How to hot wax/p-tex?

[seldon]

from powdermag bandit:
"Sounds to me from reading some posts here is that we've got ourselves some closet non-scrapers and non-brushers, LOL!! Alot of us don't want to admit that we don't scrape or brush our bases. But the truth of the matter is plain and simple, there are alot of straight waxers here. Sure, every ski shop has scraped and polished the bases for decades. But if you are in the privacy of your own home the unscraped wax can be accepted as a job well done. I have a friend who has a really nice Harley. The trouble is he spends most of his time polishing the chrome and not riding. Same with the skiing. If I wanted to spend a bunch of time at home scraping and brushing and polishing my bases hell I'd be better off renting a Ginger Lynn porno and polishing my own chrome if you know what I mean, LOL!! Bottom line is I want wax on the bottom of my ski to repel the effects of the snow. IE: I want to glide. Easier glidng makes for easier turns , less effort etc. It boils down to a personal choice of what works and what doesn't work. I've done alot of experimenting with all kinds of ways to wax, and believe me I've found the best way for myself. I bet some of you guys could get a job at The Hotel Vancouver, where they have full time people polishing the brass rails, LOL!! "

I think we have a match here . unless banditXXX is being sarcastic... /hopes///

[schuss]

Originally posted by Duker
Almost right.... Do Not blow out the candle! Just let it drip into the hole. do not ever toucht the ptex stick to the ski. and scrape with plexi glass not metal when done...


duke

first time I did it, only a few mistakes. Sounds good to me. Someone told me to blow it out, don't know why, I didn't most of the time, only when it dripped to much. And why plexi instead of metal? seemed to do the job the best... (referring to p-texing, not waxing, thats always a plexi, I was a little high on fumes when I wrote the post...)

[Dexter Rutecki]

Originally posted by BanditXXX
You're finally learning. Took you a while. I guess you found out it was better to be on the slopes than polishing the bases of your skis all day. Or were you the guy I saw polishing the brass at The Hotel Vancouver? LOL!!

Uhh, no. Read again. I was the one who originally said scraping was often unnecessary. LOL!! (God, I hate that)

[ak_powder_monkey]

ok strait from one of the US ski team waxers (my ski coach, quite possibly the best nordic waxer in the world) brass brush, drip or crayon wax (depending on the the temp range) iron in, let cool, scrape, the white nylon brush like hell, then blue nylon like hell and you should be good

[bagtagley]

How do I keep the ptex from cracking when it cools? Every time I've done a ptex job, it cracks a little.

[zion zig zag]

Originally posted by bagtagley
How do I keep the ptex from cracking when it cools? Every time I've done a ptex job, it cracks a little.

yeah, that happens to me on the big core shots. what gives ?

[BanditXXX]

White and blue nylons? Are you sure you weren't dripping hot wax on a Vancouver, B.C. hooker?

[seldon]

Originally posted by BanditXXX
White and blue nylons? Are you sure you weren't dripping hot wax on a Vancouver, B.C. hooker?

wow... mybe he's improving... no "LOL!!" at the end

[CaddyDaddy77]

Originally posted by flykdog
yeah, that happens to me on the big core shots. what gives ?

Sounds like in both cases the base wasn't warm enough. On core shots, with Volkl's and some other skis there's a sheet of titinal under the base, unless this is warm the p-tex won't really bond with material. Also, for core shots, with metal sub-structures, or shots that are against the edge, use Metal Tex Also, it helps to reduce bubling and leavind air inbetween layers by pressing down a metal scraper on top of the freshly laid p-tex.

dos pesos.

[Vinman]

Another good core shot material is a dark grey epoxy called PC-7. You can find it in most hardware stores. This stuff is tough, won't crack like normal 5 min epoxy and it bonds to metal very well. After it cures it can even be drilled and tapped. Not that you would need that for a ski, but just demoing how strong it is.

[CS]

Don't know about the PC-7 stuff, but JB Weld works a lot better than ptex, and is pretty easy to work with. I've never had it crack and has deflected subsequent rock shots with no problem.

[schuss]

Originally posted by CS
Don't know about the PC-7 stuff, but JB Weld works a lot better than ptex, and is pretty easy to work with. I've never had it crack and has deflected subsequent rock shots with no problem.

with enough JB weld and duct tape, there is nothing you can't fix.

[Vinman]

Originally posted by CS
Don't know about the PC-7 stuff, but JB Weld works a lot better than ptex, and is pretty easy to work with. I've never had it crack and has deflected subsequent rock shots with no problem.

I've had direct hits to a PC-7 core patch with no damage. Scratches on either side of the patch in the ptex but nothing on the epoxy. This stuff is strong and cheap. Probably less than $10-12.

Where can you buy the JB weld stuff that sounds good too? and how much $$.

[schuss]

Originally posted by Vinman
I've had direct hits to a PC-7 core patch with no damage. Scratches on either side of the patch in the ptex but nothing on the epoxy. This stuff is strong and cheap. Probably less than $10-12.

Where can you buy the JB weld stuff that sounds good too? and how much $$.

any auto store, and its about 4 dollars for a tube.

[Crinkle]

Originally posted by Vinman
I've had direct hits to a PC-7 core patch with no damage. Scratches on either side of the patch in the ptex but nothing on the epoxy.

Is it light weight too? Sounds like we should just make our bases out of this shit. Or would it not flex?

[Vinman]

Not sure what light weight would mean? all I know is this stuff really does the job. Probably would have too much drag if used on large areas.

[ColdBoarder]

P-Tex your board or Ski's

I have read all the articles and had a go. There are some good info and some bad.

Firstly, this is the first time have done it and 'Art is what i achieved'.

After three attempts on P-texing and scraping it back out, the first attempt was golden brown, then yellow and the last was perfect. This is what i found.

Firstly cut the P-tex candle at an angle on the tip so it's not round anymore, more sharper on the tip (This makes it easy to burn and better to get the P-tex in your gauge).

Secondly when lighting the P-tex candle use the blue part of the flame so as not to burn the P-tex.

Thirdly as the P-tex is melting and starting to drip, move it over the gauge, as it is almost at the point of dripping off, gently touch the tip of the drip on the board and slowley move it along the gauge.

It will leave a trail of P-tex in the gauge.

I found by doing that I had the perfect amount of P-tex in the guage. I know people have said never touch your board with the P-tex, but after three attempts that was the best way i found of doing it.

You also want the P-tex to be alight itself with a small blue flame around it, this way you won't get any brown in your nice white board. By cutting the P-tex at the beginning you require less heat to get a drip and reduce the chance of it burning and going brown/yellow.

Fourthly with a blade from a stanley knife, let the P-tex cool for about 30 seconds and then at a gentle angle scrape the top layer of P-tex from the board.

Walaa - Artwork that you never thought you could do. You will be so impressed you will be searching your board for more smaller ones to do.

[strode420]

^i believe the word you are looking for is gOUge.

[Jim J]

How deep does a gouge have to be to bother p-texing?
I put a scratch in one of my bases. It's about a foot long, but only a mm or two deep.

[jondrums]

holly-bumpola!
nice timing for me - I just got a box in the mail from tognar, and I'm about to do my own full tune job. Glad to see the advice above. I've always just lit the ptex candle on fire and let it drip little round drops into the gouges, then scraped with plexi. I never though to cut the candle at an angle to get it started, that's a good idea!

[steved]

a flat-faced soldering-iron (see tognar.com) works really well..you can pack in the ptex when you heat it...the flatter ptex sticks are easier but whaterver you have...but not a lot of difference between solder gun...both good. The little bit of JB Weld sounds good too...