Skis are prepared using a three-stage process: the skis are flattened, using a working structure. Then the stone is redressed, and the skis are polished, so that the final structure goes into a completely smooth base. Finally, the stone is dressed again, and the specific desired structure is put into the base. Bases are then buffed, and a layer of wax is applied before the skis are returned to you.

The idea of the box lies in the fact that wax absorption is more a function of time than of heat. By far the majority of the skis I see have been heat-damaged by ironing too hot, for too short a time. The truth is, the entire ski must be held at a given temperature for several minutes for wax absorption to be anything more than superficial.

Testing has borne out these results, and the subjective impression is that skis prepared with the Hotbox are now faster than before, and retain glide to an impressive degree.

I guarantee all my work. If you are not satisfied, we will fix the problem at no charge. Period.

Skis are generally in the shop for 3 to 5 days. On an average, a ski received by Thursday morning will be shipped on the following Monday. Allow 2 to 3 days for shipping (overnight shipping is available at extra charge). During the off season, skis may take considerably longer, as I only run the machinery for 10 pairs of more.

As the skis are to be ground anyway, any shipping damage or oxidization will be eliminated in the flattening and polishing process. Any wax that gets into the stone clogs it, so it is necessary to remove all wax before skis go into the grinder, and when doing a run of 20 or 30 pairs of skis, the time spent removing wax adds up! (All skis are travel waxed before being returned to you.)

No.

FedEx or UPS are both good. Skis can come in a ski bag, or in a cardboard box (try your local ski shop for boxes; also, most "mail stores" carry boxes). Remove ski ties (or they become part of our collection!), and tape the skis together with bubble wrap, paper, or foam between the tips and tails. (Click here for How To Ship Skis.pdf). Pack tips and tails in newspaper or bubble wrap. Please: no Styrofoam "peanuts"! It is helpful if you print the grind desired on the tip of the skis, with a marking pen.

Styrofoam peanuts are not necessary: just wrap some newspaper or bubble wrap around your bindings, and maybe something around the tips. Skis shipped in peanuts are impossible to remove from the box without spilling the peanuts. I do not have space in my garbage for them!

Probably the two most common forms of base damage I see are poor steel scraping and over-heating with the iron. A word about both may save needing to send in your skis for grinding!

Steel Scraping

Be sure to use a sharp scraper or good quality. Avoid thin scrapers that can bend and create rounded bases, and avoid using a burnished (wire) edge unless you are very, very sure what you are doing. The best steel scrapers are very hard steel, and need to be sharpened on a diamond stone. There is much more about this in The Complete Guide to Cross-Country Ski Preparation (The Mountaineers Books - ask your ski store to order it ) but learn how to make and use a 90 degrees edge on your scraper. Steel scraping takes skill and practice - so don't learn how on you good skis! And do not steel scrape newly stone-ground bases - this will remove the structure.

Ironing

Bases melt at 135°C. Melting the base, no matter how little, effectually seals the "pores" in the base, so that they will not absorb wax. It is very important to keep the iron moving (see below), to check periodically to be sure there is enough wax on the base to insulate the plastic from direct contact with the iron, and to consider the type of ski you are working on : different cores react differently to heat. For example, foam cores will absorb more and more heat, causing the base to bubble as well as to seal. Fischers will handle ambitious ironing better than say, Madshus. Treat bases with care and gentleness!

Madshus rep and two-time Olympic wax technician Peter Hale adds this: "Ironing too hot or too long will melt bases. If you have the correct temperature on the iron, you can still damage the base with too many passes, moving too slowly, etc. I counsel that one should look at the base before continuing with the next pass of the iron. If the wax is still wet - molten- it means the ski has enough heat of its own to keep the wax liquid. This is the time to quit with that ski until it cools. On some skis and with certain waxes, at a certain speed of moving the iron down the ski, it might take two or three passes, while other skis & waxes it may accept 5-6 passes. I think this is important, as some customers -- and some coaches --have told me, 'I ironed all the skis exactly the same, Fischer, Madshus, Rossi, and this pair bubbled'."

Please read the paragraph below on ironing.

Ironing Guidelines:

For real wax absorption to occur, the base of the ski must be kept at the optimal temperature for 5+ minutes. It will continue to soak up wax for much longer. However, steadily ironing all this time can damage the base. Here is the system I have evolved: