Official Ski/Binding Maintenance Thread

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@th1337

just dull them under foot

Jul 25 2009 10:56PM

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pigglywiggly

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will i notice anything when im just skiing (less edge grip)

Jul 26 2009 1:21AM

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summersover

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I just watched all the videos out of boredom and I'm definitely gonna try freehand mounting on an old pair of raceskis until I've got it down and can do it on my new skis and save teh monies

My local shop is just a big sports store anyways they get enough business from me the way it is....

Jul 26 2009 2:36PM

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@th1337

i'm still too scared to freehand a pair of new skis

Jul 26 2009 8:33PM

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summersover

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haha well with some practice im sure i will gain enough confidence.... i think

Jul 26 2009 11:03PM

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@th1337

that's what i keep telling myself but it's so easy to mess up haha

Jul 27 2009 4:39PM

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summersover

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fuckkk

Jul 27 2009 4:44PM

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grown-ninja

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try giving your skis/board a hot scrape first, hot wax them first with a cheaper wax and scrape off like you normally would buff a little and then wax again with your good wax, this opens up the pores of the bases more, and clean the bases better than just waxing right to the ski, it will also make your wax last alittle longer,

^^^also i love useing rotery brushes, and you can get good pressure with them, just use 2 different one more corse to pretty smoth and it will buff them better than doing it by hand

Jul 29 2009 8:58AM

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@th1337

rottos cant get as good of a buff as by hand, hence why racers dont use them on race days

Jul 29 2009 1:18PM

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Oreos

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Insane

hey, just wondering if there is a way i can check if my skis are waxed. i took them to my local shop and asked them to fix bindings and give the skis a wax while i was getting boot fitted. but it only took them 30mins to do both, leaving me sceptical as to whether they did both. or is 30mins just a good/quick time for bindings and wax.

cheers.

Aug 8 2009 2:42PM

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@th1337

well do the bases feel dry?

Aug 8 2009 9:17PM

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Oreos

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Insane

yea kinda. i've realised though the simple solution is just wax them again anyway, whether i get the stuff to do it myself or take them to a different shop (so not to be rude) no harm can come from it.

cheers

Aug 9 2009 2:05PM

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andrewblackie

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Loner

i got a tip for anyone that rides dryslope out there. you snow guy will probably be mad as hell @ me for this but you have no idea the state that dryslope skis get into.

when you start to get a gap between the base and the edge and it is all the was down to the metal of the edge use repositionable epoxy resin to fill it, as anyone who skis dryslope will know, petexing is useless, its is ripped out after only one run. also repositionable allows you to wipe excess of the edge before it drys hard. after the wax has set use a coarse sanding block to level the epoxy and run a metal ruler along the edge to remove and resin you might have missed

Aug 10 2009 9:35AM

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Oreos

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Insane

sorry a lot of questions coming up, mainly directed to mrstskier (but others feel free to answer):

when waxing a new set of skis do you brush inbetween the multiple coats of waxes? or just scrape?

are bronze brushes a close substitute for blue nylon or are they worlds apart? finding it hard to get hold of blue nylon in england, but easy to find bronze.

and finally, waxes specifically for atificial snow or snowflex, are they worth it? if not which out of the normal yellow, blue, red, pink which would be the best? i only go to my localish (1.5 hours away) indoor snow slope once every two weeks in the summer but have heard man made snow can be harsh on bases.

cheers all

Aug 21 2009 12:30PM

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Lanceasaurus

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Insane

I wish i had something better to tune my edges with anyone got an idea PM me.

Aug 23 2009 5:14AM

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@th1337

bronze is used mostly for cleaning as it pulls up alot of dirt and wax. and yes brush inbetween each coat. having never seen artif. sno wax, dont know the diff between it and normal

Aug 23 2009 8:43PM

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Not sure if I should post this in here or make a thread

Can I buy/do shops normally have screws for bindings? I bought a pair of comp1400s off of here but they were missing two screws. Am I screwed(no pun intended)?

