I want to start hot waxing my owns skis and boards, so I'm after a waxing iron. Is a cheap(ish) domestic dry iron (i.e. no steam or water sprays) suitable? I'm just a bit worried about the possibility of burning the base if the temperature was too high or uncontrollable. Any idea what temperature would start to burn bases? Thanks.

I'm no expert but I've been using a travel iron and never burned anything. actually I did burn a hole in some laminate flooring once with molten petex, but that was unrelated to the iron...

I use a cheap domestic iron. You can tell if it's too hot cos the wax starts smoking! You can buy specific waxing irons, but they're a lot more expensive!

a cheap second hand travel iron off ebay does the trick - got one for about 4 quid!

has the advantage of being light and small so you can take it on trips with you.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 11.14hrs Wed 20 Jan 10 by mdem.

I have a Tesco Value iron for waxing my board seems to do the job was about £8 i think

I use a travel iron - works for me.

The one adavantage of a real waxing iron is if you are using a wide variety of waxes for different conditions, especially some of the colder and fluoro waxes which require higher temps to melt, then on a proper waxing iron you can set the correct temp for the wax.

For me, as I hardly ever use a really cold wax and can't afford more than LF wax for the race skis, a travel iron is fine and with a bit of experience soon found the settings to get the correct temps for the waxes I use.

Who's gonna post up and idiots guide (with Pics) to home waxing, so see if it's worth not paying a shop to do it...?

yup I use a cheap domestic dry iron I got for about a tenner.... if the wax smokes its too hot.... thats all I go by!

ColinTheCop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Who's gonna post up and idiots guide (with Pics)
> to home waxing, so see if it's worth not paying a
> shop to do it...?


Here are a couple of links to home waxing guides that I found when I started waxing my own boards last year:

[snowheads.com]

[www.snowgo.com]

Forgot this one - which has a video

[www.sierrasnowboard.com]


----------------------------------------------------
I prefer the term - Evil Genius



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 12.33hrs Wed 20 Jan 10 by madbaddad.

Colin the cop, doing your own hot waxing is easy and satisfying, the main danger is dripping wax on the floor and getting in trouble with SWMBO (easily avoided if you have a garage, I don't so it gets done in the kitchen )
Another vote for the travel iron option from me, I did borrow a Bakoda waxing iron from a friend once which was excellent but a bit expensive.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 12.53hrs Wed 20 Jan 10 by jurassic.

I also use a travel iron - they are cheap, more easily maneuvered, and they don't tend to get too hot as they are cheaply made!

and yeah, once the wax is smoking then it's too hot - turn off the iron and open a window if this happens as those fumes can be toxic! the wax will burn well before your bases so you shouldn't have issues with damaging them.

i tend to wax my own but if the skis need serious attention there is a place on rodney street in edinburgh who just did mine and fixed them up proper. i had some deep gouges right through to the metal after hitting several rocks going down a wind scoured off piste bit in between val d'isere and tignes when i was on holiday a couple weeks ago. i nearly cried when i saw the bases after that - but now they are totally sorted. he fixed them with p-tex and glue wire, gave them an excellent waxing which apparently was finished with a horsehair brush - for 20 sheets.

the guy in the shop was a great bloke as well, very knowledgeable and tried to turn away my business as he said i could do it myself but i didn't trust myself to fix such serious damage with my first go at p-texing.

i don't think they have their own website but here is their entry on gumtree:

[edinburgh.gumtree.com]

yeah agree, really satisfying zen-like thing waxing ur own board, easy and much cheaper. Carefull though if u have laminate flooring as the floor ends up really waxed and slippy too.. and when the iron I use is put to more 'domestic' purposes it waterproofs my shirts too

Thanks guys,

Does it matter if the base of the travel iron is not completely smooth? Nearly all travel irons are steam irons (OK dont have to put water in, but they still have holes - does this cause a problem?)

Dunc

nope!

(not in my experience anyway)

nope, the holes very quickly fill up with wax anyway. just watch out when your finished waxing though, as the hot wax still inside the holes will drip out, so dont go leaving it on a nice bit of carpet or something!