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Jacques

Workin' It on Skis Best I Can
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Speaking of room, I won't be able to fit a fixed bench in the garage so I need to go with a portable bench. I see that the price range is anywhere from $150 and up. I assume the cheap ones aren't going to be very stable? Any recommendations on a solid portable? Are these good options?

https://the-raceplace.com/products/bench-of-beast?variant=27673046343
http://www.race-werks.com/svst-portable-tuning-bench/
http://www.race-werks.com/swix-t76-2-world-cup-waxing-table/

How about the vises on this page?
https://the-raceplace.com/collections/tuning-equipment?page=2

EDIT: I found this thread but any additional comments are appreciated
https://www.pugski.com/threads/portable-tuning-set-up-show-and-tell.6494/

EDIT 2: I've seen a few references to using a hot box. Do regular people use these? Isn't this what an iron is for?

I use all BEAST stuff. I live near The Race Place. Their bench is very stout and good.
Some folks don't like their vice, yet I find it works fine for me. Look here how I use it video.

Anyway, best luck to you. One step at a time. You are on the right path. Keep investigating, then purchase after.
 

oldschoolskier

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The cost doesn't scare me too much. I'm a firm believer in getting the right tool for the job.

The Hertel seems like a good choice based on a quick read of reviews on Amazon. Thanks!
On tools there are a few good tools and a lot of wrong tools (and expensive tools). Start slow and carefully.

If money isn’t an issue buy the following to start:

A good bench and vice (big investment)
A good iron (heavy with good temperature control is best and generally expensive).
Couple of good plastic scrappers (thick is better)
Brush set (manual to start)

On to tuning (later):
Couple of good files
Edge guide (ideally one for each angle you need)
Base guide (one for each angle you need, note you don’t do bases a lot).
Diamond stones (better quality last longer but cost more).

So budget wise, you can start on the cheap under a $100.00 (wax extra) and range upwards of several thousand and up best quality and fully equipped (yes there are a few members in this category, and those in the know can surely guess who they are).

BTW Hertel FC739 is a good all temp wax, I’d buy direct, likely cheaper than Amazon. Getting into high performance waxing that’s a whole other topic (with a bunch of smoke and mirrors to boot). I sit that discussion out and watch from the sidelines.
 

Doug Briggs

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Using 'test' skis is a must when you start using a file and actually setting bevels.

It may have been already said, but just using guides and diamond stones to maintain the sharpness of your edges is the best way to start.
  • Despite what people may say, while not being rocket science it is possible to mess up your edges even when using a guide.

  • You don't need to apply pressure to make the stones work, many passes with light/no pressure is far more beneficial than a few passes with heavy pressure.

  • Your side bevel guide is only as good as the flatness of your bases. Keep an eye on the flatness with a true bar.

  • ONLY put a stone on the base edge if you have a major (or maybe minor) ding on the base edge and only work the part of the edge that is damaged.
Only once you have mastered keeping your skis sharp and true should you consider setting bevels. Again, use a 'test' ski for this and then verify your work. Don't assume that because you used a bevel guide that it is a) accurate and b) used properly. This meant to scare you away from the process, but to help you understand that once you've taken material off the ski, you can't get it back. Especially with base bevels, it is easy to take off too much and be left with the only recourse being a shop tune to restore the bevels to something useful.

You would be amazed how many race skis come in for what our shop calls a 'race tune' which should be nothing more than quick pass on the edger and they really need a full tune including a base grind to restore the base to flat and the base bevel to something race-able.

I'll be the outlier and say I don't care much for the electric scraper sharpeners. They eat plastic like its, er, plastic, and they can put divots in the edge that just require more sharpening to remove. The best solution I have is either a pansar file or sandpaper on a flat surface and run the scraper over it at a right angle. With regular sharpening this 'low tech' way, your scraper will last longer, it will always be sharp and the cutting edges will be straight and continuous.
 

François Pugh

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By all means you should start tuning your skis.
If you ski a lot of hard icy snow sharpening your edges is a requirement, if not then maybe start with waxing.
For waxing you will need a good iron, either one of the more expensive (don't cheap out on this) specific ski waxing iron, or a massive electric iron with adjustable temperature predating steam irons (like the one your grandmother used in the early 1900s).
20171111_172827.jpg

You will need a plastic scraper.
You will NEED a nylon brush;

For sharpening, buy a solid metal single angle sidewall angle guide, buy a good set of diamond stones, buy a coarse and a fine file, buy a sidewall planer. Eventually you will purchase a base bevel guide, but the bases rarely need to be done.

I started out waxing, being afraid to sharpen my edges, but a poor tuning job convinced me to do my own sharpening, and it turned out to be not that hard to do.
 

Dave Marshak

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Best portable bench ever:

Every time I bought a vise it wouldn't work with the next pair of skis I got (too wide, too high, too anything else), but I never found a pair skis I couldn't work on that.

Also, your mom's clothes iron won't work very well. It's poorly controlled and the plate is not massive enough, so it gets hot and cold spots. It will work, but you need to be real careful with it. It will either be sticky or it will smoke the wax, sometimes both at the same time. A real wax iron is worth $40 or so. I mostly use liquid wax. IT's way easier to use liquid wax twice a day than to hot wax every 3 days.

dm
 
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TheArchitect

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Thanks again to everyone for the continued advice! I'm researching away and expect to have a shopping list soon. I'll talk to the shop about what wax they use before I buy any on my own. For now I plan on getting a bench, iron, vises, brushes, scrapers, true bar and whatever else I might need for waxing. After I've done that a bit I'll probably try my hand at simple edge maintenance and let the shop do the heavy lifting. I used to have a woodshop and am reasonably good with my hands so I expect I'll be sharpening by the end of the season.
 

