The Wax and Tune Ya Goon Thread

[C.Fuzzy]

he lost all credibility for me saying you need to wait hours for wax to cool. if i'm waxing more than one board, the first is usually cool enough to scrape by the time i'm done applying wax to the second one.

Idk. I saw on youtube that If you dont follow proper cooling technique involving bowing to an effigy of William H Macy over 3 fortnights, your base pores won't properly bond with the wax and the holy union will spoil.

[jclinares]

Note: The video is posted 3 times with different time links for each of the things I'm ranting about in my post.



Anyone have anything to say about this paper towel hotwax technique? Couple comments seem to validate it. New to me.



Here is his explanation of the ptex "pores" absorbing wax. That's the conventional theory...BUT...BUT... materials expands when heated and so I believe the heating the base would actually shrink the "pores" and then they would open up as the material cools. It's all backwards.



But also, this guy says that if you don't completely scrape the wax off the board and then ride it, it damages the board because "chunks of base get ripped out by wax that sticks to the snow"...

WTF. Has anyone ever heard this bro science before? I can't understand how that would happen. Wax is softer than ptex... how would wax have the strength to rip off chunks of base? But wouldn't then scraping also then damage it by the very nature of it being the same thing?

Is riding an unscraped base the new free basegrind? /s

Idk why I'm so irrationally irritated by this. What do I even care?

That paper towel thing, while cute, looks like too much trouble. And I feel like the towels would rip? Also, how would a wet paper towel help over just running the iron on the thing layer of crayoned wax? Paper towel is helping to polish the surface and absorb some melted wax, so it doesn't look like it needs scraping?

Also, literally nobody waits for hours for their wax to dry, WTF kind of kook behavior is that?

I thought the "pores" theory had been discredited a while ago, with some microscope images, no? It's one of those things that make sense in theory, but that's not how the materials work. Overall, I don't know if this guy has a lot of knowledge about boards and waxes. Never come across his channel, either.

[Supra]

great points about if the base WAS expanding with heat, then any holes in the base would get smaller.

The 'proof' I've been using is the one I heard on the Bombhole episode with the K2 designer, who said if there were pores in the base, then water would get in.

The kool aid drinking in the wax industry is crazy. I had one well known tuning shop guy go on Twitter and talk shit about Hertel because Hertel says you can scrape while it's still warm. I've done it and yes, it works fine. Brands like Swix recommend hot scraping for their cold waxes so it's not a far-fetched idea.

[Spenser]

This is the kit Lars set me up with a few years ago, except I have two grits in the long file. I barely use it, but that's not why I wanted it. Cleaned up my orbit after putting so many days on it, and it feels like new. Also used it on my beat up cadet, and was super impressed with how much it brought the edges back to life.

[casjcade]

I wax at home and leave it, scrape and rotobrush on the mountain. Probably not scoring any ecopoints there, but yeah.. The Hertel stuff seems to clean the base well, and put some graphite wax on there, if only for emotional support. The expensive stuff seems harder to put on and scrape properly. Don't like white and seethrough bases because it's harder to see the wax on there, only reason really. Mostly used the "cheapest" Swix stuff. Also used the "skiburner", waxing with gas, for out in the field.

[alex]

Okay, so... stop saying pores? Just call it what it is - structure.

The problem with bases is that the term "structure" is used to call base finishing with grinding and not properties of material to have pores to contain wax. Extruded and sintered bases can have same base structure (finishing) but not same material structure (pores).

Sintering by definition is a process to make porous material, if result is monolith (under electronic microscope) then process should not be called sintering but melting, which in base manufacturing terms means extruded.

Fortunately there is high demand for porous ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene also outside snowboarding, so there are many studies showing what it really is and how it should be made. Those materials are needed for exactly same reason, why it is needed for snowboard base - to be self-lubricating, to absorb lubricant in pores, means wax for our bases. Here is more recent paper, so no need to search hard drive for old one: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/6/1335

But anyone can use any term for sintered bases, however, when I put base oil (like this: https://www.skiwax.eu/rex-430-fluor-bas ... l-17430-1/) on on a good sintered base, for example Jones 9000, the base will absorb huge amount of oil, like a sponge, before it will be saturated. And this is after manufacturer made all efforts they can, to saturate the base with wax.

[jota]

If brands wax the bases when the boards leave the factory, wouldn't it be better for a EL rider if the board came without wax so we could use the best wax that we use? Which will surely be better than the one from the factory...

Does anyone know if on Burton boards, the B WFO sintered base is the same base as the sintered base without WFO?

[Dave T]

TIL about meth-base. Exciting times!

[C.Fuzzy]

TIL about meth-base. Exciting times!

Just wait until you learn about meth freebase

[C.Fuzzy]

If brands wax the bases when the boards leave the factory, wouldn't it be better for a EL rider if the board came without wax so we could use the best wax that we use? Which will surely be better than the one from the factory...

Does anyone know if on Burton boards, the B WFO sintered base is the same base as the sintered base without WFO?

For the amount of factory wax actually applied, it may as well be considered unwaxed. As far as I've seen basically they have a buffing wheel with some wax residue on it and they run the board over it once real quick and put a tiny sheen on the bottom. I always consider factory wax a marketing gimmick so they can put another advertisement sticker on it. People who say you can run a factory wax make me laugh... but to each their own.