 Poster: A snowHead
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My son is progressing well with his dry slope racing and we are now looking for a preparation bench and vices. There is asale at snow and rock but I wondered if there were any better choices any snowhead could direct me to at the present time. We are insisting he makes apercentage contribution to his equipment to try and build a sense of value along side his sense of need ....... dad I've got to have ............!!
Any suggestions or advice appreciated. Alun Williams
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Alun Williams,  's own spyderjon just made the same commitment to home tuning. His threads over on Epicski here, here might give you something to mull over until he gets a chance to chime in.
Out of curiosity, were you thinking of traveling with the bench?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I've made a first dabble as well, I've been and bought a file,wax, repair candles and a scraper in the sale @ S&R. Haven;t invested in benches and vices as they aren;t cheap 
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Vices aren't very expensive are they? about 130chf in the local store I think.
As for the benches, I can't see why anyone would have one at home, I made a bench myself for around 150chf which I use for other work of course.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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nbt, but as you pointed out elsewhere, you should soon see the saving over shop servicing cost. I serviced our skis and boards for some years without a vice though, it's not vital to start with but they do make life easier.
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Alun Williams, if you do go down the vice route don't make the same mistake I did in buying (on sale at Decathlon in Albertville) a set that could not handle modern fat skis or indeed skis with thicker footplates. They were red in colour and I think might be SWIX. In the end I had to buy the yellow ones from S&R which are fine. It might be incompetance on my part, mind you, and am prepared to be wrong on the red ones. When i clamped the skis flat in order to do wax/scrape there was not sufficient clearance for my bindings. i tried all sorts of DIY solutions such as wooden blocks but never got them to work.
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I'll give ti a whizz without a vice and se how it goes. If I don't sem to be doing too badly I'll begin to get more gear. The same approach seems to be working for my Mountain bikes 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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nbt, for waxing purposes you can probably manage, but the skis really need to be clamped for the edges. I'd advise wearing gloves as well for a while at least (when doing edges)...
As for a bench (Alun Williams) - unless you intend taking it with you on ski trips - some sort of Heath Robinson arrangement in shed/garage is just as effective.
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Look at vices which can take a variety of ski shapes, I think the more expensive TOKO ones have changeable jaws, build your own bench, all you really need is a wide shelf but make sure you have enough clearance for bindings mounted on riser plates. If you want to take the vices with you when you travel, mount them onto a board which you can clamp to any sturdy work surface
Don't bother with TOKO grey binding retainer straps for holding the ski brakes out of the way as they are hopeless, I got given some heavy duty green rubber bands by my favorite swiss ski shop that do a much better job and are a lot easier to use.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thanks for the comments. Yes it does need to be portable. Last weekend, for example, a treck at Pontypool dry slope (cars can not park near) - uphill for half a mile with all the equipment and food and drink for each day. So, a foldable, light table and vices that will hold the skis for sharpening. Last week was Hemel Hempstead not so bad but car park was full (must get up earlier!). This week Gloucester ..... I really do want to move to snow!!! Alun Williams
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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..........................................
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Fri 18-08-06 13:04; edited 2 times in total
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Alun Williams, for a lightweight stable portable bench, what about a small B&D workmate ?
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You know it makes sense.
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| D G Orf wrote: |
| Alun Williams, for a lightweight stable portable bench, what about a small B&D workmate ? |
I use a B&D workmate to service our skis - it can be a bit of a faff getting the brake clamped out of the way.
CP
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| CP wrote: |
| D G Orf wrote: |
| Alun Williams, for a lightweight stable portable bench, what about a small B&D workmate ? |
I use a B&D workmate to service our skis - it can be a bit of a faff getting the brake clamped out of the way.
CP |
How stable is it, with the downward pressure exerted beyond the edge of the table? The ski tuning portable tables I've seen have legs that stick out a bit for more stability. Can also be folded flat, for easy transport. I've one I bought in France, but always thought the cost (254 euros) was extremely steep for what it was. Hardly ever use it now I've sorted a permanent arrangement in the garage. If you're passing through Bourg Saint Maurice Alun Williams, I'll do you a deal! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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..........................................
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Fri 18-08-06 13:04; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ise, Cunning, is this a Swiss invention 
Seriously I will make a couple of these up and use them for our next pre ski trip waxing.
Thanks
CP
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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CP, no not Swiss especially, I had a real brake retainer in my hand and an old inner tube lying on the workbench when it struck me that I could make about 50 new retainers.
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ise, sounds like hard work! I just order a load of these from worden...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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PG, My Son has a bunch of these, all in different colours with stuff like 'Livestrong' and 'No Bullying' embosed on them. Now I know what to use them for when the wristband craze has been replaced by something else. 
CP
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have plenty of old, burst inner tubes that I can cut up to make brake holders. Anyone wants some iseBands, come see me. You can even put them on your wrist to show support for the "Respect the Ski" environmental charity
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M80euf, I have at least one pair of the old style vices; ESS and square sidewall. They are actually useful to this day for clamping nordic skis, for cutting up to 10cm pipe, for mounting bindings, and they were invaluable when I was shaping Greenland paddles.
Granted, they're not the best for waxing, but I usually let someone else wax while I work on sidewalls. It will still let you work on the edges by side-ways clamping, surely?
nbt, they're also great for lining the bottom of home-built benches so they don't slip on lino, or shimming them for uneven garage floors, or keeping the ravens out of the bin, or . . . 
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comprex, you are right, but sadly i only have one pair of hands
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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comprex, I have new last September Race skis from Head, guess what, they're straight side wall construction not capped, fortunately I have suitable clamps
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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It could be hard to get a secure grip with the vices trying to clamp on such a narrow cross bar.
Rob, do the two holes in the middle of the cross bar go right through the square section steel?
If so how about cutting a piece of 18mm ply/blockboard to the width of the steel frame & a suitable depth. You could keep the vices attached to that & it could be easily fixed through the steel cross bar with a couple of bolts c/w wing nuts for easy dismantling. This would also give you a work surface so all your tools are to hand etc.
BTW, is that a pair of b5's I see? 
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You know it makes sense.
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These are used by quite a lot of the ERSA racers and it seems to work. I have used one with my Toko clamps and had no problem the length makes it much better than using a Workmate.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The two wholes do go through the bar. The bench can also come with two (removable metal rods) about 4-5 inches long which go through the bar pointing upwards. These are used to attach an adjustable plate which clamps into your bindings holding the skis very securely in position while normally also holding the brake out of the way. There is also an adjustable rod attached at each end of the bar to support the tip and tail. I use one of these normally twice a week (children race training on plastic). it is very solid and life is so much easier with the right equipment.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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for my DIY (kitchen table) tuning I use a pair of these - simple timber rests with a slot cut through the middle for side edge work topped with a grippy rubbery stuff that came off some sort of packaging I had at the time. I have the speed clamps any way to hold them to the table.
these also double as ski carriers in the roof box on the car so with minimal effort or space they head to the mountains with me.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I just got a plank of hard wood about the same thickness as the toes of my ski boots, drew round the boots and cut it to same length and shape. I screwed it to a bit of 4x2 which can clamp into any vice. Clamp into the ski bindings and it holds the ski very firmly. Also raises the brakes so you dont have to worry about elastic bands. If you dont want to use a vice screw the whole thing to a base board. Got some plasic scappers intended for filling and spreading from B&Q for under £2.
http://www.diy.com/departments/harris-75-mm-filling-spreading-set-set-of-3/254752_BQ.prd
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