Louis Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Okay, I must admit it, Over the past couple of years I've been very lazy with my board, and I didnt wax it enough (didnt put wax coat for summer and so on) Last season, I'd go to the tune shop get it waxed and everything, after a day of riding, the base (especially close to the edges) gets very white and seems very dry... I've tried to do something with it last season (waxing more) but it seems like it won't get that much better... Is it possible to have screwed up my base by not waxing it enough ? Is there any solutions... I've read about a hot box.. I dont know any place that could do that for me.. I'd buy a new board and take care of it better but its not really my objectve since I have to buy some other stuff and I dont have the budget for a new race board (bought a free ride one at the end of last year)... Anyway, I hope to hear from you guys please dont too much for being a jerk with my stick :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 If it's worth it, get a base grind, then a hot box wax. I noticed when I went to Colorado, the snow was very abraisive, and only the correct wax would last any length of time. A bit of a shock for my lazy N.W. backside.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 do a search for "hot box" (on bol, don't use google;) ) and see what comes up... i think there was a discussion on do-it-yourself hot boxes. just my 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Getting it done at a shop (hot box) with base grind, is it expensive ? I never heard of that around here, perhaps they do this more on the west part of canada, anybody from montreal that know a good place ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 the real issue is that you neglected the base, here's what I'd do get a base grind and hot wax every other time you ride this applies to all your boards start out with some renew zoom from dominator or base prep from swix, these are soft waxes that penetrate deeper than other waxes I prefer the dominator product by a long shot but the swix does it too in a pinch. pick up some temp specific wax and use that the night before you ride. all you need now is a iron if you want to build a hot box go for it or if you want to find a shop with one go for it but I think your money is better spent with upkeep instead of letting it get trashed and then paying somebody $40 for a wax job that you could do better at home due to you being able to do it for frequently and with high quality waxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=15870&highlight=hot+box http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=9467&highlight=hot+box I'm building one right now. So I looked too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted November 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I think i prefer getting away with good board maintenance than the hot box.. I dont want to screw my board lol ! :) The only thing im not so sure about, when i wax.. I drip the wax on the board than even it with the iron, after i let it cool down for like 30 minutes, scrape.. But i've never used a brush to structure it.. Im find this step very fuzzy, well i dont know what to use and how to use it well, especially on my race board.. What tool do you guy use, and what are your steps ? Do you wax/scrape/structure and your ready to go, or you do that a few times to get the structure out better ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I used to work in a pretty busy repair shop, they always used Scotch-Brite pads. I've asked a few other shops about it and the answer I have gotten is, "we sell brushes to people who want them but they're a waste of money for a recreational rider". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I've employed the following tip courtesy of from Mike DeSantis from PTC and I've not seen any base whitening since: After getting a grind (or cleaning your bases using a citrus cleaner) iron in some base prep wax. I tend to do a couple of passes with that. Afterwards, use a cork or WaxWhizard to apply temperature specific waxes. Apparent the cold-snow waxes, which are harder, tend to crack as they cool from being ironed in. This leads to both the whitish appearance of bases plus poor glide. He also told me that a warm-temp wax (something meant for above-freezing temps) can be used as a proxy for base prep (and vice versa) It's worked for me so far... all of last season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C5 Golfer Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 the real issue is that you neglected the base, here's what I'd doget a base grind and hot wax every other time you ride this applies to all your boards . A base grind every other time you ride??? Hmmmmm if one rides 40 days /year would that be 20 base grinds in one year? would there be any board left to grind??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I used to work in a pretty busy repair shop, they always used Scotch-Brite pads. I've asked a few other shops about it and the answer I have gotten is, "we sell brushes to people who want them but they're a waste of money for a recreational rider". Scotch brite will break down and leave little bits of pad in your wax. Get out the magnifier if you don't believe. Brush is more better. I don't care if they say the "recreational" rider can't tell or is a waste. Someone can and you don't have to be racer level to feel the diff if you are tuned in to your equipment. Why spend hundreds or thousands ( for my Heavy metal friends ) on a board and then put the final buff on it with a disposable cleaning pad. The brush actually gets the wax out of the base structure so you are riding on your tune instead of filled in ridges of wax. