Great video, thanks! I just ordered some Mother's wax, and look forward to trying it. I was hoping you'd flick a few buttons to show us the results of the wax application, though!
Super helpful! This question pops up so often - especially about should you or should you not wax discs - or... buttons? - whatever - but now we've got it straight from the horse's mouth.
Should have mentioned you need to shake the Mother's bottle up before spraying your board. If it has been sitting on the shelf some separation of the wax and liquid is likely to have occurred.
Thank you for this note Scott. It isn't an issue for us because the bottle is used almost every day in the shop and never has a chance to settle and separate so didn't realize that a shake up was needed.
I would love to buy a Tracey board but they are nearly impossible to find in Europe (only place I found one was in a UK shop which still would cost me extra VAT & Customs 😢 I'm contacting my Canadian family if they can bring one over. Edit: VAT & customs was included in the price! So I went ahead and ordered 😎
I can't find Coleco's buffing instructions for my 1980's or possibly late 70's painted mdf crokinole board with the sheet metal octagon border and plastic ring shooter discs and the protruding rivets on the shooting line right where you want to aim for a 20 anywhere. Is that turd even worth polishing? Slow as it is, it's still way more fun than flipping the board over to play checkers!
Super curious what you think about buttons being weighted so that it would coast further, like a puck on an air hockey board? The appeal of a floating disc is so appealing. Has this ever been explored? It would seem to be more fun and challenging. What do you think? Thanks!
I think whatever the weight of the disc is it needs to be the same for both players. A heavier disc, I am not sure it would go further on a follow through if it is also hitting a heavier disc. BUT I am NOT a physicist by any means. I have a pretty good idea of what our buttons will do when hitting our buttons but I don't know the physics of why. So I also don't know what would happen if both were heavier. As for more like air hockey, I think the closest I have come to that is when playing with ultra fast wax. So fast you can barely keep the buttons on the board. IMHO that is not as fun.
Would "Mothers Speed Spray Wax" work the same? The golden one are i possible to come by here in Sweden, but the store I bought from said this one had "replaced" the carlifornia gold one... would work the same. Said something about this being synthetic and the other being organic....
Excellent advice telling people to be sparing with how much wax to apply. I wonder though if the discs shouldn't receive even more frequent attention than the board rather than the other way around as you suggest. The discs are what come into the most frequent contact with those clammy oily fingers. There's even a WCC rule that states that players are not allowed to be holding discs in those greasy mitts between shots (likely out of consideration for the next contestant in the rotation). Whenever I see a Meinecke (a disc that slams on the brakes unexpectedly ) my money is on the disc being at fault. Everyone whose lost points because of a Meinecke, please raise your finger of choice and wipe away a tear to acknowledge such a tragedy! You know it might be a reasonable idea to allow/suggest that people bring a pair of their own proper sized disc sets to a tournament, that way if your discs let you down the blame would rest with the owner. Any thoughts?
interesting idea about taking your discs along with you. I think every player would need two sets in case you sit across from someone with the same color as you... that could get confusing. I have talked to folks who assumed that is how it goes at a tournie. There would be pros and cons to the idea.
@@TraceyBoards Yes each player would have to bring a couple of different coloured disc sets. I can't think of another obvious con beyond having to tote sixteen discs from table to table or the fact that tradition has been that discs are supplied (however only at the WCC are all the discs provided by the organizers. Most tournaments ask participants to bring extra boards with discs and that's where the 'sticky' part can come in. Interesting that you've met people who assumed you brought your own discs - probably dart players, eh? Maybe lawn bowlers.
@@ericrm305 i think they were dart players, yes. The other challenge or con is managing fairness. Let's say you are really good at waxing your discs and a new player doesn't even know its a thing. Your discs are slick and their discs are slower. Pros and cons to fast and slow discs but having opponents with different behaving discs could cause issues.
@@TraceyBoards Good point (sorry I'm so late to seeing this reply) BUT the new player will only realize prepping your discs wasn't a thing 'once' and will know better next time in the same way they will learn it's better to burn their last disc rather than chance a high risk shot if they're already ahead or that's it not good etiquette to be rubbing their next disc in the ditch while their opponent is getting ready to shoot. We all learn it's probably a good idea to try a few shots on an unknown board but no tournament could allow the time and tedium to test out every disc. That surprise bum disc is just plain cruel, even more than leaners on a frayed-edge center hole. What would happen if someone showed up to a tournament and insisted on using their own discs? Oh Gawd! I've helped organize a few tournaments - 'Uh, innovations? No thank-you!' It's probably why the WCC specifies 'no fingerguards'. Fingerguards??? Are, or were, fingerguards ever a thing? Oh, here's one last instance. At the WCC one year I got asked a couple of times if I would play 'halfboards', I said "eh?" They replied that they were used to being able to shoot from half the board rather than one quadrant. (An interesting wrinkle). I whispered "They're really strict here, we'll get thrown out for sure." By the way, do tournament golfers get to use their own balls or are they regulated like almost every other professional sport?
