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KilaTsunami
October, 2024

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Wax monkeys only

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headlight
Posts: 165 - Karma: 15

awesome pictures - electron microscope images of a new ski base made of P-Tex2000 by Davide Uglietti 

ski base without wax Unwaxed base 100 x magnification  http://www.escnordic.org.uk/viewpic.htm?&pic=myths/pictures/base100x.jpg&tit=Unwaxed%20base%20at%20100%20magnification%20by%20Davide%20Uglietti         

500x magnification  http://www.escnordic.org.uk/viewpic.htm?&pic=myths/pictures/base500x.jpg&tit=Unwaxed%20base%20at%20500%20magnification%20by%20Davide%20Uglietti       

waxed, scraped and brushed. 100x magnification   http://www.escnordic.org.uk/viewpic.htm?&pic=myths/pictures/basew100x.jpg&tit=Waxed%20base%20at%20100%20magnification%20by%20Davide%20Uglietti

500x magnification    http://www.escnordic.org.uk/viewpic.htm?&pic=myths/pictures/basew500x.jpg&tit=Waxed%20base%20at%20500%20magnification%20by%20Davide%20Uglietti

Can you see any pores? Me neither. Anything there to soak up wax ?

Mar 30 2009 9:44PM
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aoe
Posts: 2947 - Karma: 51
Hmmm, very interesting. Not what I thought it would look like! I don't see any pores either.
Mar 30 2009 9:50PM
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no_steeze
Posts: 23992 - Karma: 4,272
hah wow that's totally sick
Mar 30 2009 9:59PM
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BigM1218
Posts: 998 - Karma: 13
thats looks like some creepy little virus thing that you see in bio class. def not what i thought it would look like
Mar 30 2009 10:04PM
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Aaaron.
Posts: 11817 - Karma: 903
that is beyond coool
Mar 30 2009 10:28PM
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KravtZ
Posts: 6637 - Karma: 2,629
wow thats so sick
Mar 30 2009 10:38PM
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Rafe
Posts: 254 - Karma: 13
+++K for you

that was sweet
Mar 30 2009 11:41PM
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epic_line
Posts: 929 - Karma: 32
They lied to us!
Mar 31 2009 1:32AM
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chazz.
Posts: 2721 - Karma: 23
Is this for a sintered base or die-cut base?
Mar 31 2009 10:24PM
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parkrider.
Posts: 181 - Karma: 25
thats kinda nasty lookin
Mar 31 2009 11:45PM
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spotter487
Posts: 462 - Karma: 12
sweet pics, I will never look at the bottom of my skis the same way again
Apr 1 2009 1:28AM
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Blokkie
Posts: 331 - Karma: 30
Are u trying to say that because YOU dont see anny pores, waxing is just a myth??
Apr 1 2009 2:08PM
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Klick_2_klaim
Posts: 3396 - Karma: 25
yes.
just let your bases rot, and then they get super hard and super fast.
Apr 1 2009 2:11PM
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Blokkie
Posts: 331 - Karma: 30
hahaha, maybe try looking at it with an electron microscope.
Apr 1 2009 2:18PM
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headlight
Posts: 165 - Karma: 15

From what I can find out it is PTex-2000 Sintered

http://www.gurit.com/core/core_picker/download.asp?documenttable=libraryfiles&id=156 

UHMWPE is Ultra High Molecular Weight Poly Ethylene. This is an ethylene polymer that has long polymer strands resulting in a molecular weight greater than three million. A characteristic of this material is that it can not be extruded, as it will not flow sufficiently freely under the temperatures and pressures used for extrusion. Sintering is a common method used to produce ski bases from this material.

Apr 2 2009 12:06AM
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headlight
Posts: 165 - Karma: 15

What seems to be the case is there are no pores in Ptex ski bases. This is a myth carried over from about 40 years ago before Ptex when ski bases were just wood. The wood cells could be filled with wax, especially as the wood dried out over time - they also used Pitch ? and tar on bases for other reasons. 

Waxing for glide is not a myth. If u look at the waxed pictures the bases are smoother and filled in. I won't say anything about base structure because you cannot see base structure in any of these pics. too micro.

So it seems that the micro ruts get smoothed out/ filled in by wax and it helps repel moisture and slides better.   It doesn't soak in deep to any pores cause there ain't none. So wax works at a micro level and protects and I thought this was pretty wild

Apr 2 2009 12:23AM
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MrLarsen
Posts: 583 - Karma: 16
Huge difference in how smooth the base is as headlight points out. Pics reminds me a bit of school though, studying different types of fractures in metals..
Apr 2 2009 6:58AM
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japanada
Posts: 13784 - Karma: 1,957
I would like to see a pic of a ski base that has a nice broken linear or chevron stonegrinded on it. I would assume that it would look a bit smoother.
Apr 2 2009 12:11PM
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anti_bunk
Posts: 2629 - Karma: 329
trust me the waxed skis look a lot better. you have no idea how the magnification will distort your perception.  the shadows are much deeper on the unwaxed bases. 
Apr 2 2009 7:06PM
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