Tuning Blog

Bill Cook died April 9th after 98 1/2 years of inventing, thinking hard, and giving. He was a skiing pioneer in the Pacific North West, skiing at Mount Rainer, Chinook Pass and Cayuse Pass starting WAY back in 1938. When he heard of Crystal Mountain opening, he bought a cabin in the Dalles in 1962. That cabin became a haven for 2 generations (so far) of CMAC racers- including my son- thanks to his generosity and foresight.

I probably asked Mr. Cook hundreds of technical questions over the 5 decades I knew him, and remarkably, he almost never failed to have a great answer for me. But I learned more from him than he knew, because I also watched how he lived, what he valued, and what he found worthless. Bill Cook valued people (especially friends and family), the mountains, simplicity, safety, and economy.... and speed. He didn't care much for snobbery, and he only barely tolerated stupidity.  His engineering solutions sought to do the most with the least. Sometimes he invented totally new designs with essentially nothing- found materials only. 1 of those designs (the cabin woodshed) survived over 40 years, and only the nails in it were not sourced on sight. Mr. Cook valued nature, but he was not afraid of ruining it by using it, nor was he intimidated by it.

I probably would not be Gadget if not for Bill Cook, and it is also quite unlikely I would be a CMAC coach either. 

If you have ever seen the cap I wear the most, you might wonder what "Cook's Cabin Speed Shop" is. Now you know.

This is an on-going project as I seek to find the best rust preventatives.

6/03/12 update:
One of my old K2s is being recycled into Research Duty. I am leaving it outside in the weather  with the following edge treatments:

1.) untreated (as a control)
2.) Hard Wax (rubbed on)
3.) Liquid Teflon
4.) Liquid Teflon topped with hard wax
5.) Dupont Silicone/Teflon spray
6.) Dupont Teflon spray
7.) Piloil Silicone spray
8-10.) 5-8 + wax
11.) Paste wax
12.) liquid wax

6/11/12 update:
After 1 week of sitting outside in the weather, here are the results:

Worst (not surprisingly): Untreated:


Paste wax worked a bit better:


Tied for first with no visible rust are the two Dupont sprays:

Teflon sprayed onto paper towel then wiped onto edge:


Teflon + Silicone Sprayed onto paper towel then wiped onto edge:


I will probably attempt Phase II allowing them to rust all Summer... just for curiosity.

9-02-12:
Good, hard wax rubbed into the edge is an amazingly effective rust preventative. I have been waxing edges FOREVER- so I assumed there must be better techniques/materials by now, but all the alternatives I have tried are either worse or only marginally better. When in doubt, dry your edges well, then rub a fairly hard wax onto the edge. Without buying anything new for your kit, you will make a big difference in the quality of your edges.

Many of the hard core waxers/tuners are talking about and/or building hotboxes. So is that it? Is warmer waxing the answer to Perfect Glide?  How warm should skis be when working on bases and edges? How about when checking base flatness?


Our new hotbox hangs over the top of my work bench.

Temperature for ski work:
As cold as possible for edge, base and structure work- within reason. 35-45 degrees is about ideal. ESPECIALLY if working on base flatness, a cold base is very important. That is the condition the ski will be in when on the snow. If you check flatness when the ski is quite warm, the ski may actually be concave when cold- due to the different expansion rates of plastic and steel.
But WAX as WARM as possible- up to 100 degrees plus. The ski will absorb more wax more quickly, and will be less temperature stressed. Modern ski adhesives are pretty good, but excessive temperature stress (change) may cause them to age quite quickly and fail prematurely. That can mean a delamination, or a ski that loses its "life."  Bad either way.

Here is what I do:
When a ski needs to be cleaned and/or saturated with wax, I try to do as much of the work in 1 sitting as possible. I will wax wash 1 ski (of a pair) 1-5 times (as required) until the wax scrapings are clean, THEN I will wax the ski with the wax of the day while the ski is quite warm. If at home, I pop the warm ski into the hotbox to soak for a few hours. Then I repeat with the 2nd ski.  Done this way, the ski only goes through 1 full heat cycle yet is waxed as many as 6 times.

I will add much more soon...

Wax is one of the sexier tuning subjects. Ok, who am I fooling- there are NO sexy tuning subjects.. except to devoted (read: obsessed) shop geeks. But, among that crowd (over imbibed, and slighty slow on the uptake), this may at least SEEM like a sexy subject!


(My main wax kit and some bulk wax)

But really, wax (dope as it was once known) has always been a bit mysterious, shadowy, and secretive. I will NOT change that (or even try), as I enjoy a little obfuscation now and then as much as the next guy. However since this IS SUPPOSED to be an educational blog, I will show you some stuff and let you peak into my wax kit a little. But only if you don't tell anybody.

