Nordic Ski Waxing Table

My family and I are avid Nordic skiers and we have learned a lot about gear and gear maintenance in the past few years. A large part of Nordic skiing is glide waxing for the conditions as they change throughout the season. While I wax my skis weekly with my school's Nordic team, my parents get their skis waxed once at the beginning of the season. To make it easier (and more cost effective) for them to wax their skis throughout the season, I built a ski wax table.

My waxing table is easily foldable, so it can be tucked away into a closet or a corner of the basement, and it has adjustable attachments to hold skis of multiple sizes steady while waxing. It is simple and light enough to be set up, carried and folded by one person and it is much cheaper than waxing tables sold by Nordic gear companies.

Materials for Table:

1. One sheet of 2'x4' , 3/4'' plywood. I used Lauan Sanded Plywood because it was the cheapest I could find with the quality I wanted for my tabletop.
2. Two 96'' 2x3s. I used Euro Spruce Studs.
3. Four hinges; they need to be small enough to fit widthwise along the 2x3s. I used 4" exterior door hinges.
4. Short screws; they must hold securely in the 3/4" plywood without penetrating through it.
5. Long screws; around 2"

Materials for Ski Waxing Attachments:

1. One sheet of 2'x2', 1/4" plywood. I used Lauan Sanded Plywood.
2. One 96'' 2x3. I used Euro Spruce Studs.
3. Long Screws; around 2"
4. Threaded rod or 4 long bolts/screws
5. 4-8 hex nuts

Tools:

1. Drill and bits
2. Scroll saw
3. Bandsaw
4. Jigsaw
5. Safety goggles
6. Meter stick or measuring tape

For my prototype, which was much smaller than my final table, I planned the design in the Rhino CAD program. I lasercut most parts on a glowforge and 3D printed the 3 dimensional parts of the ski attachments to help me visualize the dimensions, look and functionality of my final product. This step can also be done using scissors, cardboard and glue.

Using a bandsaw (or jigsaw) cut the 3/4" plywood to your preferred tabletop dimensions. I cut my plywood to 1m x 0.6m. Cut two 35" long pieces out of two of the 2x3s. I wanted my table legs to be wider than 90 degrees for stability, so I cut each side of the pieces at a 30 degree angle.

Align and mark where you want to attach the legs to the underside of the tabletop. Note: if you want to make the legs foldable, one set of legs must be narrower than the other, as shown in the picture above. Begin by screwing one short screw, attaching the hinge to the underside of the table. Then screw the hinge to the leg and double check the placement of the hinge. Once straight, finish screwing in the rest of the screws. Repeat this process for the rest of the legs.

Once all of the legs are attached to the underside of the table, measure and adjust the length left from the two 2x3s you cut in step 1 to be the crossbars for the legs. Screw the crossbars to the legs about halfway up. Make sure that the legs still easily fold and unfold with the crossbars attached.

The ski attachments are made of four main parts: the "base", the "middle", the "top" and the "sides". The base is screwed to the top of the tabletop. The middle allows for the attachments to be adjusted to hold skis of different sizes. The top is attached to the "sides" in such a way that it can rotate and the middle is attached to the sides so it does not rotate. (See picture above for visual).

Using a jigsaw or a bandsaw:

For the bases cut two 13" long pieces from a 2x3.

For the middle cut two 10" long pieces from a 2x3.

For the top cut cut two 9.5" long pieces from a 2x3. Then cut to bottom corners off at about a 30 degree angle.

For the sides cut four pieces with a length of 12" and max height of 5" out of the 1/4 inch plywood. Then cut off the top corners at an angle such that the min height of the sides is 2.5".

To assemble the attachments,

First drill multiple holes through the center of the "bases". (This will later allow you to adjust for skis of different lengths.)

Then, screw the bases on to the tabletop. I attached mine about 1.5" away from the table edge.

Then screw the sides to the middles. (double check that this part easily slides onto the bases.)

Drill through the upper section of the "sides" and through the lower section of the "top" and attach with a long screw (or a piece of threaded rod) and nuts allowing the "top" to rotate.

Drill through the lower section of the "sides" once about 0.75" away from the bottom edge at the same height as the holes in the "base". Hold the attachement in place on the table by sliding a screw or peg through this hole and the hole in the base. (This is also how you can adjust for skis of different lengths.

Not pictured on my table: you will need a metal bar to attach the ski by the binding. You can either try to make this yourself using a piece of wire or you can order it, like me, from swix at: https://swixsport.com/us/tools/profiles/t790t-75-fixation-in-profiles-75mm--T0790T-75-V