Portable Tuning Set-up Show and Tell

[Jacques]

This is a great bench. Holmenkol. You see a lot being used. Not super portable. They weigh a ton. But they are rock solid. Adapt to uneven flooring. Adapt to any ski length. Racks for skis and brushes.

I've worked on a lot of other portable benches. Beast, Swix, etc. IME, no comparison.

This is Artech's ad. They are pricey. We have three. Total cost for all three combined was a fraction of the current price here for one. If I were in the market, I would still buy this one. We have owned ours for 15+ years. They last.

http://www.artechski.com/holmenkol-tuning-bench-includes-ski-racks/

Way to expensive and too short to boot!

 

[Jacques]

@Blue Streak If you only need the bench for one trip, Denver Sports Lab rents tuning benches.

I hope I didn’t come across as overly harsh above, but I don’t know anyone who owns that specific Swix travel bench you posted who would buy another— myself included. Now, if you do have one, you can cut the legs, bend, splice and re-weld and they aren’t too bad. There is a technique to using them that is easily learned, or you can just buy a decent bench like @Muleski suggested. If you don’t mind the cost of the Holmenkol bench (it really is the standard all others are judged against), but you can’t stomach the weight, check out Cool River RSE. He makes a bench similar to this one (https://shopcoldriver.com/products/pro-tuning-table) that is designed for international air travel.

Again, way too expensive! Better length though.

 

[crgildart]

Sorry, but I'm absolutely NOT a fan of portable sawhorses or portable tables. I need a SOLID bench surface to work on otherwise stuff wobbling around or even moving at the base is likely to result in my slicing my hand on an edge when scraping, filing, etc.. I need a solid workbench, heavy base or I'm going to prefer just working on the floor kneeling over the ski.

 

[mdf]

Sorry, but I'm absolutely NOT a fan of portable sawhorses or portable tables. I need a SOLID bench surface to work on otherwise stuff wobbling around or even moving at the base is likely to result in my slicing my hand on an edge when scraping, filing, etc.. I need a solid workbench, heavy base or I'm going to prefer just working on the floor kneeling over the ski.

Well, if you don't mind kneeling....

https://shopcoldriver.com/products/stomp-vise

 

[Muleski]

Way to expensive and too short to boot!

Too SHORT? You mean height wise? in that case you might not realize how the legs extend to raise the height of the surface. These have huge range in height.
If you mean length of the surface, the arms extend to be able to use a vise for any length ski. Rock solid.

May be me, but I have had plenty of serious full time race techs using mine in our tuning room, on skis from women's SL, to mens's DH.

Using stones to a Trione.

I bought mine when Holmenkol has a US race rep, for $100 each.

They seem to work. For many.

 

[ScotsSkier]

This is a great bench. Holmenkol. You see a lot being used. Not super portable. They weigh a ton. But they are rock solid. Adapt to uneven flooring. Adapt to any ski length. Racks for skis and brushes.

I've worked on a lot of other portable benches. Beast, Swix, etc. IME, no comparison.

This is Artech's ad. They are pricey. We have three. Total cost for all three combined was a fraction of the current price here for one. If I were in the market, I would still buy this one. We have owned ours for 15+ years. They last.

http://www.artechski.com/holmenkol-tuning-bench-includes-ski-racks/

Yup, this is the gold standard. It is quite heavy though. I used mine as my main shop bench for several years as well,it is that solid. Now I will take it if it is a several day series. If it is just a 2 day I will use the lighter Swix one

 

[Muleski]

Sorry, but I'm absolutely NOT a fan of portable sawhorses or portable tables. I need a SOLID bench surface to work on otherwise stuff wobbling around or even moving at the base is likely to result in my slicing my hand on an edge when scraping, filing, etc.. I need a solid workbench, heavy base or I'm going to prefer just working on the floor kneeling over the ski.

At the risk of sounding like a fan boy, the Holmenkol is rock solid. I wish I had saved the tuning room stuff form Epic, where I had posted a lot of pictures that were "well received". As in most could not believe that our tuning setup was not a pro shop. One of our benches was built on top of a big-zzz hot box. Fixed to the wall. al framed with 4x4's. The work surface was 8' by 2'. It was coated in high gloss white epoxy. Recessed slots to mount the vices. Pretty damn effective. Many a pro told me that they felt it was the best they had ever seen.

The two Holmenkol benches were just as solid. Have never had anybody complain about that....nor the length of the surface. Until now, I guess!

If there was a better solution, I would have bought it at the time, as we were "pretty serious" about this.

If you're buying to fly or travel with a bench, there are much better solutions, due to the weight. Unless you are flying on a private plane. Then bring it on!

 

[Jacques]

Too SHORT? You mean height wise? in that case you might not realize how the legs extend to raise the height of the surface. These have huge range in height.
If you mean length of the surface, the arms extend to be able to use a vise for any length ski. Rock solid.

May be me, but I have had plenty of serious full time race techs using mine in our tuning room, on skis from women's SL, to mens's DH.

Using stones to a Trione.

I bought mine when Holmenkol has a US race rep, for $100 each.

