What do I need to start waxing?

[johnnycanuck]

Alright so I finally got my first pair of waxable skis (Asnes Gamme 54) and I'm ready to dive into this rabbit hole... however I'm lost as to what I really need. As a result I'm trying to piece out a setup for waxing.

This is what I've got so far down on paper:

• Wax iron: https://skiisandbiikes.com/products/swi ... onomy-110v
• Nylon brush: https://skiisandbiikes.com/products/swi ... pose-brush
• Glide wax cleaner: https://skiisandbiikes.com/products/swi ... ax-cleaner (I found an old pair of Spider 62 that I plan ontrying to clean up as practice)
• Plexi scraper: https://skiisandbiikes.com/products/swix-plexi-scraper
• Pencil groove scraper: https://www.sail.ca/en/swix-pencil-groo ... oss_google)
• Travel vise kit: https://www.lacordee.com/en/sports-d-hi ... ki-de-fond
• Glide wax (not sure where to start here, thats another rabbit hole)

Couple of questions here:
- Anything I'm missing or anything not required?
- Is there anything that I should look at buying a higher quality version of just because it is easier or lasts longer? I think the iron would fall into this category
- Anything here that I can cheap out and go to <insert_big_box_store_name> for?
- What do I need to tune the edges? That seems to be something I can't figure out, everything I've read is talking about skis without metal edges

[Woodserson]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4226

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2172

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2187

[Woodserson]

Don't conflate glide waxing vs grip waxing

Don't buy a $90 iron

I don't know anyone who tunes metal edges on a XC ski

Don't overthink this

All your answers are in the above 3 threads

[johnnycanuck]

Appreciate the thread dump, you seem to be able to pull these up much better than I can

Don't buy a $90 iron

Interesting... that's the cheapest iron I can find locally, there are other stores selling that same one +/- $10 but still, it is pricey. Amazon has a bunch of cheaper options but it's always a bit of a dice roll buying off Amazon... especially brands you've never heard of.

I don't know anyone who tunes metal edges on a XC ski

Say if they've been sitting in a shed for five+ years? The old pair of Spider 62s I found are in that condition. The edges look a little bit rusty, but maybe I'm overthinking it.

[エイダン.シダル]

I tune my edges... But I came to Nordic from a youth of amateur alpine racing. It's probably useless to do for Nordic.

About cheap irons: use any cheap/old iron, steam holes or not. Sure, a Swix/Toko would be nicer, but not at the price. I've been using a travel iron for years. Takes apart to fit in my waxing toolbox. Always use on the lowest temperature setting that melts the wax.

[fisheater]

My first thought on edges is I never touch them. However I do own a Swix brand 6” fine mill bastard file. It has a special place in my tool box. I use it, but not often on skis.
I’ve been waxing skis starting with alpine skis for 40 years. I don’t use a wax iron much anymore, however I’ve had two over the years. Both my wax irons were purchased at garage sales, and I don’t believe I’ve paid more than $5.
For a Nordic scraper, this is what I use. I know it’s steel. I also know it works. I certainly damage bases skiing, I don’t with this scraper. I am just a back country skier, not a racer. I just want to scrape kick wax and klister efficiently. I don’t care that my base structure may be somewhat compromised, quite frankly I usually strategically place a couple of gouges in the bases while skiing to channel water at speed !
https://www.swixsport.com/us/tools/base ... 5950000963
It do not ski in conditions where I cannot use Swix Polar wax as I glide was. I do have a bronze and a nylon Swix base brushes in the kit that goes in my truck.
If you ski in conditions where you encounter refrozen snow or warm melting snow, you have two options. You need a kicker skin or you can use klister. I use both blue (ice) klister and red (wet) klister. If you use klister you need to scrape it off afterwards or you will have a sticky mess. I sprinkle on baby powder and scrape. For me there is nothing like a great ski in crappy snow conditions, followed by a well earned beer while I scrape the klister off.
My only other advise is to purchase Swix Red/Silver as a warm snow wax. Swix Red does not compare, not even close! I experimented with a pine tar based warm snow wax last season, but it didn’t out perform Swix Red/Silver.
Grip waxing is super easy in consistently cold snow that is 28 F and colder. However it really has not been rocket science dealing with the typical roller coaster temperatures I experience in southern Michigan. I really prefer the performance. That performance made learning to use kick wax a joy rather than a burden. I could certainly afford to add a waxless ski or two to my quiver. I’m just not interested.
Good luck!
I’m trusting that if you read Lilcliffy’s waxing thread, and Pinnah Dave Mann’s waxing pages you will be all set.

[johnnycanuck]

I tune my edges... But I came to Nordic from a youth of amateur alpine racing. It's probably useless to do for Nordic.

About cheap irons: use any cheap/old iron, steam holes or not. Sure, a Swix/Toko would be nicer, but not at the price. I've been using a travel iron for years. Takes apart to fit in my waxing toolbox. Always use on the lowest temperature setting that melts the wax.

Cool, thanks for the advice. I was having difficulty scouring through blog posts and such to understand whether a cheapo iron would work or not. Sometimes hard to see through the marketing content the way in which they are written.

Do you use a vise?

[johnnycanuck]

For a Nordic scraper, this is what I use. I know it’s steel. I also know it works. I certainly damage bases skiing, I don’t with this scraper. I am just a back country skier, not a racer. I just want to scrape kick wax and klister efficiently. I don’t care that my base structure may be somewhat compromised, quite frankly I usually strategically place a couple of gouges in the bases while skiing to channel water at speed !

Thanks for the tips, interesting that you use steel. You've got me wondering if I could eventually use a card scraper, as I have plenty of those on hand (woodworking is my other hobby).

Probably won't leverage one while learning mind you... creating fine shavings of newly constructed Asnes skis doesn't sound appealing.

[Woodserson]

Get two plastic Nordic scrapers. Always keep one with you and one in the shop. They are usually $5 and sometimes come with the cheap Swix wax kits included.

I would start with hard grip waxes first, when you start getting into klister temperature territory use your Asnes mohair XSkin instead (scrape softer wax off first, like the red/silver). Trim the skin as necessary after you’ve skied it a few times. When you feel ready to make the jump after figuring out hard grip waxing, you can go try klister. Get a third scraper that only does klister duty.

This is not very difficult but learning one new thing at a time could be less frustrating.

Yes, any old iron will work.

Just grab one of your sharpening stones to clean up the Spiders.

[DevinBartley]

For nordic skiing with waxable skis for years I simply just applied grip wax based on the temperature (I usually kept 2-4 colours of wax around), rubbed it in with cork, and scraped it off when I needed to change wax type. Also about once a year I applied a liquid glide wax to the glide zones. Thats all you really need to do to get started (a few types of grip wax, cork, scraper), dont over think it.

As time goes on if you enjoy the process you can take courses and aquire more equipment to perfect the craft based on how much you enjoy it.

Skins also seem like a good idea. There are just some conditions that are difficult to wax for, and I personally dont want to mess with Klister.