 Poster: A snowHead
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The bases of Mrs cstreat`s and my skis are looking "hairy" after 2 weeks use, one waxing, and one edge and wax. Tiny little hairs of plastic are sticking up from the base, over most of the length. They are Line Prophet 98`s, and Atomic Drifters, and have been on and off piste. I have never seen this on our Head Titans. Is this normal,what causes it, and what should be done? They are in good nick and I would prefer not to machine grind them if possible; a hand stone grind, then wax ? Thanks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pics?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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cstreat, welcome to the world of the "microhair!"
Dry bases, base burn...?
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Tbh, I've got skis that do it and ones that don't, I've even had identical model skis differ!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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cstreat, Spyderjon will probably take my nuts and have them bronzed for earrings for this; But I had a snowboard that habitually did this no matter how well waxed so I just took an electric heat gun and waved it over the base to melt the hairs into thousands of little balls of plastic (just took a wave over once of twice, the board wasn't even warm to touch after) and used my metal scraper to shear them off. You don't need to dig at them, they just crackle off with a passing touch. . . . then clean and wax as usual.
Sorry Jon  . . . it was a cheap and nasty board.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The daughters 3vs did this from new, a thousand wax/metal scrape/brass brushes later....same.
The only thing that helped a bit was going to a different wax without flouros,
Might get the oxy/acetylene gear out! 
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I`ll post some pics when I get back, and I`ll ask the ski shop what wax they used. They were waxed for each week of use, so should not be dry, but the locker does have boot dryers in it. I also did wipe them at the beginning of this week with some Toko wax stick, just because it was there. Not brave enough to flame them!! They feel fine to ski on, and I need a bit of resistance to slow me down on steeper turns.gatecrasher, What is base burn? Thanks for the advice; was going to title thread " Wife and I have hairy bottoms"
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| Quote: |
Wife and I have hairy bottoms
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 "are we getting the waxing wrong?"
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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cstreat, My understanding of it is like an abrasion, the bases also go dry and stop absorbing the wax so well, abrasive or man made snow can cause it or poor waxing? but my daughters skis went like it after one day on plastic, they were waxed from day one, regular, I even left them without wax for a while to see if that would make a difference, I've got and seen plenty of other identical skis used on plastic, some rarely see wax at all yet they stay shiny and black? I wonder sometimes if its because they may have got the shoite end of the roll during manufacture.  or possibly a cr@p original grind?
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Thu 24-01-13 22:18; edited 1 time in total
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Masque,
This would be one time when I'd use a metal scraper to trim off the fibres. Even better if you first wax with a hard cold temperature blue wax & then let fully cool to set to concrete to suspend the fibres to make them easier to cut. I actually use a carbide cutter with a cold wax especially for this problem.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Sometimes the culprit can be an iron that is set too hot or that has an inaccurate thermostat or the ski tuner otherwise overheating the ski base when ironing in the wax. If the ski bases become overheated, that expensive sintered base becomes more like a semi-extruded one with a lessened ability to absorb wax despite your best efforts. Once on the snow, what wax there is in the base quickly wears off. The resulting abrasion caused by the snow produces annoying micro-hairs and a slow ski.
If you think that could be the problem with your skis, the solution is simply to have the skis stoneground. Stoneginding will remove the thin layer of compromised P-tex allowing the sintered ski bases to absorb wax as they were meant to.
Stonegrinding also produces microhairs but does not compromise the ski base's ability to absorb wax. After having your skis stoneground, simply wax, brush with a bronze or brass brush, scape with a sharp plastic scraper and repeat (repeatedly). The more you wax, scrape and brush the smoother the base will become and the faster the skis will be. If you are really into tuning you can begin your post-stonegrinding procedure with a few passes of a stainless steel brush.
If you can rule out a previously overheated base as the culprit but simply conclude that the microhairs resulted from having skied too often without waxing, the microhairs
can often be removed simply with a 3M fibertex pad (maroon not green). If you opt to use a steel scraper to remove microhairs you need to be very careful. Steel scrapers are prone to "skipping" leaving horizontal scratches in the base which also result in slow sks. If you do opt to go the steel scraper route, use a good quality scraper (Sandvik or the like) and make sure that it is sharp and smooth.
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spyderjon, Lostboy, Thanks for your advice; they are only 2 weeks old and were waxed in resort on day 2 of use, and again edged and waxed at the beginning of this week, so it looks like they have been overheated. That`s disappointing as I wanted to avoid grinding. Off now to moan at French shop.
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You know it makes sense.