They seem to work. For many.

Oh no. Not saying it would not work. Just too much money. Luck you to get on on the cheap. By too short, I mean the length. I base that only on a photo as I can't find the dimensions anywhere. The BEAST is 48 inches long. Look here. Can't be that long. Found it. 3.6 feet vs 4 feet for BEAST. Beast is only $299.00

 

[KingGrump]

Well, if you don't mind kneeling....

https://shopcoldriver.com/products/stomp-vise

Hey, that's the perfect height for me.

 

[ScotsSkier]

Oh no. Not saying it would not work. Just too much money. Luck you to get on on the cheap. By too short, I mean the length. I base that only on a photo as I can't find the dimensions anywhere. The BEAST is 48 inches long. Look here. Can't be that long. Found it. 3.6 feet vs 4 feet for BEAST. Beast is only $299.00

so Jacques, how far do the arms extend on the Beast bench given that it a whole 5.5 inches longer? The Holmenkol goes out far enough to be able to easily tune a 215 DH with the vices at tip and tail....

 

[crgildart]

Well, if you don't mind kneeling....

https://shopcoldriver.com/products/stomp-vise

If the ground's frozen they won't go in. If the ground's not frozen and squshy back to the wobbling problem..

 

[crgildart]

At the risk of sounding like a fan boy, the Holmenkol is rock solid. I wish I had saved the tuning room stuff form Epic, where I had posted a lot of pictures that were "well received". As in most could not believe that our tuning setup was not a pro shop. One of our benches was built on top of a big-zzz hot box. Fixed to the wall. al framed with 4x4's. The work surface was 8' by 2'. It was coated in high gloss white epoxy. Recessed slots to mount the vices. Pretty damn effective. Many a pro told me that they felt it was the best they had ever seen.

The two Holmenkol benches were just as solid. Have never had anybody complain about that....nor the length of the surface. Until now, I guess!

If there was a better solution, I would have bought it at the time, as we were "pretty serious" about this.

If you're buying to fly or travel with a bench, there are much better solutions, due to the weight. Unless you are flying on a private plane. Then bring it on!

Right, anything beefy enough to stay put when filing and scraping is going to be too heavy to travel with. I'm only skeptical of the lightweight, rickety looking ones..

 

[Swiss Toni]

I use a Tooltonic X-Flat folding workbench. It only weighs 13lbs, folds flat and holds a ski on edge without the need for vices.


You can also get an infrared waxing attachment for it.


It obviously isn’t intended for use on the world cup circuit, but if you are a keen recreational skier or amateur racer it should be more than adequate.

The Holmenkol alpine waxing table is definitely the Rolls Royce of waxing tables, but $640 is a staggering price https://www.tesmasport.com/ski-tuning-waxes/tables-accessories/holmenkol-waxing-table-alpin-2015 has them on offer for about $355.

 

[Jacques]

so Jacques, how far do the arms extend on the Beast bench given that it a whole 5.5 inches longer? The Holmenkol goes out far enough to be able to easily tune a 215 DH with the vices at tip and tail....

Ah.........arms? I would need to be enlightened on that aspect. I did not find anything about ant "arms".
I have worked on 195's with the BEAST. No problem.

 

[ScotsSkier]

Jacques, one of the huge benefits of the Holmenkol bench is that it has extendable "arms" that you can mount the tip and tail vises on. IIRC these extend about 2' on either side. This means that you can use for a full range of skis, you are not restricted in positioning to the length of the table.

 

[Muleski]

Jacques, one of the huge benefits of the Holmenkol bench is that it has extendable "arms" that you can mount the tip and tail vises on. IIRC these extend about 2' on either side. This means that you can use for a full range of skis, you are not restricted in positioning to the length of the table.

They extend far enough to actually be able to work on a 225cm speed ski, with vices near the end of the tips and tails. I could go measure them, but I'm too lazy!

Jacques, they are box welded arms, that slide into boxes built on the leading edge of the table. They are held firmly in place with thumbscrews. The dimensions of the arms are big enough to hold vises very securely.

It's really nothing like the Swix tables, or the Beast table. The Holmers are friends, BTW. I like the table. Have used one as a start bench before.

Very high quality, very rigid, very secure.....and these days, not inexpensive.

 

[jzmtl]

My setup, folding sawhorse with two wooden block mounts screwed on top, and a locking c-clamp to hold ski. Lay ski flat on top to wax, I've since switched to fiberlene method so I don't scrape anymore.

Sorry for the vertical video and low res, video was originally meant for sharing on phones.

 

[oldschoolskier]

See. Regardless of what people say about me. I do give a damn.

It must be starting to be a good season, you seem mellow.

 

[oldschoolskier]

@Jacques

 

[Muleski]

@Jacques

Not to be a jerk, but that's not the "full on" WC bench. Doesn't have the same legs, the wider footprint, the cross brace on the legs, the adjustable leg length, and the "arms" are not quite the same. Don't know about the table dimensions.

Still a darn nice bench. Much sturdier than the Swix.

If I get around to it, I'll set one up and take some pics. I have one at home, here. Ours are the same as the Artech listing.