I built my own board instead of buying one. I finished it with Minwax Polycrylic. I have tried the paste wax and not gotten great results. I am going to try the spray wax that you recommend. Should I really sand my board down to a specific grit first before applying the spray wax? My board is definitely playable and we enjoy it. But it is not as slick as I wish. I would really like to get it super slick so that the buttons glide effortlessly across the board. Just wondering if I need to give it a good sanding first. Thanks!
I do NOT recommend sanding your board. If you were to sand it then it would need a fresh coat of lacquer applied and that opens up a whole new can of worms. If spray lacquer is applied and there is still some of your paste wax left behind it is likely to react and end up feeling like an orange peel. Hope that helps.
@@TraceyBoards ok thanks. I am a woodworker so I am comfortable with sanding away all of the existing finish and applying a new finish if needed. But if I can just apply the spray wax over the Minwax Polycrylic then that is good too! Thanks so much. I really enjoy your videos.
@@benjaminmccown131 yes I sanded the poly. I think I probably did like 3 coats of poly. Can’t quite remember. It was a while ago. I tried the spray wax that he recommended in this video. It helped a little bit for sure. But still don’t get that glide like I see on other crokinole videos.
Great instructional. I have a question about the thicker paste waxes. The ones you use possibly less often, to help fill in the large knicks and blemishes that an older board or just a harder used board might have. What brand(s) do you recommend? I have been using Mother's California Gold Pure Brazilian Carnuba Wax as my once-every-few-months wax product. It works alright, but even with a thin coat it tends to make the play surface a bit dry and not quite as fast as I would like. I usually follow with the Mother's California Gold spray wax and that puts that buttery finish back in place. Any recommendations or alternatives? Thanks and keep up the great work.
Few notes on paste wax. As long as you are using paste wax, the brand itself shouldn't matter too much. I own and use Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Premium Paste Wax, applying it on over 10-15 different boards. Make sure the package says paste wax and not cleaner wax. Cleaner wax has some grit that can strip the surface of your board over time. When using paste wax, thin layers should be applied, give it 15-30 minutes like Jeremy said to fog over and wipe everything away. Usually slow spots occur because of too thick an application. Many thinner layers will do better than one or two thicker applied layers. I only use paste wax on boards that you can feel imperfections in the surface. Mayday boards have required 7-8 layers of application to fill in those gaps and make it a respectably smooth surface. Once you have a board with a smooth surface, I never use paste wax and just use the spray wax. I have not once used paste wax on my Tracey board.
Fantastic notes Adam, thank you for this. I am guilty of finding an amazing product that works well and not touching any paste wax since. Using the paste wax was tough enough but trying to explain to someone how much to put on and how hard to buff wasn't much fun.
For your boards, all you need is the spray wax. I helped someone wax their board a week back and no amount of spray wax was going to help that poor board. They owned the board for over 15 years and never really waxed it. It was like playing on sandpaper. I agree, especially on video, it is very difficult to instruct on how to properly wax with paste wax, but a board in a specific condition needs that first to smooth things out.
@@adamziobrowski528 Thanks Adam, I was starting to think that maybe I was missing something. I think my board is just in good shape and doesn't really need the paste, which is a good thing. That pretty much covers my questions, thanks again.
I tried using this wax on our buttons, and it actually slowed them down a lot! We're new to Crokinole, having played maybe 50 games or so with our set. But I noticed some significant wear on the buttons, especially where the point of highest contact was. (Some buttons had a "dot" in the middle where the paint wore out) So I tried waxing the buttons using the wax recommended in this video, and now they slam on the brakes. I tried a second coating, making sure to shake the bottle first (per Scott's advise). I used a t-shirt, and then a micro-fiber cloth meant for lenses. Still no luck! They used to glide across the board so nicely. Any advice? We're so bummed out about this.
