wax

I just started snowboarding, but have been surfing for 7 years.
The guy who sold my my 2005 burton custom sold me some viper paste
wax. He said put that on every 3 times and use the hard wax every
6 times or so, using an iron. I hot waxed the board the other day.
I had alot of wax on, and you can see plainly there is wax on the
board.
Anywhere it caked up I scraped it down with
the dull side of a knife, but only so it wasn't caked up. In a few
places the wax
was a bit thick, but it looked smooth and even. I went boarding
yesterday, there was alot of ice and spring snow. I see my board gets
alot of tiny scratches and a few slightly more noticable ones. I
noticed other people's boards look a bit similar as I studied the
bottom of one guys board when I leaned my board up on a board rest
where there was other boards. Just from yesterday, all the wax I
applied wore off to between 1 - 3 inches of the edges of the board,
more on one side where I ride more I'm sure, but I had been riding both
ways, practicing goofy foot. This one girl told me she just waxes the
board once a year, you pay the $30 and they run it through a machine. I
am sure that there is not a speck of wax left on the board within 1-3
inches of the edge. Is wax just supposed to make you go faster or is it
meant to protect the board ? I am sure where there is a good amount of
wax those tiny scratches that accumlate are absorbed by the wax
instead.
I feel like maybe I should put more wax on where it wore off. Does that
viper paste wax work very good ?

"surf" wrote in
oups.com:


I just started snowboarding, but have been surfing for 7 years.

wow...where to begin. First, if you look around the net there are
quite a few instructional guides on how to hot wax your board. Its
probably eaiest to start with the traditional 'drip' method as you
will be able to more easily see where the wax has melted as you
iron it into the base. Use a universal fluro wax - it will serve
you well through most conditions. Next - don't be using a knife!
Even using the non-sharp side (with gloves so you dont cut
yourself) the blade is too small and you are probably going to gouge
your base. A beginner is best with a plastic scraper though a metal one
can be used as well. Just about any shop should have a plastic one for $5.
Failing that a thin piece of hard pastic (~1/8" thick) similar to a car
window scraper should work. Work tip to tail doing a small section at
a time, say 8 to 12" down the board. Keep the scraper at a low angle,
say 30 degrees. It is better to take less wax off in each pass than
trying to do it in one shot. When very few shavings seem to becoming
up that area is done. Note that not every board is completely flat and
some will be slightly indented where the binding inserts are. If you
feel there is still wax in a spot use the edge of a credit card which
can be flexed a little hit the spot. You can also use a card to gently
knock off any wax that remains on your edges. At some point you will
want to get a structure brush to finish things up.

As to when and how often, that varies depending on the board and
the snow you are riding on. I wouldn't rely on visual inspection
but rather your own observations when riding. A good rule of thumb
is every 5 times out, but again that could be more or less. Spring
snow combined with soft slush wax might only last a day. Paste
and other rubon waxes are usually only good for a few runs. NotWax
which is teflon will usually last most of a day (for me) but is
only appropriate in wetter/warmer conditions. You will also find
that in spring conditions your board picks up a lot more gunk from the
snow such as tree sap. One of the orange based spray cleaners will
fix this up, just don't go overboard with it.

Once you get the hang of it you can do a wax pretty quick and its
almost always better than a shop. This may bring up another issue -
the need to tell skiiers you are about to pass them on flats and
traverses - it can really freak them out

Excellent waxing tips.....
Also, a more expensive base, such as yours, needs and requires wax
more often than a cheap basic extruded Ptex bottom.
And some people wax less often than once every 100 days on their
boards....yes, they're using extruded bases, are usually kid
freestylers, and don't care, as they know the mountain and never get
stuck.

Hy Surf

As a waxing beginner too, I to got myself a bit of education, so here are
some basic basics that will help you to make sense of things to come...

First of all you don't ride on wax, but on base which absorbs wax and has a
thin layer you left on it. So when you scrape wax scrape it pretty good.
There are two kinds of bases, "extruded"- cheaper and "sintered"- not
cheaper and able to absorb mooore wax, they say 3 times more.

