Dug out my old Mueller Lampinen woods and Fischer Europas from the early 70's. Found new 3 pin boots to replace my melted (!) ones. Thanks for the pine tar and wax refresher. We've got snow coming for the first time in 3 years in Missouri.
Hey I just want to thank you. I found a pair of wooden backcountry skis with metal edges that had been stored properly since 1957 and after cleaning off the wax and pine tar from 60 years ago and had reapplied pine tar I was ready to wax on the same day you released this video! I had already watched the pine tar video. So helpful. Excited to ski!
That is really fabulous! Now, keep in mind that if your wood skis had wood bottoms, then the skis many be earlier than 1950s. By 1950's, ski makers were starting to coat the ski bottoms with various things. One popular coating was I think called Carbonite or something like that. It was black, that I do remember. I think it was originally available in liquid form. ANYWAY, if you have any kind of coating on the bottom of the skis, then you cannot pine tar onto that AND, of course it is not necessary. If you have bare wood, then you can pine tar.
@@explorermike19 There was a reddish brown coating on the bottom that looked brushed on. It was not very smooth and I could still see the wood grain through it. I assumed it was just a mix of ancient wax and pine tar. If I could add photos to the comment I would. Whatever it was I could scrape and scrub it off without much difficulty with mineral spirits. Then I used 60 grit and then 150 grit sandpaper to open up the pores and smooth a couple imperfections before I applied the pine tar. The tops of the skis also had some minor damage so I sanded the tops lightly and applied several coats of spar urethane. The pine tar did absorb into the surface. I am going to ski for the first time on them tomorrow. They were made by Paris (in Maine) and had Suns Sports logo from a NYC sporting goods store.
@@HardwareHaq it sounds like you did a fine job. Now, I rather suspect that you might have a 1940's or early/mid 1950s pair of downhill skis due to the metal edges. I hope there is enough camber for you to use them for cross country skiing. If not, I have skied many thousands of feet of vertical with that kind of ski with leather boots as a telemark skier at lift service ski mountains. You could do that too and have a wonderful time.
@@explorermike19 I was looking more into it and they are often called ridge top style skis. Due to a rounded ridge running toward the tip and tail from the center of the ski. I found others that look very similar and were dated to the 1940s. I figured they might have been downhill skis but they have a pretty high camber. My wife just got some new backcountry xc skis and they have a similar camber and springyness. The high camber is what made me think they were useful for more than just downhill. But today will be the test!
So happy I found your videos Mike! I just acquired a beautiful set of wooden skis that were found safely stored in a shed since the 70's! I've got a million questions about maintenance and I'll be doing this to my skis this afternoon. Can't wait for more vids!
@@ssengnirnagem I cannot recall the Calmet brand of wood skis, but lingnostone edges are the hallmark of high quality skis, I guess probably made in Finland. There are several things that can happen to wood skis if they are not stored correctly. The first and most important is warping. This is usually a corkscrew effect from tip to tail. You will see it if you lay the skis bottom down on a smooth flat surface. The second thing is the camber being lost. This is most often because somebody tapes the skis together and binds them tight near the middle of the ski. The skis were meant to have a contour like the bend in a cross-bow. The good news is that these problems can be fixed if you simply add a correct block of wood in the middle of the skis and fix them solidly. For example, blocking them to a good straight 4"X4" board and leaving it for a year or more. You need to do some research first before you block your old wood skis. IF you do it wrong, you can really do more damage. THAT SAID, you can just pine-tar them and wax them and ski on them and if they work, they work. You won't damage them simply by skiing on them (unless you crash and break them) and you might even do some good.
@@explorermike19 Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I've been xc skiing for about 20 years now (which seems crazy!) and this is the first time I've had wax skis, let alone WOODEN wax skis! These babies were made in Norway, right neck of the woods :) and they've got beautiful camber but it's not enough to pass a paper test when I'm standing on them... Could be due to covid snacking haha. I may try to increase the camber over the off-season, but for right now, my skis and I are just getting to know each other. I have a question for ya! With reapplying glide wax a handful of times over the ski season, would you re-tar every time? Or do you just scrape off the wax and redo it over the original tar for the season?
@@ssengnirnagem First question, don't be dismayed by the paper under the toe test. It often does not work. If you can ski with them and enjoy it, that is the whole point anyway. if you are flattening out and using all the camber. you can adjust by using harder kick wax. Second question: You do not have to pine tar more than about once per season unless you are really skiing a LOT like four times a week for two or three months straight. You can see the pine tar wearing off because the area without pine tar will be light in color.