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 A base grind every other time you ride??? Hmmmmm if one rides 40 days /year would that be 20 base grinds in one year? would there be any board left to grind??? I am sure Bob mean get your board ground and then hot wax it every other time you ride. If your base is black I highly recommend the renew zoom like Bob also says. Its the best way to give your base a little life back. Nice work Bob! Make sure you get a grind for sure! it will allow the old burned pores to be removed and expose some none burned pour to soak up de vax!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C5 Golfer Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I am sure Bob mean get your board ground and then hot wax it every other time you ride.!! Ok - my bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastskiguy Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I've struggled with whitish base material near the edge of my skis for years, on the inside edge of the ski, gotta be the same with snowboards, probably worse. I wax every day. I'm on machine made snow exclusively. Thinking.....hotbox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted November 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Alright ! I guess its a base grind, then i need to buy some prep wax.. and i'll be all set... I need to find a good shop for the base grind now ! They do that with a machine right ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDY_2_Carve Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 www.alpinecarving.com has some GREAT information on keeping your boards in pristine condition. Thanks to Scott Firestone for an amazing site. I personally do not use brushes...I use scotch brite pads and have never had any issues. But also I do not race so I'm not overly concerned with having the fastest tune on the hill. I might be buying a horse brush this year and see if it makes much of a difference? If it's better for your base then I'm all about it. I hot wax my rides after every use but I have all the gear (plus garage space) to do this. I plan on buying a Wax Whizard this year to see if it will save me some time. I mostly use all temp wax but will use some cold waxes for trips to Colorado. Our bases here are usually man made early or a mix of natural and man made. The only time I ever have any glide issues is in the spring slush. I use summer wax but I wonder if it's really needed or not? My boards are bagged and stored but it is very dry here with zero humidity. I just do the storage wax just to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Bordy understood me! I also prefer prep wax for cleaning the base over the orange cleaner, just seems a hot scrape usually does a better job. renew zoom with graphite is the best but the others still work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebu Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Tognar Toolworks' website has a pretty good how to section about waxing and maintanance. Read alot about waxing and such. Then take everything with a grain of salt, because some guys say wax doesn't matter and others say that if your board isn't perfectly waxed after every hour on the hill then you might as well be not waxing at all. I would say both are crazy. Now this is what I do. Begining of the year I scrape off the storage wax and I'll probably hotwax it once or twice before doing anything. Lay on the wax, iron it in, let it cool then scrape it off. Maybe on the second waxing instead scraping it off, I'll run the ray's way over my board. After that I take a brush it with a simple nail brush. It's got nylon bristles and it's fairly firm. I wouldn't think nylon would have some adverse affect over horsehair... Plus I can get a brush for cheap as hell. After that, after every day out on the hill I'll crayon wax on and rays way it in. I put it on pretty heavy on the edges cause they're usually more thirsty than the middle. I'll do that for a couple days out on the hill, then after a few, like when it starts taking more and more wax, I hotwax it again. The trick is to keep an eye on your base. You should be inspecting all of your hardware after you ride, and your base shouldn't be neglected. Make sure you can still see some structure, there isn't base burn (or at least it's kept to a minimum), no nicks or gouges that need to be fixed. That kind of stuff. I'm sure there are people that won't like my process, but it seems to work pretty good. And you'll get to the point where you look forward to waxing your board. It's alone time and it's something to take pride in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. T Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Initial base grind is a must to remove all the oxidized ptex which will not absorb wax. Heavy scraping and or scotch brite as others suggested will prolly work also but a good grind prefeably with a flat prepped stone is the way to go. Be wary of belt grinders as they are rarley flat. You can only guess how many