick
hit of NotWax(which it sounds like you have) would do better to extend
you another day or two. And its probably a good thing to do before
waxing again if you can see the tar and stuff. Otherwise you are just
going to put it more into the base.

But no wax lasts long in the slush - the warm weather/hi fluro stuff is
all soft and comes off quick. I dont know that the time savings would
be that great just doing the edges.. a typical base is about 25 cm wide
and you figure you are doing 5cm on each side already and the warm
weather stuff scrapes off easy.

I store upside down on L brackets, so the camber doesn't get
flattened.
Don't think the "spring" would change, but the static camber would.


I do the same thing...

.... but I am not convinced that storage method impacts camber in any way.
The weight of the board itself over time is nothing compared to the stresses
that a board endures while being ridden, especially freestyle and hard
carving.

Read this thread on BomberOnline to see the results of a brave soul who did
an experiemnet with two of his boards and found no appreciable difference in
camber after storing his boards flat on the floor with books piled on top to
flatten them:

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulleti...ghlight=camber

I will repeat the experiment done above on one of my old boards this summer
to gain another data point.



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"Mike M. Miskulin" wrote in message
...
While pondering the Universe, (ttalb)
wrote SFbuf.673530$_o.563828@attbi_s71:


white build up? I've seen crud and mud and tar.. but white?
Not sure I would be using the scotchbrite every day as its more to
open up the base immediately after waxing.

But no wax lasts long in the slush - the warm weather/hi fluro stuff is
all soft and comes off quick. I dont know that the time savings would
be that great just doing the edges.. a typical base is about 25 cm wide
and you figure you are doing 5cm on each side already and the warm
weather stuff scrapes off easy.

The white build up "sticks" to the board and I have to hit it with the
Scotchbrite pad to remove it, and it takes some elbow grease. I assumed it
was from the snow as where we go around here is 100% manmade and is drawn
from a stream and wells (www.paolipeaks.com). With only a 300 foot vertical
flats are inevitable and you have to glide across them to get to anything
with any angle to speak of. But hey, a day on the snow anywhere beats none
at all.