Also, what is the best way to get rust of off screws? My mom said oil will work but I don't know

Aug 23 2009 11:15PM

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@th1337

most shops should have screws. and just get really fine sandpaper and rub them down

Aug 23 2009 11:26PM

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@th1337

the majority of shops have a bin full of screws so they should be fine, if not you can look on slidewright.com and order some replacement screws

Aug 24 2009 11:03AM

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Sorry I keep responding to this thread but I'd rather not just keep making threads for silly things

I just bought these p12s and the toe piece is cracked like a mofo. Is this just cosmetic or are these shot? Will a shop mount them?

Sep 5 2009 11:15PM

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I can't see the picture but it is there I promise

Sep 5 2009 11:16PM

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I still can't see the picture but when I quote the URL is there. Lemme try for a third time

The damage is just the plastic around the screw that tightens the din

Sep 5 2009 11:22PM

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@th1337

looks like just plastic damage, but have your shop test them and as long as they test out fine, you shiuld be bale to get some time out of them

Sep 6 2009 3:11AM

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@th1337

try to cover it up though, if water gets in there it could rust your spring and screw with the bindings a little

Sep 11 2009 2:47PM

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Lemuel

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Crazy Fool

They may be shot. That plastic part is what supports the spring and holds it in the toe piece. Like said above, you should probably have a shop tech check that out but they will probably still say no.

Sep 12 2009 4:21PM

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Silence

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Post Whore

Yah definitely get them checked - pretty sure that piece that is cracked moves when the toe wings move..check it.

In any event, i think it will be mostly cosmetic

Sep 13 2009 5:22AM

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ham_and_steeze

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Pro

why should i not sharpen my park skis? should i sharpen my rail/urban skis? how about if im in powder?

Sep 20 2009 12:47PM

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@th1337

sharp edges want to hook into the snow and turn, so for landings on jumps you could hook and die, and on rails you dont want the chance of hooking on a little bit of metal thats sticking up. in pow edges dont matter

Sep 20 2009 12:57PM

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ham_and_steeze

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so for my park skis, when i get them i should just mount them and wax em or should i also sharpen em? how often (if at all) should i sharpen my park skis?

Sep 20 2009 1:13PM

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@th1337

did you read what i said? dont sharpen them at all ever unless its a pipe ski

Sep 20 2009 5:25PM

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ham_and_steeze

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k thanks

Sep 20 2009 5:40PM

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@th1337

when you are trying to saturate new bases, about how many waxes should it take?

Sep 20 2009 10:05PM

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@th1337

like how many times should you wax?

Sep 21 2009 1:38AM

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@th1337

yeah. cuz i know youre supposed to do it repeatedly on new skis.

Sep 21 2009 1:40AM

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@th1337

depends on the bases and how fast you want them to be

if you can, hot box them then do 6-10 more layers

Sep 21 2009 1:41AM

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@th1337

hot boxing prolly isnt gonna happen. i cant afford to have the shop do it, and i sure as hell dont have access to one.

Sep 21 2009 1:53AM

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@th1337

ya it isnt cheep, im glad my race coach has one he lets me use, but i may build one this winter

at least 10 coats of different waxes tho, i know that seems like alot, but it builds up such a strong base

Sep 21 2009 12:02PM

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@th1337

cool thanks

Sep 24 2009 5:51PM

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skichicky3

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okay a few questions...I have new skis this season, they are in the shop right now getting mounted but I dont want to pay for the shop to prep them for the season since I have all the resources I need at home. What specifically should i do wax/tuning wise to get a new pair of skis set for the beginning of the season (i live on the east coast so i will be skiing mostly man made snow for a while). Also, at the end of the season last year I was skiing my old teneightys, they are pretty beat but i still plan on using them a bit this year. I never did anything to them last spring except put them in my basement and I know i should have put a summer wax on them, too late now?. What should i do to prep those for the season as well. +k to any helpful answers

thanks

Oct 15 2009 10:22AM

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chazz.