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I was always told fibertex pad and a couple of waxing cycles. Seemed to work on a pair I had before but I guess the problem could vary in severity.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Showed the boss of the shop, he said it was normal, and the fault of the skis. When I suggested they may have been overheated, he said impossible, "we service 800 skis a week" and walked off. Shop is only in it`s 2nd season, and 20% more expensive than elsewhere, so I have drawn my own conclusions. I did`nt actually moan, but just said that I wanted to show him the problem, and was not after any compo.
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Poster: A snowHead
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cstreat, I'm pretty sure thay haven't been overheated as no reosrt shop waxes by hand/iron as they all use waxing machines which, while the wax is molten, doesn't warm the ski base through at all which is their waxing job is shoite. The last place I'd want to take my skis is a place that does that volume as they'll be treated like the rest of their rental stock
Protext your investment & do your own from now on - all the kit/info can be found on my site.
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cran
cran
Guest
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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spyderjon, Was thinking that even before hand. May well do.cran, Good info
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Some North American ski resorts have waxing machines set up outdoors near the base lodge that offer quick wax jobs ranging in price from $5.00- $15 USD or so. What you get is, if anything, worse than a tuning shop that uses a wax machine because waxing cold skis results in even less wax absorption than skis waxed at normal room temps using a wax machine. Because, as spyderjon said, waxing machines do not sufficiently warm the ski base, the wax job will usually only be good for a few runs, if that, depending on how abrasive the snow happens to be. That could well explain why your bases developed so many microhairs even though it had been waxed.
Investing in a ski specific wax iron (Toko, Swix and others make them) with a reasonably accurate thermostat is a good solution. I would avoid at all costs using a home iron because their thermostats are seldom very accurate and iron temps can fluctuate widely during the waxing process.
In the alternative, look for a shop that specializes in tuning race skis or specialty tuning. You should be able to count on them not using a waxing machine and to have competent ski techs. Waxing your skis yourself will ultimately be cheaper and is very simple and effective. Just follow the iron temp. settings for the wax that you are using. There are "How to" videos on YouTube that explain the process very well.
Good luck.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| spyderjon wrote: |
cstreat, I'm pretty sure thay haven't been overheated as no reosrt shop waxes by hand/iron as they all use waxing machines which, while the wax is molten, doesn't warm the ski base through at all which is their waxing job is shoite. The last place I'd want to take my skis is a place that does that volume as they'll be treated like the rest of their rental stock
Protext your investment & do your own from now on - all the kit/info can be found on my site. |
Slight thread drift, but did you know that a lot of the shops in the french alps use these people, http://www.skiclean.fr, who collect the skis from the shops in the evening, "process" them in their factory overnight using from what I could see from a TV article was a "hands freee" automatic filling, grinding and waxing machine. Very impressive machine but lots of metal sparks in the pictures I saw 
I guess it cuts down on the seasonal staff needed in the shop. Some of the shops in Alpe d'Huez openly advertise that they use this this service, some don't but I have seen the van outside 
For me, having 5 sets of family skis to do , the DIY option was inescapable and that smell of wax in November coming up from the garage is always a good omen 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skitow, not sure if it was the same company but I saw a large van outside one of the Cham ski shops with a description of ski servicing on the side of the van.
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skitow, if you want to see one of those in action go to Spirit Sports Les Arc 1950 - they have one set up in a shop all on its own adjacent to the rental/sale part of the business. I think they call the machines 'CSA robots'. I am always dubious about them as I think they take away a week's worth of life out of the skis each time you use them and I'm always a little suspicious about the materials they use. I wax/edge/fill my skis by hand. Haven't got a hot box yet but I'm working on it!
If you have a really battered set of skis I can see the point of one of the CSA machines and I know it makes sense for the rental skis but I can't see it making sense for any decent skis - too violent/one size fits all.
I'll probably get slapped down by John/Lostboy but I always felt that micro hair was partly caused by techs not being consistent in the direction the skis were worked for various types, but not all, of base material. I always work tip to tail but I have seen techs pounding away happily in all directions and I always thought this might assist in lifting of parts of the base that resulted in 'hairing'.
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I can't resist.....................
Veet??!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Sadly, I can`t do anything about the skis now as I am back in the UK, minus skis and car, which decided to flip its 4x4 system approaching the first peage near Chambery. Once Subaru have finished fiddling with it in Albertville, I shall return to pick it up. Any day trip recommendations on way back gladly accepted
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Megamum, For shame, for shame. Not worthy of you.
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