I've loved all the wood ski videos, I've watched them plenty of times to help me get going with my Grandpa's skis. I used Rode special green wax instead of parafin though, it's mostly smooth but a slight tackiness to it, not sure if this is good or not, we have no snow to test it on right now!
Hi Steve, It seems that Rode Special green wax is a kick wax. I have not used Rode brand ski wax, but it seems similar to SWIX brand for Kick wax.. Unlike paraffin or another harder base" wax it will be sticky and not really good for skis GLIDING. You should not wax the entire ski with this Rode special green wax. Have fun with your grandpa's skis! Please use it as a kick wax. See this video: ua-cam.com/video/TN9wtJiMlY8/v-deo.html
@@explorermike19 I had read on several websites that people with wooden skis use the very cold kick wax as a glide wax, but I guess if it doesn't work then I'll just have to scrape it off and buy some paraffin!
@@SteveKeith YES! Indeed that is one way of waxing skis: You go one or two "colors" wax colder than is recommended on the wax tube. You then wax the entire ski. I have done this and it does work. Coincidentally, I do mention it briefly on my kick wax video. Certainly, I encourage you to experiment with waxing and find a method that you like best! I am very glad to see you interested in waxing skis.
Nice! Brings back good memories of my wood skis.
I have some wood skis for you, if you are willing to set your skate skis aside!
Love how thorough you are
Thank you, Ann. The art is in the details.
Dug out my old Mueller Lampinen woods and Fischer Europas from the early 70's. Found new 3 pin boots to replace my melted (!) ones. Thanks for the pine tar and wax refresher. We've got snow coming for the first time in 3 years in Missouri.
Wow! Snow in Missouri! Ski on!
Hey I just want to thank you. I found a pair of wooden backcountry skis with metal edges that had been stored properly since 1957 and after cleaning off the wax and pine tar from 60 years ago and had reapplied pine tar I was ready to wax on the same day you released this video! I had already watched the pine tar video. So helpful. Excited to ski!
That is really fabulous! Now, keep in mind that if your wood skis had wood bottoms, then the skis many be earlier than 1950s. By 1950's, ski makers were starting to coat the ski bottoms with various things. One popular coating was I think called Carbonite or something like that. It was black, that I do remember. I think it was originally available in liquid form. ANYWAY, if you have any kind of coating on the bottom of the skis, then you cannot pine tar onto that AND, of course it is not necessary. If you have bare wood, then you can pine tar.
@@explorermike19 There was a reddish brown coating on the bottom that looked brushed on. It was not very smooth and I could still see the wood grain through it. I assumed it was just a mix of ancient wax and pine tar. If I could add photos to the comment I would.
Whatever it was I could scrape and scrub it off without much difficulty with mineral spirits. Then I used 60 grit and then 150 grit sandpaper to open up the pores and smooth a couple imperfections before I applied the pine tar. The tops of the skis also had some minor damage so I sanded the tops lightly and applied several coats of spar urethane.
The pine tar did absorb into the surface. I am going to ski for the first time on them tomorrow.
They were made by Paris (in Maine) and had Suns Sports logo from a NYC sporting goods store.
@@HardwareHaq it sounds like you did a fine job. Now, I rather suspect that you might have a 1940's or early/mid 1950s pair of downhill skis due to the metal edges. I hope there is enough camber for you to use them for cross country skiing. If not, I have skied many thousands of feet of vertical with that kind of ski with leather boots as a telemark skier at lift service ski mountains. You could do that too and have a wonderful time.
@@HardwareHaq I found this on the internet: Antique Museum condition wooden Paris Manufacturing Co. Skis
c. 1900-1920's
Wood, Leather, Metal (edges and cable bindings)
82 3/16" long x 3 6/16" wide
© Vintage Winter
Paris Manufacturing Co. was founded by Henry Morton in 1861 in Paris, Maine. It was best known for making sleds and skis, but the company also made desks and other unique furnishings.
This is a pristine museum condition set of old wooden skis. They were stored inside and lost for over a century. We do not believe these skis went outside but a handful of times. They retain their original stamped logo (quite rare for this model). The tips on these skis are reminiscent of Scandinavian skis from the 1600's-1700's with large upturned rounded tips. These skis were expertly crafted by Finish immigrants over 100 years ago. They retain their original leather bindings and flat headed screws and were preserved by our curation technician.
