I think there's a lot of mystery surrounding board and ski maintenance and while a good ski tech with the right tools will achieve a better result than an amateur, a lot of repairs can be tackled effectively by anyone with a smattering of DIY ability. Ski/ board manufacturers will have you believe that their wares are exotic composite masterpieces but in reality that means that they're actually quite simple metal/wood and plastic structures. I've re-attached ripped out edges, patched holes that penetrated right through to the topsheet graphics and routinely fix the rock damaged bases that we suffer regularly here in Scotland. I even cut a snowboard in half last year. There are superb adhesives and fillers available (many for marine use, check out your local chandlery) to the DIY bodger these days.

Just back in from the garage I now have 2 pairs of waxed and edged skis...
I use a cheap travel iron and have had no bother with it I set it on 1 dot which is the setting for nylon... It's a steam iron but this hasn't caused me any trouble as I do my waxing in the garage so it doesn't matter if I drip wax on the floor....

go slide....

DaveA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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:
>
>

Have to admit that Kevin from SnowSport Services is really good. got my board waxed a few weeks ago. well priced and gave me loads of tips aswell as to how to carry out my own serice. hope he has as good a season as we are!!!





Edited 1 times. Last edit at 16.32hrs Wed 20 Jan 10 by boardbasher.

yep, legend! altho he did reccommend waxing before every single day's use of skis or board - is that not a little excessive?

I know i should have fixed it myself, i even had p-tex in the house - i just wanted it done by someone who knew what they were doing! also he said he was using this glue wire stuff as well as p-tex - which i have never heard of?

ali at the ski n boardroom does a free wax. its in glasgow if thats any use to you.

i use a tesco value iron works great you can tell if your doing damage by feeling the top sheet if its hot turn the iron down or/and move it around the board a wee bit faster.

has any one tryed the p-tex wire instead of the sticks its got wax in it to help it melt at lower temps??

II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just back in from the garage I now have 2 pairs of
> waxed and edged skis...
> I use a cheap travel iron and have had no bother
> with it I set it on 1 dot which is the setting for
> nylon... It's a steam iron but this hasn't caused
> me any trouble as I do my waxing in the garage so
> it doesn't matter if I drip wax on the floor....
>

I have often wondered if we live on a parallel time line or something spooky like that. - I was in the garage with the exact same set up doing the same job last night, waxing 2 pairs of skis...if you tell me you used an old Black&Decker WorkMate to hold the skis, then I'll know we are twins separated at birth!

I use the DataWax Red/Blue/Yellow bundle, and refresh the wax every 2-4 days out dpending on the type of skiing & conditions.

I see you also have the same K2 helmet too....bizarre?

I use the burton tnt waxing iron, cost me about £35 about 3 years ago does a brilliant job, although i did use my mothers domestic iron years ago and she wasn't too chuffed when she found out, i have used a travel iron but thought it was rubbish, i wasn't hot enough for spreading the wax over the surface of my board.

i also use a green scotchbrite pad to polish the base once i've scrapped off the wax, another tip i found for waxing is to sharpen your plastic scraper by holding it at a 45 degree angle against your edge and pull it downwards, it will make a squeaking noise and you'll have a sharp scraper for removing your wax.



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 20.09hrs Wed 20 Jan 10 by paisleyboarder.

I use an old B&D Workmate, but have a couple of Swix ski vices mounted on it to hold the skis. They are really for nordic skis, but just open wide enough to hold my Movement Climax's. Should really get a form for the xc skis but can't justify the price.

HTH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> II Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just back in from the garage I now have 2
> pairs of
> > waxed and edged skis...
> > I use a cheap travel iron and have had no
> bother
> > with it I set it on 1 dot which is the
> setting for
> > nylon... It's a steam iron but this hasn't
> caused
> > me any trouble as I do my waxing in the
> garage so
> > it doesn't matter if I drip wax on the
> floor....
> >
>
> I have often wondered if we live on a parallel
> time line or something spooky like that. - I was
> in the garage with the exact same set up doing the
> same job last night, waxing 2 pairs of skis...if
> you tell me you used an old Black&Decker
> WorkMate to hold the skis, then I'll know we are
> twins separated at birth!
>
> I use the DataWax Red/Blue/Yellow bundle, and
> refresh the wax every 2-4 days out dpending on the
> type of skiing & conditions.
>
> I see you also have the same K2 helmet
> too....bizarre?
>

Yes I use a workmate but it's quite new.... used to use data wax but for the last 2 seasons have been using dominator purple and lime waxes....
Yes I have a K2 helmet (how do you know that?)- got it at craigdon 2 years ago...



go slide....

II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > Yes I have a K2 helmet (how do you know that?)-
> got it at craigdon 2 years ago...
>

Check your avatar?...and to continue the spooky twin theory, I also got mine a couple of years ago at Craigdon.

Tesco value iron and the green datawax sevices our boards and skis!

naefearjustbeer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tesco value iron and the green datawax sevices our
> boards and skis!


ditto, also in my toolbox: a broken tesco value windscreen ice-scraper, stanley knife blades and an old metal ruler.

fantastic vid on waxing right here! [www.youtube.com]

HTH & II

I too use data wax, black & decker workmates and use the garage...

I am looking for a K2 helmet which Craigdon used to have stock, but my local branch doesn't have them in stock at the moment. However, my daughter has a K2 helment although it is bright pink!


Re waxing iron - I asked a similar question a couple of years ago and based on similar advice ended up buying a £4 tesco iron which is still going strong. I used Youtube and various other resources ad "how to" resources

[www.ehow.com]

and good video resources from REI

[www.rei.com]

However, I think Jamie(?) IIRC made a good point previously and said that paying approx £40 in a good waxing iron was a good investment (to do the job properly) if you have spend hundreds of pounds on a pair of skis/board. I do intend doing buying a proper iron at some point when I have a spare £40.