@@TraceyBoards Sorry for the delay, we took a scientific approach. You were right, of course! The wax wasn't the problem! We ordered new buttons, and had the same problem, so we figured it was the board. The old buttons used to glide as smooth as butter at first but hit the brakes, it seemed, right after waxing. I thought that maybe we'd gotten a bit of wax on the board and didn't buff it? We tried buffing like mad, but no luck Today we finally got to try the buttons on a new board and they once again float like air hockey! Feeling confident that the wax didn't ruin our buttons, I went for it and waxed the previous board. All is well! The buttons and both boards work perfectly. As odd as it sounds, I think the problem was just that we played SOOOO much on our new board that it needed a wax after only 2 weeks of (rather consistent) play TLDR: Tracy is right, and this wax is amazing!
@@snarfleezcattleprod4506 glad to hear it worked out and you are back to fast flicking fun 😃 And thats awesome that you play that much, keep it up and we will see you at the world championships:-)
We always wax the boards before the step of the pegs going in. AND we NEVER take pegs out to wax a board. You can prob get away with pulling them out a time or three but to keep taking them out and putting them back in you are asking for trouble down the road.
Would "Mothers Speed Spray Wax" work the same? The golden one are i possible to come by here in Sweden, but the store I bought from said this one had "replaced" the carlifornia gold one... would work the same. Said something about this being synthetic and the other being organic....
I used the Mothers wax on shirt buttons once. Boy, can I ever do up that shirt fast!
You really should get your own youtibe account rather than commenting under your wife's name 🤣
Excellent information. Thank you for giving me the confidence that I won't ruin my crokinole board.
Great video, thanks! I just ordered some Mother's wax, and look forward to trying it. I was hoping you'd flick a few buttons to show us the results of the wax application, though!
that's a good point, I should have done that.
Super helpful! This question pops up so often - especially about should you or should you not wax discs - or... buttons? - whatever - but now we've got it straight from the horse's mouth.
who you calling a horse???? LOL
@@TraceyBoards Haha the internet is a ruthless place. Better toughen up that hide if you're expanding the audience! 😂
Where can I find the video with the top tips to keep the board fast? 🙂
does the spray work on a plastic board?
Should have mentioned you need to shake the Mother's bottle up before spraying your board. If it has been sitting on the shelf some separation of the wax and liquid is likely to have occurred.
Thank you for this note Scott. It isn't an issue for us because the bottle is used almost every day in the shop and never has a chance to settle and separate so didn't realize that a shake up was needed.
I would love to buy a Tracey board but they are nearly impossible to find in Europe (only place I found one was in a UK shop which still would cost me extra VAT & Customs 😢
I'm contacting my Canadian family if they can bring one over.
Edit: VAT & customs was included in the price! So I went ahead and ordered 😎
I can't find Coleco's buffing instructions for my 1980's or possibly late 70's painted mdf crokinole board with the sheet metal octagon border and plastic ring shooter discs and the protruding rivets on the shooting line right where you want to aim for a 20 anywhere. Is that turd even worth polishing? Slow as it is, it's still way more fun than flipping the board over to play checkers!
Yup, I have played on boards like that too and 100% agree, still way more fun than checkers or most other games for that matter :-)
@@TraceyBoards I do have a can of Trewax (carnauba), maybe I will experiment on the checkers side of the board and see what happens...
How do you feel for your about Turtle Wax 53477 Hybrid Solutions Pro Flex Wax, Graphene Spray Wax boards?
Super curious what you think about buttons being weighted so that it would coast further, like a puck on an air hockey board? The appeal of a floating disc is so appealing. Has this ever been explored? It would seem to be more fun and challenging. What do you think? Thanks!
I think whatever the weight of the disc is it needs to be the same for both players. A heavier disc, I am not sure it would go further on a follow through if it is also hitting a heavier disc. BUT I am NOT a physicist by any means. I have a pretty good idea of what our buttons will do when hitting our buttons but I don't know the physics of why. So I also don't know what would happen if both were heavier. As for more like air hockey, I think the closest I have come to that is when playing with ultra fast wax. So fast you can barely keep the buttons on the board. IMHO that is not as fun.
Would "Mothers Speed Spray Wax" work the same? The golden one are i possible to come by here in Sweden, but the store I bought from said this one had "replaced" the carlifornia gold one... would work the same. Said something about this being synthetic and the other being organic....
Does the Mothers wax work well on a varnished baltic birch playing surface?
