I posted this in a snowboard forum a long while ago. But i thought that it might be relevant now that the snow is falling more consistantly.
anyways.
Enjoy....if there are any questions...feel free to ask.
Anyways, when i was racing boarderX on a more competative level, the methods i used to wax my boards was farely complex, but it got the job done.
first i made sure that my board was room temp, because if the board is cold, then the base will not be porous enough to absorb the wax, and a hot iron on a cold base can actually damage it.
After the base and the rest of the board is room temp. I usually clean the base free from the old wax, and allow it to be free from any impurities.
After the base is cleaned....i take my iron [can be any old iron, i was never picky about temperature senstative irons. I used an old iron on it's lowest setting], and drip the wax of choice onto the running surface. And then another wax of choice on the outer 2 inch's ensuring that its more durable for edging, and no dry spots later on.
Generally the wax that is placed on the edges are extreme cold temp wax, and is heaps harder than the running surface wax.
After i feel i placed enough wax on the board, i then proceed with melting it all into place onto the board. Starting from nose and moving my way towards the tail.
My preferance was to always wax in the direction of nose to tail, never waxing in circles or across the edges. Dust can settle into the melted wax and cause small scratches onto a heated base.
The think i learned about hot waxing over the years was to always try and heat the board all the way through to the core and onto the topsheet of the board. Basically if you wax the board long enough and the topsheet feels warm to the touch, then you have done a good enough job and you can then proceed to let it cool down.
With me, i usually cool it down in the same room i let it warm up as well. That way there is no difference and nothing drastically changin the temp of the board.
Plus scraping room temp wax is a lot easier than COLD wax.
Again, i scrape from nose to tail, in the direction i ride. Just a preferance. And with a plastic scraper. Much safer on the base, and much more predictable.
The idea of scraping is to leave the wax on the base that is within the pores of the polyethalene base. Not leave the wax on the surface of the base. So when you are riding on the snow. It create a microfilm of water which is creating less friction, resulting in a faster glide.
AFter you felt that you have scraped the board till you can't anymore. it's then time to buff.
Buffing is great for those bases that have a stoneground finish. Because it can get into the divots of the base and remove all the wax from there as well. The wax that the scraper can't remove.
I usually use a scotch bright pad, and again, from nose to tail. Buff till there is a shine.
After that. it's ready to ride.
My method is not a 10 minute wax job....it actually takes me roughly an hour to do it properly.
[Edited by Ch28]
The site below has a video that teaches you how to wax your board for all the people that are visual learners.
http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/snowboard-advice.asp