Application of Swix CH4 for dry slope

A snowHead

My kids have recently got into ski racing at the local dry slope, so I'm spending loads of time looking after their kit. I bought a load of CH4 for the weekly waxing, but I seem to be having a devil of a job getting it onto / into the skis. I've got the iron (pukka waxing iron) at c. 150 deg C, so that the wax runs off it and onto the ski base readily, but without any smoke. I run a zig-zag up the ski from tip to tail, but find that the wax dries so hard that I can't run the iron over the wax to spread it. I have to sit the iron onto the base bit by bit to get the stuff spread and by the time I've done that, it seems to flake off too easily. Either that or I keep ironing in until the ski gets much hotter than I think it should be.
Have I got the iron too hot / cold, could I be putting on too much / too little. Has anyone got any tips for the application of this stuff?
Thanks in advance for any other tips on dry slope ski prep, especially time saving ones.

A snowHead

Kirrie, Apply a base wax first and hot scrape ---- then the CH4... this will get the base hot enough for you to get the CH4 on.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Sounds similar to 4Mat wax (also a very hard hyrdrocarbon wax used on dryslopes), then I think you may be applying too much, try using less and then the spreading it out a lot thinner, it will then tend to absorb into the ski rather than just sit on top of it.

And make sure you use a sharp scraper when you scrap it off, otherwise it does tend to flake a lot and leave an uneven surface.

Where do your kids race?

PS How much you paying for the CH4? You can get 4Mat from skiracing.co.uk for ~£28/kilo (which I think it about half the price of CH4 and 1kg will last you for ages).

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Crayoning the wax on works really well. You touch the wax to the iron to get it to melt a little and then crayon the wax onto the ski directly from the block of wax. Then pass over the ski with the iron. I usually do it in segments then do a couple of full passovers with the iron as you usually do. Also you also tend to use less wax than dripping on the wax.

http://www.epicski.com/a/waxing-hot-touch-crayoning-and-smearing

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Elston,

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Thanks for the replies.

Trying to crayon on this stuff by touching it on the iron first doesn't seem to be effective at all. It hardens so quickly that it doesn't really take to the ski effectively. I'm wondering if it's 2 parts wax, 8 parts granite!! I've found that if I put the iron on max, dribble quickly up one side of the ski then quickly up the other, I can just about get the stuff spread in time to do 2 or 3 sweeps from tip to tail. I'm finding it imposible however to avoid areas on the ski where the wax remains white where I dripped it on and where I'm a bit fearful of overheating the base. I have heard a couple of horror stories about folk instantly delaminating bases!!

I bought the wax in 5 180g blocks from a well known ski retailer for just under £50. Is there a better value / more easily applied wax that others are using?

The kids are racing at Gloucester and loving it - it's gonna get expensive!!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Is it possible that the bases are too cold before you start waxing? They'll actually absorb wax better if they're warm, so if you usually keep them in a shed or garage try bringing them into the the house for a bit and leaving them somewhere warm for a while first. Also if the skis haven't been regularly waxed before they'll maybe take a few cycles of waxing for the bases to get saturated with wax, after which it should get a bit easier.

After all it is free

Kirrie,

CH4 is V hard and so you need to work in a slighly different way (warm bases do help).

1, drip the wax onto the base as per normal
2, once you have "enough" dripped on
3, gently press the iron onto a part of the base for just long enough to spread it out; repeat for the whole base
4, You should now have spread out wax that may be "flaking or peeling"
5, Repeat step 3 but now gently move the iron around to actually get the base warm enough to start to absorb the wax; do the whole ski
6, you can now hopefully slide the iron along the ski and work as per normal with softer waxes; take care; at 150 the iron is on the hotter side and so bases can burn if not careful!

Kirrie, 'touching' is a poor description as when hot touching the wax needs to be held/rubbed on the iron until it's melting which will take a few seconds of contact. The block is then firmly rubbed/crayoned on the base but you'll only be able to cover a few inches of the ski at a time before it hardens/cools & needs heating on the iron again. The base needs to be fully covered but you don't need to worry about the upturned sections of the tips'n'tails.

The p-tex base melts at 285C'ish so you're a way off that however the glue lines in the skis can be affected at 220C & sometimes as low as 200C which is a lot easier to reach. This is why I always recommend crayoning on a hard cold wax instead of just dripping (sorry scooby_simon) as it avoids the iron contacting a bare section of base, especially with it being set at circa 150/160C. I crayon on all the waxes I uses (regular temperature waxes don't need to be hot touched) as it also shows up any small base nicks that I might not have spotted & it saves wax.

As posted above, warm skis help (or at least not cold) & a hot scrape clean of the base with a soft wax prior to application will properly pre-warm the bases which really assists in the bond.

You'll also need a very sharp scraper which is used whilst the wax is still warm to avoid chipping. You have to move pretty quickly. A stiff brass brush is required to clean out the structure. A brass roto brush at 800rpm makes this a lot easier.

Datawax's PolarX is a third of the price of CH4 & whilst hot touching is still required I find it easier to apply.

As you've got years of this to come I'd seriously recommend building yourself a hot box which not only gives greater wax penetration so the wax lasts longer it makes applying very cold waxes a lot easier & safer because it's an ambient heat that warms the ski (as opposed to a direct heat from the iron) meaning that you can run the box at a lot lower temperatures. I built my own box & can let you have the specification etc.

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Kirrie, a lesson might be handy or at the very least this dvd on spyderjon's site is worth the £11 investment. It has saved me a lot more than £11 in wasted wax.

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After all of above apply Back to Black.

I'm waxing the skis at my club at the moment using PolarX and can't say I've had any of the problems you describe. Getting the ski warm (I leave them out in the sun, bases up, for 10 minutes) really helps.

You know it makes sense.

Have a chat with someone on the slope staff who races - or ask one the senior racers in the club, or just nab a racer from any club who is waxing at the Gloucester October summer race league and ask for help. Most will have been waxing skis for years, many will use the 4mat that Rob suggests, this is a very hard wax and great for Gloucester. We use this, drip the wax along the ski, about two drops per cm, then put the iron to 130 and iron in. No need to scrape on plastic slope if it's a very thin layer, just shine well with the brush. The hard work is the bit before you put the 4mat wax on. To get the wax to fill the little holes in the base it's worth applying soft wax to new skis, on, scrape off, etc. Some say that 6 times is enough, my son raced after 13 applications on his last set of new skis, but others just carry on until every last bubble has gone when waxing. The hard wax will be much easier after this and will last longer. Repeat the soft wax build up if the bases get very dry.

Why 130? Because some skis bubble their bases at a higher temperature and until you have done it you don't know if it will do yours. It seems to be the kids orange Rossis and some batches of kids Dynastars that have this problem. If they are not this type then 150 / 160 is probably OK, but keep the iron moving.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

The "keep the iron moving" advice is sound, especially with higher iron temperatures.. It also goes along with don't drip too much wax onto one spot as when you come back to iron it in, it could mean you have to keep the iron in one place longer than normal to melt it all again.

A snowHead

Kirrie, as above keep the iron moving, the temperature you are using is easily enough for this wax, I suspect it's mainly the worry of ruining your bases as to why you are having problems, if you are waxing them every session then it might be easier to go to a slightly softer wax to protect your bases, I've used ch4, ch6, polar x, you name it the only gripe if any was maybe a bit more time consuming, lately I've been using vola waxes, they are very easy to apply/finish and keep the bases nicely nourished for a couple of sessions.

A snowHead

Not wanting to teach granny how to etc. We do a bristle temp check with a motor sport tyre temp reader at three points on the course and run a known temp test ski to show the variance so we know how to layer the race ski for the 3 sections of the course, the temperature of the water if sprinklers are used is very handy to know because this can be a controlling factor on warmer days.

Help!!

Application of Swix CH4 for dry slope

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