handscreate

So I've done a fair amount of searching & after getting a lot of conflicting info on the web, I thought I'd ask here. I've never waxed my own board & want to start to do so. I read a whole lot of info on extruded bases & how they don't absorb wax as well as a sintered base & therefore they don't really need to be waxed. I have a Forum Bully Doubledog which has The FreeBase. To the best of my knowledge, the Forum FreeBase is an extruded base. Having read all this conflicting info, I'm torn between investing in some hot wax equipment (even if it's a DIY mickey mouse setup) & just buying some rub on wax or paste wax. I'm going for what may be the last time this season (unless the snow gods bless us in SoCal) this weekend & would like to have my board waxed by Thursday in anticipation.

I should also note that I live in an apartment with carpeted floors & can easily see doing hot waxes to be a big mess every time. That said, if a hot wax is going to make a noticeable difference on the extruded base, I'll suck it up either buy a tarp or do some serious vacuuming & clean up. I appreciate your guys & gals input on this.

As far as this weekend is concerned, I'm doubtful I'll get anything beyond what Sports Chalet or my local shop has in stock due to shipping times

KIRKRIDER

I like to keep my speed up on flats and wax does help. Don't use the rub-on...it lasts just a run. Don't worry too much about the mess. after 3 years I leave almost no trace of wax in my garage. Use a newspaper on the carpet or a tarp and you're good. I got the DaKine iron and it works well..waxing is a ritual to me. "Zardoz Not-wax" it's also pretty good on shush...but I'm worried about it being toxic.

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handscreate

Don't get me wrong, I like to keep moving on the flats too, that's why I'm asking. I was riding last week in spring slush & had to hike some runs to the lift because I couldn't keep enough speed to get thru the puddles. I just figured if there really isn't going to be a noticeable difference between hot & rub on wax on an extruded base then I didn't want to spend money & time to do a hot wax myself.

Is it way too jank if I buy a cheap clothes iron & use that instead of a snow sport specific iron that costs easily 4 times as much? If I don't have an extra around my place I was thinking thrift store or super cheap one from target, bed & bath, etc to get me thru this weekend and invest in something better when I have the funds to do so. Do I need to buy snow specific base cleaner, or will something like Simple Green or high % alcohol work well enough to remove the grime? Perhaps a hot scrape is better than either of these? Being in an apartment I'm looking to make the smallest mess possible

ilikecoupons

Hot waxing will make a difference, just not as much of one. If i remember correctly, rather than 60% of the base being porous(wax absorbing) on sintered, 40% is porous on extruded bases. This means that it will still absorb wax, just not as much of it. Yeah, you can buy a regular cloths iron, just be careful about the temperature and use aluminum foil over the iron to prevent wax from entering the holes.

I personally don't use base cleaner, but any citrus based cleaner will work, just use it sparingly. Hot scraping is way messier than base cleaning.

CheeseForSteeze

Hot waxing is always better, regardless of your base material construction, because all high molecular weight plastics experience pore expansion with heat which is what really promotes wax absorption. An extruded material simply just has fewer and less consistently sized pores because extrusion can create localized flaws and inconsistencies in the material. But it will still be better with a hot wax than without one. Will it see the drastic improvement a sintered base would? No. In that same vein, it doesn't experience the same speed loss a sintered base when depleted of wax in some snowpack conditions. Wax creates a controlled amount of friction so that you have a layer of water to ride on.

If you're riding spring conditions that have warmed beyond corn snow, there isn't much you can do to help. The water content of that snow is so high that surface tension starts to slow the board which can totally stop you in the flats. The only real way to combat that is with a good base structure creating by a stonegrind and products like graphite wax which have a granular texture and help break up some of the surface tension.

Leo

Citrus base cleaners don't do anything to the board's base. That is a myth that even the hardcore race skiers perpetuate. Some scientific guy broke down why citrus base cleaners can't possibly do damage due to the nature of P-Tex bases. He even explains that hot waxing doesn't completely clean your base which makes total sense. If the base absorbs wax when warmed up, how can hot scraping possibly lift all the dirt? You aren't scraping in the pores were the wax was absorbed into.

In the end, hot scraping is good enough. You don't need to use citrus cleaners. I personally use both methods. I use citrus base cleaners when my base is super dirty like from spring man-made sludge. Something no amount of hot scraping will get off.

I would say invest in a hot iron setup. You will need to eventually anyway so if you can afford it now, go for it. You likely won't have an extruded base snowboard forever right?

And don't knock rub-on wax. It's very useful for touch-ups. Just make sure you cork the rub-on wax in if you do use that. They normally come with cork on the lid or something. If not, just pick one up. I've even used wine bottle corks before (side without the wine stain duh).

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mixie

you can find one at REI on sale probably. I was at the Ontario (caliornia) store last week and irons were on clearance. For Summit this weekend? I don't know if Id bother.


I have an extruded board that is beat to hell with all kinds of scraps and gashes. Only one bad core shot. I wax it pretty often. What I find helps get rid of some of the big gouges (in the wax) is to take a razorblade to them. Level them out. so instead of the big gashes looking like this


|__| they look like this \_/

Flatten out any gouges or what not before you wax. Almost like sanding it down so the new wax sticks better. No base cleaner. I find it's easier to fill the hole/smooth the gaps with the hot wax if I do this first. It will hold more wax but it doesn't last long. Maybe a couple days before I need to do it again. Part of why I bought new boars with a sintered base. It's like night and day. really. it is. Or maybe my extruded board was just that bad.


the first time I waxed I did it in the living room (cos I was watching you tube videos on how to wax of course) made a huge mess all over my hard wood floors. Floors are in really bad condition anyway. but now I do it on my front porch. Nothing better than waxing your board outside when it's 85 degrees and your neighbors think you're crazy. I need to wire my garage up with electricity.

poutanen

Heh, hey said freebase... What smells like burnt rubber in here?

Okay, as others have said hot waxing is the way to go for any base. I've been using a regular household iron for almost 20 years, just be careful on the temp. Start off with it quite low and work your way up so that it will slide smoothly across the fresh wax drips but not burn any of the wax. For my iron it's set on about 3/7.

As for the mess, I've waxed on all kinds of floors. It's not the waxing that's messy it's the scraping, so you could always take it outside for that part. I've used newspapers, towels, etc and they all work fine, but just be careful you don't walk in the scrapings and start grinding them into the carpet or floor. I usually keep a vac close by and vac up the scrapings right after the scraping's done.

Leo

I forgot to mention the scraping thing...

I found that using a cut-up garbage bag to be the best method of disposing of the scrapings. One of those large bags. Just cut it at the seams so you can lay it on the floor like a tarp. You can either toss the scrapings out and reuse the bag later or just rid of the whole thing if you don't mind the extra cost of the bags.

I also put a trash can at the end of my board so I can scrape most of the wax right into the can.

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BoardWalk

A roll of painters plastic is cheap and portable, just cut a section off and you have a disposable work area. My issues is trying to keep the dog from walking through the shavings, that's where that hand vac comes into play. It's actually a good way to mellow out with some beer and TV, and be semi productive at the same time.