Rotobrushes

[nekdut]

Anyone use one of these? Pros/Cons/Opinions? Seems like it would make things easier, especially with the season starting (in 2 days possibly!!), and many boards/skis to tune.

[Randy S.]

I bought one last season and I love it. It saves me tons of time in the evening when I'm waxing boards. One tip I picked up this summer. Brushing can put static electricity into your base. Prevent this by squirting a little water on the base before brushing. I use a variable speed cordless drill at low speed to run it.

Someone here emailed me asking what brush I bought and where. I got it from Tognar and it is model TOK-2549. You can find it Here (http://www.tognar.com/wax_tools_hot_irons_corks_brushes_ski_snowboard.ht ml#TOK-2547). You'll need the handle also (on same page). I also noticed that either Race Place or Race Werks (both catalogs arrived this week) carry them.

[nekdut]

Hey Randy,

Are you using it with a cordless drill? I noticed that most cordless drills top out at 1000-1500 rpm., but its recommended to rotobrush at 2500rpm. Do you only use the rotobrush to do the final brushing, after hotwaxing and scraping? Have you tried using it for corking/fibertexing?

[Randy S.]

Originally posted by nekdut
Hey Randy,

Are you using it with a cordless drill? I noticed that most cordless drills top out at 1000-1500 rpm., but its recommended to rotobrush at 2500rpm. Do you only use the rotobrush to do the final brushing, after hotwaxing and scraping? Have you tried using it for corking/fibertexing?

I don't understand that rpm suggestion really. Can you make your hand brush go that fast? I dont' think so. That said, I did buy the most powerful cordless I could find (big honking dewalt thingy). I don't run it at full speed, but maybe I should. I only have the one brush now, so I mostly use it for final polishing after scraping. It brushes the wax out so I get down to the structure. I haven't gotten a cork for it and fibertex seems like overkill to me. I like the KISS principle for waxing. That's why I got the roto, to make it faster and easier.

[cliffh]

maybe I'm missing something but it seems to me that the rotobrush is overkill. what's the big deal of brushing a board by hand - it's is not difficult and it doesn't take long

waste of money in my opinion

[skidoc]

On the World Cup I used only a fine antistatic horsehair brush designed by Toko.

This was only used after I had hand brushed out all of the wax with a bronze/horsehair oval brush, combined with frequent light scrapes of the "lifted" wax.

Hand brushing allows for better "lifting" of the wax from pronounced structures. This is extremely important from a "speed" standpoint when attaining speeds of 60-80 mph is important.

Rotobrushes employed with high rpm combined with too much pressure will only "redeposit" the wax you're trying to remove.
However, unless your actually getting out there with victory in mind, it will not adversely effect your performance.

The idea is to remove enough wax so it does not mute the performance from edge to edge.

Roto's used with light pressure and moderate rpm, should do a satisfactory job of removing wax from your base structure. Use a brass/horsehair initially, then follow up with a horshair. If that's too many brushes, simply use a stiff nylon, which allows for good removal and finish of your wax job.

Whatever method one chooses, the goal is too remove any wax that one can see standing on the base, as that is what will ultimately effect your performance with regards to the wax process.

Skidoc