Supra wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 7:53 pm
Uses less wax? Well, they're just rubbing the wax on and melting that, which you can do with an iron.
This is the only point I would counter, the "crayon" method using the IR vs "crayon" with an iron is extremely different. With an iron, it's all kinda just dumb luck to a point and then you still have to use the iron to heat it and spread it. Doing "crayon" with the IR is like using a super soft almost* melted crayon that continually leaves wax across the whole width of your wax block and the whole length of your board as you trail from one end to another.
In summary, to me crayon with an iron never proved to be much of an advantage in my personal experience, this is not true with the IR. With the IR the crayon method was tits.
I'd like to dig in to this a little more. What is your definition of the crayon method? In the video they just rubbed the bar of wax on the base of the ski and it covered it from edge to edge. Then ran the ir waxer over top.
Can you clarify what you meant by " it' s like using a super soft almost melted crayon " and "it's all kinda just dumb luck to a point" [when using an iron]?
How are you changing the Hertel wax to a slightly melted state for the almost melted crayon condition?
Are you rubbing the wax on cold and then running the ir waxer over top? Or heating the base and the wax melts on touch (but that would prob mean the base was too hot)?
For me, I rub the bar of wax on the base of the iron and then immediately do a swipe on the base of the board, which leaves a layer of wax. I do this for the entire board. Then I run the iron slowly from tip to tail then tail to tip then tip to tail (it usually takes 3 passes with iron to get the full width of a board). I used to use Hertel with the iron at 110 - 120, and now I use Beaver wax at 100.
Supra wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 5:13 pm
How are you changing the Hertel wax to a slightly melted state for the almost melted crayon condition?.
So what I am doing is moving the IR from tail to tip. I have the IR pointed at the tail, I hold the wax in the IR and crayon towards the nose. With the wax in the IR the whole time it is basically almost liquified as I move, like I said a melted crayon at that point, and the whole brick edge is like that so as you move along it’s just laying down a smooth and consistent crayon. Then I go back over it from tip to tail and it just melts in and it’s done.
As I said it took 3 boards before I figured it out, but it works tits.
SLC, UT - Cardiff Snowcraft - NOW - Spark R & D - AK457 - DC - Anon - Milosport -
So I waxed another board with the borrowed single element IR curing lamp (not the Mountain Flow). Much less scraping, waste wax and positive time savings. However, I don’t have the technique dialed yet for movement speed and elevation from the base. The IR heat penetration happens way faster than with an iron. With this lamp, the heat is instantly spread over the full width of the board vs the just the width of the iron. The heat penetration through the board layup gets the topsheet uncomfortably hot quickly vs an iron on the base.
Tapered Directionals | US 9/Mondo 27 | 155 lbs/70kg | Moist Snow Areas
sinned wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2023 9:29 pm
The heat penetration through the board layup gets the topsheet uncomfortably hot quickly vs an iron on the base.
I've heard that if the topsheet gets warm then you should stop ironing that section of the base til it cools down. Just a general observation
Hard to explain, but no it’s not the same, I’ve tried the crayon thing, and while it does use less wax, an iron is nowhere as efficient as the IR is.
The IR is just even steady heat that allows the wax to instantly liquify and the base just absorbs it. There’s no need to spread any wax because it just lays down a fine coat of wax from the whole brick.
It took me 3 decks to get it figured out, but when I got it I was like damn this is by far the easiest and most efficient thing I’ve done.
I always have a strange feeling when waxing. I always pass the iron (toko wax iron) several times. If I spend a little time I have the feeling that the wax " doesn't get inside ", but if I stop a little, I have the feeling that I burn it... I have to do more research on this IR iron. I awas looking and I can buy it in Europe. Do you know what power it has? 1200w? 2000w? 2500?
Where in Europe can you buy it? Like to try it out to!
benjinyc wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 10:55 am
I think the high temp (IR energy) is more about getting the base hot enough to make it better at absorbing the wax, not melting the wax itself perse
I borrowed a handheld IR paint curing lamp that looks exactly like in this video. The single 1000 Watt lamp gets things hot rapidly, and I used an IR thermometer to make sure things didn't get past 265º (which can happen if sitting still for a few seconds). I think with a few more wax jobs with this paint curing lamp that I can optimize the technique with it, but I can appreciate the design advantages of the Mountain Flow with the larger radiant area, greater output, and resting feet.
1000w works??? I can get a 1200w IR for €15
It is a price that allows you to try and if it doesn't work, throw it away
