Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

If a person (a friend, not me of course) wanted a wax ski, but all that was available was a waxless-base ski, what does anyone think about filling the no-wax pattern, under the foot, with the hardest base wax (like ironed in and scraped flat), and then applying kick wax over that? Would that setup last, or would the wax wash out out of the fishscales and leave a bumpy surface? Has that ever been tried?
Just thinking "outside the box" here and looking to expand purchase options.
Thanks

Stephen, have you thought about covering them with duct tape and rubbing them from tip to tails with the peel of an over ripe banana ? Seriously though, give it a try it might do something. Only try it if the wax conditions are good or you may have poor grip.

I'd expect that it would be hard to get the grip wax to stay on well when there's a layer of glide wax underneath between the grip wax and the base. I haven't tried this though, so I'd be curious to hear about your results if you try it.

Grip wax sticks to polar but not so much with ironed on glide waxes,IME.

p tex it.

I thought about p-texting it, but the base is sintered, and the melted p-tex isn’t, so thought wax might not stay on the skis as well in the p-texed areas.

Found this on the web: “ Sintered bases are higher maintenance and more expensive, but faster and more durable when cared for properly. Rather than melting polyethylene pellets together (extrusion), sintered bases are manufactured by crushing the pellets together under high pressure. This makes a sintered base more porous for maximum wax absorption, and more abrasion-resistant.”

What got me thinking about this is the idea of buying skis on sale. Lots more No-Wax skis available than Wax, so more likely to find a no-wax ski on sale. But if I wanted a wax ski, is there a way to make a no-wax ski work instead. P-texing seems like the best way, but might lose wax holding capability in wax pocket.

Just a random though and probably more hassle than it’s worth...

I've had similar thoughts about when the fish scales get too worn down and weather there is a way to smooth it back out to a wax-able ski. Or better yet a way to re scale your ski once smooth.

"... Or better yet a way to re scale your ski ..."

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1772&start=290#p32841

Whether it's a positive or negative fishscale pattern will affect how you might go about it... know which it is? What brand ski?

Shenanagains describes what he did in his post...
I understand that he used his milling machine to make a negative pattern.
Doesn’t everyone have one of those in the basement?