Excellent advice telling people to be sparing with how much wax to apply. I wonder though if the discs shouldn't receive even more frequent attention than the board rather than the other way around as you suggest. The discs are what come into the most frequent contact with those clammy oily fingers. There's even a WCC rule that states that players are not allowed to be holding discs in those greasy mitts between shots (likely out of consideration for the next contestant in the rotation). Whenever I see a Meinecke (a disc that slams on the brakes unexpectedly ) my money is on the disc being at fault. Everyone whose lost points because of a Meinecke, please raise your finger of choice and wipe away a tear to acknowledge such a tragedy! You know it might be a reasonable idea to allow/suggest that people bring a pair of their own proper sized disc sets to a tournament, that way if your discs let you down the blame would rest with the owner. Any thoughts?
interesting idea about taking your discs along with you. I think every player would need two sets in case you sit across from someone with the same color as you... that could get confusing. I have talked to folks who assumed that is how it goes at a tournie. There would be pros and cons to the idea.
@@TraceyBoards Yes each player would have to bring a couple of different coloured disc sets. I can't think of another obvious con beyond having to tote sixteen discs from table to table or the fact that tradition has been that discs are supplied (however only at the WCC are all the discs provided by the organizers. Most tournaments ask participants to bring extra boards with discs and that's where the 'sticky' part can come in. Interesting that you've met people who assumed you brought your own discs - probably dart players, eh? Maybe lawn bowlers.
@@ericrm305 i think they were dart players, yes. The other challenge or con is managing fairness. Let's say you are really good at waxing your discs and a new player doesn't even know its a thing. Your discs are slick and their discs are slower. Pros and cons to fast and slow discs but having opponents with different behaving discs could cause issues.
@@TraceyBoards Good point (sorry I'm so late to seeing this reply) BUT the new player will only realize prepping your discs wasn't a thing 'once' and will know better next time in the same way they will learn it's better to burn their last disc rather than chance a high risk shot if they're already ahead or that's it not good etiquette to be rubbing their next disc in the ditch while their opponent is getting ready to shoot. We all learn it's probably a good idea to try a few shots on an unknown board but no tournament could allow the time and tedium to test out every disc. That surprise bum disc is just plain cruel, even more than leaners on a frayed-edge center hole.
What would happen if someone showed up to a tournament and insisted on using their own discs? Oh Gawd! I've helped organize a few tournaments - 'Uh, innovations? No thank-you!' It's probably why the WCC specifies 'no fingerguards'. Fingerguards??? Are, or were, fingerguards ever a thing? Oh, here's one last instance. At the WCC one year I got asked a couple of times if I would play 'halfboards', I said "eh?" They replied that they were used to being able to shoot from half the board rather than one quadrant. (An interesting wrinkle). I whispered "They're really strict here, we'll get thrown out for sure." By the way, do tournament golfers get to use their own balls or are they regulated like almost every other professional sport?
I built my own board instead of buying one. I finished it with Minwax Polycrylic. I have tried the paste wax and not gotten great results. I am going to try the spray wax that you recommend. Should I really sand my board down to a specific grit first before applying the spray wax? My board is definitely playable and we enjoy it. But it is not as slick as I wish. I would really like to get it super slick so that the buttons glide effortlessly across the board. Just wondering if I need to give it a good sanding first. Thanks!
I do NOT recommend sanding your board. If you were to sand it then it would need a fresh coat of lacquer applied and that opens up a whole new can of worms. If spray lacquer is applied and there is still some of your paste wax left behind it is likely to react and end up feeling like an orange peel.
Hope that helps.
@@TraceyBoards ok thanks. I am a woodworker so I am comfortable with sanding away all of the existing finish and applying a new finish if needed. But if I can just apply the spray wax over the Minwax Polycrylic then that is good too! Thanks so much. I really enjoy your videos.
@theburnetts did you sand the polycrylic at all before waxing? How many coats of poly did you use?
@@benjaminmccown131 yes I sanded the poly. I think I probably did like 3 coats of poly. Can’t quite remember. It was a while ago. I tried the spray wax that he recommended in this video. It helped a little bit for sure. But still don’t get that glide like I see on other crokinole videos.
Great instructional. I have a question about the thicker paste waxes. The ones you use possibly less often, to help fill in the large knicks and blemishes that an older board or just a harder used board might have. What brand(s) do you recommend? I have been using Mother's California Gold Pure Brazilian Carnuba Wax as my once-every-few-months wax product. It works alright, but even with a thin coat it tends to make the play surface a bit dry and not quite as fast as I would like. I usually follow with the Mother's California Gold spray wax and that puts that buttery finish back in place. Any recommendations or alternatives?
Thanks and keep up the great work.
Few notes on paste wax. As long as you are using paste wax, the brand itself shouldn't matter too much. I own and use Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Premium Paste Wax, applying it on over 10-15 different boards. Make sure the package says paste wax and not cleaner wax. Cleaner wax has some grit that can strip the surface of your board over time.