rental skis and freestyle boards were ground prior to yours so if you like your base find a stone grinder and someone with experience operating it. Hot box is great at pulling more wax deep into the core, doing multiple layers with warm scraping in between works but wastes wax. After riding a hot scrape will pull dirt, and debris out of the base and raise additional oxidised ptex which the hot scrape will help remove, then do a layer which you let solidify and cool. If it's not super cold out and I am pretty sure I have the right wax for temps I won't scrape at all and let the snow do the scraping. Usually what happens is the portin of the base nearest the edge loses wax faster than the center and over time the center of the base gets higher than the edges. If you do scrape go easy and try to do one fluid motion tip to tail, use extra caution with metal scrapers. I also pretty much stay away from the citrus solvents. I could see doing it prior to a grind but that's about it. This is really getting off topic but there is a waxing tool, the name of which escapes me ( someone help me out here ) that looks like a length of cordura wrapped around a piece of PVC which works really well at burnishing cold wax into a base, just rub wax on to the base and burnish it in with this tool and whalla, wax on! Same person that sells these also sells some pretty basic but cool edge tuning equipment. Sorry for the diatribe, I'll stop now, go grind that thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 This is really getting off topic but there is a waxing tool, the name of which escapes me ( someone help me out here ) that looks like a length of cordura wrapped around a piece of PVC which works really well at burnishing cold wax into a base, just rub wax on to the base and burnish it in with this tool and whalla, wax on! Same person that sells these also sells some pretty basic but cool edge tuning equipment. Sorry for the diatribe, I'll stop now, go grind that thing. this is the wax whizard you're speaking of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgforce Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 The problem you have is probably a result of the base area close to the edge getting burned. That happens when the board is used for a long period of time without any wax on it. That can also happen when the iron during waxing works at a high temp. basicaly the top layer of the base melts and the pores of the sintered base material dissapear.As a result the wax cannot be absorbed. The best you can do to repair the base is to take it for a stone grind. That will take off the top layer and bring the base back to working condition. After the stone grind (which can only be performed 2 maximum 3 times in the boards lifespan) putting it in a hot box with a relatively soft wax would really help. If access to a hot box is not possible try to find someone with a sauna and stick your board in there. I mostly use sauna for my boards and it works great. The temperature is not hi enough to damage the board and the wax melts nicely and gets fully absorbed. If you need more info just email me and I can give you more info about wax and waxing procedures. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 sauna? wow never thought of it!... building a cardbox with a small oven should to the trick too i guess...gonna try it :) i'm tired of waxing bloody cold boards stored in my garage that take ages to heat up ! Good idea... but sauna i'm not sure i'd want was smells in there its toxic! Nils Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgforce Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Toxic? Not at all. The wax at sauna temperature does not evaporate. It melts. And it is allways nice to take a sauna along with your board. Talk about bonding with your equipment. Actually maybe we can think of 10 reason why taking a sauna with your board is better than taking a sauna with your wife> 1. The board does not complain about being neglected at the mountain. 2. ..... 3. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 sauna? wownever thought of it!... building a cardbox with a small oven should to the trick too i guess...gonna try it :) i'm tired of waxing bloody cold boards stored in my garage that take ages to heat up ! Good idea... but sauna i'm not sure i'd want was smells in there its toxic! Nils Nils, I have been told in the past by several team techs that heating a cold board really stresses the glue and materal around the inserts becuase the metal changes tempature at a different rate then the board. After ripping inserts out of boards I had waxed right after riding I now always let the board warm up a bit (to room temp) then wax it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. T Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Toxic? Not at all. The wax at sauna temperature does not evaporate. It melts. And it is allways nice to take a sauna along with your board. Talk about bonding with your equipment.Actually maybe we can think of 10 reason why taking a sauna with your board is better than taking a sauna with your wife> 1. The board does not complain about being neglected at the mountain. 2. ..... 3. ... Gulp.. . . . Your board won't divorce you for going to check out someone elses hot box, er, I mean sauna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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