Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
- bgregoire
- Posts: 1511
- Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:31 am
- Ski style: Nordic backcountry touring with lots of turns
- Favorite Skis: Fisher E99 & Boundless (98), Åsnes Ingstad, K2 Wayback 88
- Favorite boots: Crispi Sydpolen, Alico Teletour & Alfa Polar
Re: Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
Good job Woods!
Perhaps I did not rub enough tar off of mine!?! They sure climb well though! Perhaps still available here:
http://www.devilstracknordic.com/shop/i ... roupid=134
Perhaps I did not rub enough tar off of mine!?! They sure climb well though! Perhaps still available here:
http://www.devilstracknordic.com/shop/i ... roupid=134
I live for the Telemark arc....The feeeeeeel.....I ski miles to get to a place where there is guaranteed snow to do the deal....TM
- Woodserson
- Posts: 2969
- Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:25 am
- Location: New Hampshire
- Ski style: Bumps, trees, steeps and long woodsy XC tours
- Occupation: Confused Turn Farmer
Re: Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
That's not me or my torch in the photo, it's YOUNG ZEUS, Ski-Lift-Mechanic Extraordinaire in his Shop of Merveilles! (and a carefully selected dramatic shot for inspiration)phoenix wrote:Nice job on the pine tar Woods. And here's another tip for you: There's a nozzle for the torch that's more of a spreader, rather than a focused flame... a little smoother to torch with this.
I've always liked the smell of pine tar myself... though if I was doing it in a shop, the owners didn't like it much. They said all the clothes got the scent. Not so sure of that myself though.
Ive always tried to find the tar made for the ski application; forget who makes (or made) it, pretty sure it's Swix. What you want is "grundvalla"... (spelling might be off a letter or two). It's the right thickness, no thinning required, and not the thin liquidy stuff either.
Looks like Ben found some of the Swix stuff- possibly- but I've never been able to get my hands physically on any. It's like a unicorn. Everyone has been out for years but keep photos up on their websites for some reason... maybe sometimes it turns up. Or maybe I suck at searching.
EDIT: I just emailed them asking
- lowangle al
- Posts: 2741
- Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:36 pm
- Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
- Ski style: BC with focus on downhill perfection
- Favorite Skis: powder skis
- Favorite boots: Scarpa T4
- Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.
Re: Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
It used to be that every Nordic ski shop smelled like pine tar. I was checking out my Bonna 1800s yesterday, luckily they were good because my pine tar seems to have solidified.
Speaking of wood skis, anybody have any wooden Karhus? I have a pair, they are pretty beefy with a pre 3 pin binding on them. I believe they were made in Canada.
Speaking of wood skis, anybody have any wooden Karhus? I have a pair, they are pretty beefy with a pre 3 pin binding on them. I believe they were made in Canada.
- Woodserson
- Posts: 2969
- Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:25 am
- Location: New Hampshire
- Ski style: Bumps, trees, steeps and long woodsy XC tours
- Occupation: Confused Turn Farmer
Re: Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
I have a reply from the shop listed above in Ben's post about the Swix pine tar:
"I have the START Pine Tar base prep available. It’s actually $22.50 + $10 for shipping. Comes in a plastic bottle instead of the tin. I just haven’t updated the website recently."
- phoenix
- Posts: 825
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:44 pm
- Location: Northern VT
- Ski style: My own
- Favorite Skis: Varies,I've had many favorites
- Favorite boots: Excursions, T1's
- Occupation: I'm occupied
Re: Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
bgregoire, that's the stuff! You may well know this already, but just in case:
After the initial burn-in, let the skis cool down and absorb the treatment. To clean 'em, use the torch again...lightly..and wipe a few inches of tar off at a time with a rag(s) as you heat your way down the ski. Get 'em down to almost buffed clean this way, finish with rags, no heat, for that nice, evenly burnished finish. Crayon some Polar over that (2 or 3 thin, well corked coats), and you have the base prep you want.
After the initial burn-in, let the skis cool down and absorb the treatment. To clean 'em, use the torch again...lightly..and wipe a few inches of tar off at a time with a rag(s) as you heat your way down the ski. Get 'em down to almost buffed clean this way, finish with rags, no heat, for that nice, evenly burnished finish. Crayon some Polar over that (2 or 3 thin, well corked coats), and you have the base prep you want.
- Woodserson
- Posts: 2969
- Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:25 am
- Location: New Hampshire
- Ski style: Bumps, trees, steeps and long woodsy XC tours
- Occupation: Confused Turn Farmer
Re: Wooden Ski Care and Preparation
Thanks for this great little technique, Phoenix, I added it to the post.phoenix wrote:bgregoire, that's the stuff! You may well know this already, but just in case:
After the initial burn-in, let the skis cool down and absorb the treatment. To clean 'em, use the torch again...lightly..and wipe a few inches of tar off at a time with a rag(s) as you heat your way down the ski. Get 'em down to almost buffed clean this way, finish with rags, no heat, for that nice, evenly burnished finish. Crayon some Polar over that (2 or 3 thin, well corked coats), and you have the base prep you want.