When using paste wax, thin layers should be applied, give it 15-30 minutes like Jeremy said to fog over and wipe everything away. Usually slow spots occur because of too thick an application. Many thinner layers will do better than one or two thicker applied layers.
I only use paste wax on boards that you can feel imperfections in the surface. Mayday boards have required 7-8 layers of application to fill in those gaps and make it a respectably smooth surface. Once you have a board with a smooth surface, I never use paste wax and just use the spray wax. I have not once used paste wax on my Tracey board.
I think Adam shared some helpful thoughts below, did you see his notes? what other questions do you still have?
Fantastic notes Adam, thank you for this. I am guilty of finding an amazing product that works well and not touching any paste wax since. Using the paste wax was tough enough but trying to explain to someone how much to put on and how hard to buff wasn't much fun.
For your boards, all you need is the spray wax. I helped someone wax their board a week back and no amount of spray wax was going to help that poor board. They owned the board for over 15 years and never really waxed it. It was like playing on sandpaper.
I agree, especially on video, it is very difficult to instruct on how to properly wax with paste wax, but a board in a specific condition needs that first to smooth things out.
@@adamziobrowski528 Thanks Adam,
I was starting to think that maybe I was missing something. I think my board is just in good shape and doesn't really need the paste, which is a good thing. That pretty much covers my questions, thanks again.
How do you get Crokinole board powder safely off your board when cleaning it?
Vacuum with brush attachment.
He shows it in the beginning of this video.
Just bought a board, does it come pre-waxed?
I assume you are talking about a Tracey Board. yes,. every board is waxed before it ever leaves our shop 🙂
@@TraceyBoards I should have clarified. YES a tracey board and a Grey Rock one at that ;) Excited to play!
What do we do in Europe :( I don't find that product xD
I tried using this wax on our buttons, and it actually slowed them down a lot!
We're new to Crokinole, having played maybe 50 games or so with our set. But I noticed some significant wear on the buttons, especially where the point of highest contact was. (Some buttons had a "dot" in the middle where the paint wore out) So I tried waxing the buttons using the wax recommended in this video, and now they slam on the brakes.
I tried a second coating, making sure to shake the bottle first (per Scott's advise). I used a t-shirt, and then a micro-fiber cloth meant for lenses. Still no luck! They used to glide across the board so nicely.
Any advice? We're so bummed out about this.
That is so strange, I have never heard that before. Did you wax your board as well?
@@TraceyBoards Nope, only the buttons. They glided smoothly until we waxed them. Because of this change, we definitely didn't want to do the board.
@@snarfleezcattleprod4506 can you shoot me an email? I want to help you solve this. Traceyboards@gmail.com
@@TraceyBoards Sorry for the delay, we took a scientific approach.
You were right, of course! The wax wasn't the problem!
We ordered new buttons, and had the same problem, so we figured it was the board. The old buttons used to glide as smooth as butter at first but hit the brakes, it seemed, right after waxing. I thought that maybe we'd gotten a bit of wax on the board and didn't buff it? We tried buffing like mad, but no luck
Today we finally got to try the buttons on a new board and they once again float like air hockey!
Feeling confident that the wax didn't ruin our buttons, I went for it and waxed the previous board.
All is well! The buttons and both boards work perfectly.
As odd as it sounds, I think the problem was just that we played SOOOO much on our new board that it needed a wax after only 2 weeks of (rather consistent) play
TLDR: Tracy is right, and this wax is amazing!
@@snarfleezcattleprod4506 glad to hear it worked out and you are back to fast flicking fun 😃
And thats awesome that you play that much, keep it up and we will see you at the world championships:-)
So its sounds like the real foundation for a super slick board is a sprayed on lacquer finish. Sounds like a job for a professional.
So should I put my pegs in (they came not installed) before doing this?
We always wax the boards before the step of the pegs going in. AND we NEVER take pegs out to wax a board. You can prob get away with pulling them out a time or three but to keep taking them out and putting them back in you are asking for trouble down the road.
What’s a button?
You know, this would qualify as a frequently asked question other than the fact YOU are the ONLY one who ever asks that...
@@TraceyBoards lol
I use pledge. Nice lemon smell
This video waxed on for too long.
Would "Mothers Speed Spray Wax" work the same? The golden one are i possible to come by here in Sweden, but the store I bought from said this one had "replaced" the carlifornia gold one... would work the same. Said something about this being synthetic and the other being organic....