Also important, base is not perfectly flat, but has a structure, like tiny
canals along it's length. In a tiny world this help you not to surf on water
layer but actually board on snow.

So if you want your board in good condition, wax as much as you can and
always give it a nice directional brush for anti aquaplaning effect.

As some mentioned already, slowing down will give you indication that it's
time to wax. Also there are few ways that makes oxidation process in work
and base start to get white areas. That's not good, and wax is in order.

Liquids, pastes and rub-on's are actually made for quick fix or to prolong
hot-waxing job, so if you go for a few days of riding, with some of
aforementioned options base should got you a longer perfect performance.

For details, brows a bit, here are some good sources:
www.toko.ch
www.tokous.com
www.tognar.com

enjoy,

d'amir


--

Personally, I virtually never wax my board. Maybe once a season. I
notice the difference for at most half a day, and even then there's not
much difference.

I can already go fast enough to scare the holy bejesus out of myself, so
for me wax is just a waste of money (or time if you do it yourself). I
don't see why it's necessary unless you are in competition and trying to
eek every last bit of speed out of your board. I'd say looking after
your edges is much more important.

Octes

P.S. I've just got in, and I'm moon faced so if I'm ranting I apologuise
in advance.

surf wrote:
I just started snowboarding, but have been surfing for 7 years.
The guy who sold my my 2005 burton custom sold me some viper paste
wax. He said put that on every 3 times and use the hard wax every
6 times or so, using an iron. I hot waxed the board the other day.
I had alot of wax on, and you can see plainly there is wax on the
board.
Anywhere it caked up I scraped it down with
the dull side of a knife, but only so it wasn't caked up. In a few
places the wax
was a bit thick, but it looked smooth and even. I went boarding
yesterday, there was alot of ice and spring snow. I see my board gets
alot of tiny scratches and a few slightly more noticable ones. I
noticed other people's boards look a bit similar as I studied the
bottom of one guys board when I leaned my board up on a board rest
where there was other boards. Just from yesterday, all the wax I
applied wore off to between 1 - 3 inches of the edges of the board,
more on one side where I ride more I'm sure, but I had been riding both
ways, practicing goofy foot. This one girl told me she just waxes the
board once a year, you pay the $30 and they run it through a machine. I
am sure that there is not a speck of wax left on the board within 1-3
inches of the edge. Is wax just supposed to make you go faster or is it
meant to protect the board ? I am sure where there is a good amount of
wax those tiny scratches that accumlate are absorbed by the wax
instead.
I feel like maybe I should put more wax on where it wore off. Does that
viper paste wax work very good ?

You need wax at snow temps approaching 30 degrees and above. Below 20
degrees most waxes hinder.

When it comes to wax, less is more. Too much wax is worse than no wax.


"Thick you stick. Thin you win."

I started using a combo nylon/brass brush a few years ago. How I got
along with out it is a mystery.


I hot wax a sinterred base several times a year and use F4 paste almost
every day to protect the base. The F4 can build up so you need keep
the base clean.

What about all the tiny scratches my board accumulates ? Won't the
cummulative effect of those
eventually wear the plastic material or whatever the underside of the
board is made of down ? Doesn't wax help stop or slow that process ?

surf wrote:
What about all the tiny scratches my board accumulates ? Won't the
cummulative effect of those
eventually wear the plastic material or whatever the underside of the
board is made of down ? Doesn't wax help stop or slow that process ?


I'm sure it does help protect your board, but I think that wearing out
the board in this manner would take 20 years.

surf wrote:
What about all the tiny scratches my board accumulates ? Won't the
cummulative effect of those
eventually wear the plastic material or whatever the underside of the
board is made of down ? Doesn't wax help stop or slow that process ?

If does wear it down, and wax does help slow the process... but even
without wax, the wood of the board would wear out before most bases.
After about 30-60 days of riding, you can even get a "base grind" which
essentially grinds away the top layer of the base away, giving you
free, untouched/scratched base that will hold the wax better. If you do
too many base grinds, you will wear through your base so it's not
recommended that you do it that often (maybe 5-6 times over the life of
the board). Mike T knows about this better than me.