Author Topic: Waxing irons  (Read 1127 times)

dan.boisvert

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Re: Waxing irons
« on: January 23, 2013, 06:45:24 pm »
I use this one: http://www.artechski.com/Swix-Performance-Wax-Iron-T73-6303.aspx#.UQCPneg1qX0

I had the Wintersteiger one HA uses, and had worse luck with it than he seems to have.  I gave mine away pretty quickly so I'd have an excuse to replace it.  I found that the base plate wasn't thick enough to melt hard waxes evenly.  I'd get 1/3 down the ski, the thing would stop melting wax, and I'd have to wait for it to get back up to temp to continue.  Since a motionless iron is bad juju, it made for a lot of aggravation for me.

The Swix T73 I have now has a thicker base and tighter temp regulation, so it'll keep melting wax down the entire ski with no problem.  The only things I'm not wild about with it are the handle and the base plate bevel.  The handle curve isn't symmetrical, so it can be tough to find the balance point sometimes.  The base comes from the factory a bit concave, which I think is intended to trap a pocket of wax, but I found it aggravating in use on alpine skis.  Sanding it flat made it work a lot better.

If my T73 ever dies, I'm replacing it with the Holmenkol digital one with the cork handle.  It's stupidly expensive, but I used one at a shop in NH, and it didn't annoy me at all; it just worked exactly like I thought a wax iron should work--nice handle, great temp regulation, thick base that spreads wax well, etc.  I figure the extra $200 is worth it for so much less aggravation over the lifetime of the product..  :D