I have been in many wax rooms this year, and I've seen a lot of the same thing: People waxing in much the same way we have for the last 40 years. Yes, wax has changed some, structures have improved; vises, benches and all tools have improved... yet the overall methods are much the same. I don't spend too much time in those wax rooms, as I find it distracting. I do most work with very different methods, and with very different tools. Why? Because I do so MANY skis (well over 300 pairs this year), that I am FORCED to find better, more efficient methods to get my work done. As of this date (4-3-12), I have a backlog of about 16 pairs to get through... (sigh) I will show the BEST way I have found to do things by the traditional methods and also how to do things by the newer methods I have developed.

Q: Hey! I've been in those wax rooms, and I think it is pretty impressive. How come you are such snob about it all?
A: Ok, you win. Watching the racers put such care into their skis IS impressive. I love it actually.
Q: So what's all that about "old methods" and all?!
A: I'm talking about new ways to wax and new tools. Saving time, wax, and money.
Q: Like?
A: My favorite method of applying high-end waxes is with a RAY'S WAX wax wizard.

Using a wizard, you just crayon the wax onto the surface of the base, then run the tool back and forth, pushing with a lot of force. The tool drives the wax INTO the base. There is almost no waste once the tool becomes worn-in... and once you gain some experience with it.
Q: That sounds hard. How long does it take?
A: 5-10 minutes per pair. And it isn't that hard.
Q: I can wax that fast! Why should I change?
A: Sure you can, so can I. But with this tool, there is little scraping, no cooling, no waiting, and no wax fumes.
Q: Wait-what?
A: Yeah- you push the wax into the base, scrape lightly once or twice, brush, and polish. No scraping means no mess, so there is little clean up.
Q: How much does it save?
A: At least a 75% wax (and $) savings.
Q: How durable is the wax?
A: It seems very similar to ironing- quite durable, that is.  Oh, and did I mention- you don't need any POWER! You can wax a ski almost anywhere, anytime.
Q: Where can I get one? What do they cost?
A: About $20 at World Cup in Bellevue OR AlpineSkiTuning.com OR Tognar.com

Wax Tools: Irons, scrapers, brushes, corks, Wax Wizards, Polishing/buffing. Hotboxes, Hot sleeves, etc... you'll see soon.

Basic wax tools:


BUY A RAY'S WAY WAX WIZARD!! You won't regret it. This basic kit (above) will do MOST waxing tasks. The kit includes: A sharp plastic scraper, a ski iron, 3 brushes (brass, nylon, and horsehair), a polishing cloth, and a RAY'S WAY wax wizard.

Rotobrushes: If you wax 4-6+ pairs of skis a day, rotos are nice because they save time. If less than that, they are an expensive luxury tool IMHO. I have a complete rotobrush setup, but I find I do not use it everyday.

I will add more later...

Some of the many speed potions I possess are below. These are the basic, inexpensive waxes that should be used everyday. Using ample hydrocarbon waxes daily ensure your skis will get faster all the time. Use plenty of wax.

BTW, the scrapings are (somewhat) recyclable. I gather up the scrapings, bag it, and use it as a fire accelerator at the cabin. That works great, and it is fun to use! ONLY do that with Hydrocarbon waxes however. Fluro should not be burned.



They are mainly used for hotboxing, wax washing (warm scraping), and for a base wax below more expensive waxes.

Getting to the GOOD stuff here-

(September 14, 2012) OK, I finally am back to get this blog tightened up a little.



Hydrocarbon/Fluro blends are the MAIN types of waxes for high-level training and racing.      There are 3 main types of blends:
Low-concentration Fluro blends, High concentration, and High concentration with Bonus Stuff in them. The bonus is a dry lube such as Molybdenum (or Moly). Graphite is also used in older or lower-cost blends. These 3 types will cover nearly all of your performance waxing needs. A complete wax kit will have a good range of all of them to cover all conditions.

Low Fluro waxes are less expensive and are easier to work with (generally) for most people. Why? Because they mix (adhere) well with prep waxes, and they are cheap enough that people don't tend to skimp on them. If too thin of a layer of wax is applied before a waxing with an iron, it is possible to "spot-glaze" the base... sometimes without even realizing it. When your complete wax job is done however, you will notice the base just doesn't "feel right." Then it takes a lot of work to get the skis fast again.

High Fluro waxes are fairly pricey- usually. You still need to apply enough wax to protect the base from the iron however. A piece of fiberlene between the iron and ski can help spread the heat a bit (which is good), but the fiberlene will also absorb a little of the wax- which is NOT your goal.

So what does Gadget do? I IRON low fluro waxes, but I use a RAY'S WAY waxer for high fluro and moly waxes. The Ray's way waxer PUSHES the wax into the base with pressure and friction. I use very little wax with this method.

So what do you think: is the highest concentration (and highest price) wax always the fastest? No, not always. As snow get colder and drier, fluro gets less and less effective.