Sibhusky

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My permanent bench is a portable bench from Artechski:
http://www.artechski.com/artech-ski-tuning-bench/
6101__45342.1407677222.jpg


Solid as a rock. Just a board on a Stablemate saw horse. Not really all that portable due to weight. I'm sure it's the handle hole that makes it "portable".

Make sure you put down a mat to stop yourself from walking in wax and turning it into a skating surface. A concrete floor can get downright scary.
tmp-cam--1504962942.jpg
 

Jacques

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Thanks again to everyone for the continued advice! I'm researching away and expect to have a shopping list soon. I'll talk to the shop about what wax they use before I buy any on my own. For now I plan on getting a bench, iron, vises, brushes, scrapers, true bar and whatever else I might need for waxing. After I've done that a bit I'll probably try my hand at simple edge maintenance and let the shop do the heavy lifting. I used to have a woodshop and am reasonably good with my hands so I expect I'll be sharpening by the end of the season.

Nice, you can do. Good with hands......dexterity........feel. You gonna' be fine. Wood workers pick up ski tuning right away.

On wax I must say if you want to keep it simple and have really good glide, the Dominator Zoom Series of waxes can't be beat. It's not cheap wax, but it actually works!
I have tried the "H" word wax and I was unimpressed. (Been waxing and skiing for many years)

No matter what wax you use I cannot stress enough the need for proper cooling, scraping and brushing. (new version)
Old version of the same.
 

KingGrump

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Good point, but there's still the issue of room.

Easy fix. Get a bench. A good one. Set it up in the garage. Couple six packs. the guys will never care it's the garage. Us guys are simple.

At the 2014 gathering at Mammoth, we had après at our rented condo. Mamie wanted me to fold up the tuning bench before people showed up. I told her for guys, a tuning bench runs a close second to having a live playmate at the après. Well for us old folks anyway. Guess where the guys congregated?

LR_P1080462.jpg
 

river-z

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I got this set a couple years ago and it's worked well for me. Nothing complicated - just simple edge work and regular wax.


I live in LA and wax my skis in t-shirt weather in the breezeway between my house and garage so this table holds up just fine in those kinds of "conditions."

I definitely recommend doing your own wax work if you have any interest. I've really come to enjoy putting on some music, cracking a beer, and working on my skis.


IMG_4375.JPG
 
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TheArchitect

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How long a table should I look for given that my longest skis are 173cm? I'm short and unlikely to ever need to wax anything over 180cm. How far away from the tip and tail is ideal for the vise? The tables I've looked at so far are around 48-52" long, excluding the Artech Sibhusky posted. The Holmenkol that @Muleski was praising in the "show and tell" thread extends out quite a way but it's big bucks. http://www.sportthoma.com/products/Wax-Table. I don't have a ton of space so something that is compact when not in use is valuable but not if it compromises stablity.

I miss my old house before the divorce. I had so much space...
 

Philpug

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Best portable bench ever:

Every time I bought a vise it wouldn't work with the next pair of skis I got (too wide, too high, too anything else), but I never found a pair skis I couldn't work on that.

Also, your mom's clothes iron won't work very well. It's poorly controlled and the plate is not massive enough, so it gets hot and cold spots. It will work, but you need to be real careful with it. It will either be sticky or it will smoke the wax, sometimes both at the same time. A real wax iron is worth $40 or so. I mostly use liquid wax. IT's way easier to use liquid wax twice a day than to hot wax every 3 days.

dm
It's not the cost of the bench, it is the cost of the deck ;)
 

Philpug

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How long a table should I look for given that my longest skis are 173cm? I'm short and unlikely to ever need to wax anything over 180cm. How far away from the tip and tail is ideal for the vise? The tables I've looked at so far are around 48-52" long, excluding the Artech Sibhusky posted. The Holmenkol that @Muleski was praising in the "show and tell" thread extends out quite a way but it's big bucks. http://www.sportthoma.com/products/Wax-Table. I don't have a ton of space so something that is compact when not in use is valuable but not if it compromises stablity.

I miss my old house before the divorce. I had so much space...
https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/tls/d/ryobi-folding-miter-saw-stand/6725118219.html with a 2'x4' particle board top and some bolts, you have a beefy foldable table that will adjsut for any ski size for less than $70.00
 
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TheArchitect

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Carolinacub

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I've really enjoyed following this thread. For the past few years I've been waxing my ski's and doing some edgework. I've basically done all this without any real instruction and of course it involved a fair amount of guesswork when it came to proper technique. Some of the edgework turned out pretty bad and really affected my skiing and then of course there were times when I got on my skis and realized I had actually done a great job. I've pretty much gotten past the bad job incidents and am now pretty consistent in my process. One of the things that has really come to the forefront after reading all your comments is to start simple with good basic tools and don't try to do everything at once. There are a couple things I'm going to pick up this year to take me to the next level and primary among them is a good edge guide and some good stones. So even though I'm not the OP let me say thanks to all of you also for the great insight.
 

Wilhelmson

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On the craigslist note, if you spend the next few months browsing craigslist and ebay for tuning equipment you'll be all set by the end of the season for 1/2 the price. Living in the megalopolis has some benefits.
 

jzmtl

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I would think a miter saw stand is way overkill for a casual tuner who only has one or two pair of ski per week, a folding sawhorse is much lighter and compact.
 

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