@@explorermike19 I was looking more into it and they are often called ridge top style skis. Due to a rounded ridge running toward the tip and tail from the center of the ski. I found others that look very similar and were dated to the 1940s.
I figured they might have been downhill skis but they have a pretty high camber. My wife just got some new backcountry xc skis and they have a similar camber and springyness. The high camber is what made me think they were useful for more than just downhill. But today will be the test!
So happy I found your videos Mike! I just acquired a beautiful set of wooden skis that were found safely stored in a shed since the 70's! I've got a million questions about maintenance and I'll be doing this to my skis this afternoon. Can't wait for more vids!
Megan, that sounds lovely! What brand are your wood skis?
@@explorermike19 They're Calmet Summit with a Lignostone edge. Veeery pretty. I'm a sucker for old, functional, beautiful gear.
@@ssengnirnagem I cannot recall the Calmet brand of wood skis, but lingnostone edges are the hallmark of high quality skis, I guess probably made in Finland. There are several things that can happen to wood skis if they are not stored correctly. The first and most important is warping. This is usually a corkscrew effect from tip to tail. You will see it if you lay the skis bottom down on a smooth flat surface. The second thing is the camber being lost. This is most often because somebody tapes the skis together and binds them tight near the middle of the ski. The skis were meant to have a contour like the bend in a cross-bow. The good news is that these problems can be fixed if you simply add a correct block of wood in the middle of the skis and fix them solidly. For example, blocking them to a good straight 4"X4" board and leaving it for a year or more. You need to do some research first before you block your old wood skis. IF you do it wrong, you can really do more damage. THAT SAID, you can just pine-tar them and wax them and ski on them and if they work, they work. You won't damage them simply by skiing on them (unless you crash and break them) and you might even do some good.
@@explorermike19 Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I've been xc skiing for about 20 years now (which seems crazy!) and this is the first time I've had wax skis, let alone WOODEN wax skis! These babies were made in Norway, right neck of the woods :) and they've got beautiful camber but it's not enough to pass a paper test when I'm standing on them... Could be due to covid snacking haha. I may try to increase the camber over the off-season, but for right now, my skis and I are just getting to know each other. I have a question for ya! With reapplying glide wax a handful of times over the ski season, would you re-tar every time? Or do you just scrape off the wax and redo it over the original tar for the season?
@@ssengnirnagem First question, don't be dismayed by the paper under the toe test. It often does not work. If you can ski with them and enjoy it, that is the whole point anyway. if you are flattening out and using all the camber. you can adjust by using harder kick wax. Second question: You do not have to pine tar more than about once per season unless you are really skiing a LOT like four times a week for two or three months straight. You can see the pine tar wearing off because the area without pine tar will be light in color.
Hi Mike, love your video very through. I did this yesterday and it worked beautifully. Thanks
Oh, that is wonderful, Ann! Maybe we will have the chance to ski together some day. Check out my video about kick waxing also.
@@explorermike19 k ick wAx
I've loved all the wood ski videos, I've watched them plenty of times to help me get going with my Grandpa's skis. I used Rode special green wax instead of parafin though, it's mostly smooth but a slight tackiness to it, not sure if this is good or not, we have no snow to test it on right now!
Hi Steve, It seems that Rode Special green wax is a kick wax. I have not used Rode brand ski wax, but it seems similar to SWIX brand for Kick wax.. Unlike paraffin or another harder base" wax it will be sticky and not really good for skis GLIDING. You should not wax the entire ski with this Rode special green wax. Have fun with your grandpa's skis! Please use it as a kick wax. See this video: ua-cam.com/video/TN9wtJiMlY8/v-deo.html
@@explorermike19 I had read on several websites that people with wooden skis use the very cold kick wax as a glide wax, but I guess if it doesn't work then I'll just have to scrape it off and buy some paraffin!
@@SteveKeith YES! Indeed that is one way of waxing skis: You go one or two "colors" wax colder than is recommended on the wax tube. You then wax the entire ski. I have done this and it does work. Coincidentally, I do mention it briefly on my kick wax video. Certainly, I encourage you to experiment with waxing and find a method that you like best! I am very glad to see you interested in waxing skis.
@@explorermike19 it's a lot of fun, the feel and the scent of the whole process is relaxing. I'm a sucker for old "forgotten" processes!
@@SteveKeith Excellent! Poetic.