What about Moly? Moly adds cost to the wax blend, and the moly takes up space on the base that would be used but the Fluro, so it isn't always faster. Lean towards Moly in dirtier snow, in drier conditions... and SOMETIMES in the wettest conditions.

Knowing exactly when your waxes will be fastest can only be determined by experimenting and testing. That is why any good tech is also his own best Guinea Pig. Sure, racers will help us test and experiment, but they want the techs to sort some things out first.

A ski racer's job is to ski FAST. A tech's job is to give them the FAST Skis!

Full disclosure: I do some testing for RaceWax.com I love the products, so I have offered to help make them better.

 

UPDATE 1/04/13:
I have been weighing skis for a few months now, and I can only conclude those claiming large amounts (150-200 grams) of wax absorption are NOT measuring actual weigh gain. My data and those claims are off by a factor of 1 or 2 orders of magnitude. However, I will also say that I have found extensively waxed skis are faster, smoother, and more fun to ski. Keep waxing, but don't believe extreme claims.



  I am having a little fun at the expense of my Lawyer friends (and family). Since I read everything I can find on this subject, I come across some crazy stuff pretending to be truth. And sometimes, there is a lot of truth (or truthiness) that gets nearly spoiled by some stupid stuff. I will provide pictures and examples. This post may save you some money- if you believe me more than the Snake Oil guys...

  3/31/12: Ok, I am back from waxing around 100 pairs of skis at the J3 Junior Olympics. I worked with some great techs/coaches there.  So what am I talking about in regards to "Snake Oil" guys? Just this: there are more wax companies out there than there is truly good information. Some of the wax companies have been "borrowing" claims from other companies, even going so far as lifting entire paragraphs from each others websites.

My BS test (at this moment): Claims of absorption FAR exceeding what the P-Tex manufacture says is possible. Nobody seems to be calling BS on these claims- EXCEPT ME RIGHT NOW! If you read something like "...we have secrets that allow us to get 150 to 200 grams absorbed into a pair of skis..." know that your leg is being pulled. IF someone wants to run a controlled test with a pair of skis weighing them BEFORE starting their waxing process and then AFTER waxing using a scale accurate to 1 or 2 grams and publish their results showing extreme waxing weight gain, then I will retract my statement above.

Here is the math for wax absorption: 20 (make it 25 to be generous) milligrams of wax per square centimeter of base- MAX- according to Intermontana, the P-Tex manufacturer. So the formula is this .025gram * cm2.  Ski CM2 is this formula: length * width. I will calculate using a 210 DH ski and a 165 Slalom ski. DH ski calculated base area is 1600 cm2. Slalom 1500 cm2.
.025 * 1600 = 40 grams/ski for DH; .025 * 1500 = 37.5 grams/ski for slalom. So there are wax companies claiming 2 to 4 times more wax absorption than the manufacturers say is possible. VERY unlikely, thinks me.

BTW: I do USE 250- 500 grams of wax PREPARING new skis, but I know it isn't all being absorbed. Most of it ends up as large bags of wax scrapings. Then I use those scrapings (along with kindling) in our fireplace to get the wood nice and hot!

Here is a LONG discussion of wax absorption from an engineer I really respect: http://www.alpineskituning.com/hotwax_myth.pdf

Before I prep skis for next season I will purchase a scale and do my own study. Look for the results here.

Lots to write...(9-15-12)

Testing (done right), is quite involved, difficult, and technical. I test informally myself, and I have been trying for a couple of years now to setup a test (or series of tests) so that more of us in the PNSA can get good testing info. I haven't given up- I am still trying.

The Summit at Snoqualmie has been very supportive of my efforts so far, and I think we may be able to establish a series of tests there. Stay tuned...

Greasing, Juicing, etc. Here is where everyone hopes to get that Extra Speed Boost. Below is the PNSA J3 coaches and Juice Crew in Big Sky. To "Juice" 40+ pairs of speed skis (the team quiver) took 3 of us a bit over 2 hours- at sprint pace.


Overlay selection is often more critical and trickier than even wax selection.



I won't attempt to cover all aspects, but THE BEST way to be consistently fast (with overlay) is to use it frequently and to be very comfortable with the system of waxes and tools you use. Yes, this costs more than saving the overlay for the "big race," but if you don't know what you are doing on race day, you could spent a lot of money AND make the skis slower (not faster). I know this from personal experience.

Also- racers need to be used to the glide of top-end waxes, just as they need to be used to their equipment (skis and boots). If they hit a jump going 10 mph faster in the race than in training, they may not react properly.

Bottom line: IF you are going to dive into overlays, budget some extra $$ for "research and development," or else stick with waxes that are easier to work with. Parents should experiment on their own skis as well as their racers' skis- so that they KNOW what the racers are feeling.