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start waxing the heck out of both pairs right now, and dont stop till you see snow. then wax some more.

Oct 15 2009 12:07PM

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@th1337

pretty much, once my great scotts arive ill do another video on prepping new skis but till that happens, wax wax wax!

Oct 15 2009 2:39PM

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@th1337

it's nice that scott is hotboxing them before shipping though

Oct 19 2009 7:37PM

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@th1337

very, but ill still wax them

Oct 20 2009 6:27PM

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omIV

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Insane

so it looks like mrstskier really understands ski care, but its looking like there might be a basic misunderstanding of how wax works. i'm not looking to be a jackass, so feel free to ignore if you know what you're doing.

basically, wax ON your bases does nothing to make you faster...it usually slows you down. The way that ski bases work is they channel water from tip-to-tail IN the ski as you move downhill. this is why you want wax to really get in there via multiple applications, hotboxing, regular care/cleaning, etc. This is also why you should think about waxing along the ski...this is how the wax needs to be in there anyway.

another waxing plus: it helps maintain bases, which is obv going to come up as an issue with park skiing on heavily trafficked (dirty) snow.

one trick to know when it's time to wax: if you see white lengthwise streaking in your base (called base burn), you're behind on your waxing.

trick to know when you've put in enough wax: as you iron in each wax application, you'll notice that the base absorbs the liquid wax. this will look like a black puddle that is slowly getting smaller.

one thing you'll want to watch out for is bubbling your bases. this is very hard to repair, and can seriously slow you down. this is caused by keeping the iron over one spot too long. to know if you're damaging your skis as you wax, touch the topsheet of the ski under the point on the base where you're ironing. after a while you'll get a feel for how hot is too hot.

if you watch out for these things, and follow the basic temperature rules for whatever wax system you're using (I use swix, but toko and some others are just as good), your skis will ski real nice. cheers.

Oct 25 2009 7:34PM

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Moon_Park

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Ridiculous

I've just been on the swix website and I'm having trouble with working out the waxes. can someone tell me the basic differences between Hydrocarbon waxes, Low Fluorocarbon waxes and High Fluorocarbon waxes. I just bought some swix Ch (hydrocarbon) on a cheap deal and now I'm really confused as which is best as I'm no ski tech - thanks

Oct 25 2009 10:16PM

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omIV

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Insane

the swix system is designed with racing in mind. so it can get very technical, and it involves some very expensive waxes (some ceraF powders can run over $100 a bottle).

that said, you don't need most of that stuff...ch wax is basically all you'll ever need. essentially swix colors its waxes by snow (or outdoor) temperature. So you'll use a yellow wax when its really warm, a green when its really cold, and the rest shake out in-between. they're all marked by temp at which you should you them, so thats pretty self explanitory.

the different classes of waxes (CH, LF, HF, HFBD) are for different humidity and snow conditions. Basically, as it gets more humid, and the snow is older, you want to move from CH to LF to HF to HFBD waxes accordingly. This is a little less scientific, and has more to do with a touch that you develop over time for what wax to use.

That said, you dont need to worry about HF and HFBD. I will generally only use an HF or HFBD when I'm waxing for a race, and I need every hundredth of a second. What I'd adviuse is you use CH for most days, following the temperature guidelines on the wax boxes. You may want to invest in some LF waxes (LF12 is an assortment pack that will give you a little bit of three different ones) for days when the snow is really old or dirty. Other than that, just use CH.

Hope that helps. There are some wax freaks out there who spend three hours every night cleaning their bases, applying different wax cycles, brushing, applying ceraF powders (which are 100% fluorocarbon)...it can get really involved. As long as you're cleaning, waxing, scraping, and brushing every few days, your bases will stay in great shape.

Oct 25 2009 11:16PM

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