Thread: HOW TO: freehand binding mount -- Salomon 914 walkthrough

This is my somewhat haphazard way of drilling holes and mounting alpine bindings on skis. I've done this with only 3 sets of skis. Please read the entire post before attempting or adding suggestions. This is by no means the only way to freehand-mount your own bindings. In fact, it seems like everyone who does it has their own tricks to get it done right. So feel free to pick my method apart and suggest whatever you like to improve or streamline the process.

The Victims.



The Necessary Equipment




Centerline is marked by manufacturer... Just draw it straight across.




With the 45 angle, draw an line that you can intersect with from the same reference point on the opposite side of the ski. Do this forward and aft of the centerline.



The idea is to do the same thing from the other side of the ski, and when the 45 degree lines intersect, you've just found your centerline. And since you did it forward and behind the centerline, you have two reference points with which to draw your ski-centerline.


Before you gouge your centerline into your new ski, how bout measuring your bisecting lines to each ski edge to judge just how close to center it really is. It is usually within a millimeter or so, but you can adjust fore and aft to make it just right. I typically line up my straitedge with the bisecting lines and make tick marks about 20-24 inches along where I will draw the centerline. Then I double-check those measurements from each ski edge. Finally when I think it's all lined up, I draw a good centerline about 2 feet (topsheet permitting) alone the binding mount area.

How to make a template from an old ski.


I got that piece of plastic from Ace Hardware. it's 2.5 inches by 21 inches. cost a dollar. it's 1/8 inch thick. So you just slap it on your old ski with the same hole pattern you're trying to drill, centerpunch the plastic, and drill holes. now you have a template. Centerline the template by measuring equidistant from opposing holes on the toe. and again on the heel. You will also need to mark the boot centerline


Now you can toss the template onto your new skis.
Line up the long and cross ski centerline, and you should be spot on. clamp down to make it stay, and DOUBLE CHECK the holes. I double checked the front and back holes like 6 times because hey... these are brand new skis!




Get ready to drill, sucka. I use a collar on a regular drill bit and centertap my TRIPLE-CHECKED HOLES before any penetration.





put some acrylic binding glue in the holes to seize the screws and prevent moisture intrusion




Now you can screw your bindings into the holes... all lubed and and waiting for a nice hard bolt to fill em up.
nice. you can see how I screwed the heel binding on without the baseplate. I noticed it right away and took it off and then put the baseplate back on.



You actually have to do this whole process twice in order to have a working set of skis. And I have to tweek the brakes a little to get them to screw onto the binding. Nothing a little TGR search won't tell you how to do.










I made it back to the mom and dad's house, my former permanent address. I have stuff sent there whenever I get transient, and I picked up some new skis. I had a bitchin set of bindings thanks to kiedaisch. I got these new D-senders from Fat-ypus 2008 ski sale; they were the last set Jared had, and I got hooked up! I always pick skis based on color or graphics, and these made the cut. Here's the story... I first mounted my elan 777s with naxo01s because they came with their own template. made it nice and easy. Then i mounted some Head monster 85s with 912s freehand. wasn't that bad, was it?? so this time it all comes together in a brand new pair of Fat-ypus D-senders with 914s. money.

Those of you who have done this feel free to critique and point out what I left out. I know there are some of you who have done this dozens of times.

Looks like they turned out okay...I like the acrylic homemade template, too. For sticks that pretty though, I would have to go with breaking down and but the sixer of suds, show up at the show ~30-minutes prior to closing and get them done right.

seems fine to me. its all about personal preference.

- instead of clamps i use blue painters tap over each end of the acrylic piece and in the middle. doesnt leave any residue and locks the template secure on the surface of the ski.

- i would recommend buying a proper bit and a tap if this is a regular thing because on some skis tapping them makes a huge difference, and a real ski bit is a huge plus.

An Alternative to centering the template and getting everything lined up

- buy a cheap caliper. carefully mark the boot center on the binding template and center that mark on on the ski at whatever mounting point you want to use. then use the caliper to measure the distance between the holes on the template to the sidewalls on either side, adjusting until they are even(both front and back). with this method, all you have to do is mark the boot center of the ski, no other marks required.

- im a fan of taking a punch and marking the holes before i drill. that way i can take the template off and measure once more before i drill to ensure accuracy.

- drink beer throughout the entire process

nice writup and pics

I like how your template was the perfect width for the Salomons and then looks tiny on the D-Senders.

Nice thread.

This is pretty similar to the method I use. Thanks for taking the time to write this up.

Thats the homemade plastic template I have been advocating since last year when folks were having them made and shipped in a group buy.

A few thoughts:

1) make sure the boot center on your skis is right - NEVER trust the graphics - they can be wrong.

2) double check your old skis from which you make the template to be sure they were done right. Also, make sure those boot centers were correct on the old ski so that they are properly marked on your template.

3) buy a ski drill bit. They only cost $13. It makes drilling idiotproof and much less stressful.

I've done a few pairs by hand. But have never used a template based on an old mount. I've always just measured and drilled.

I just think that drilling a template based on an old drill, would result in too much room for drill-error between what results as 3 drills for 2 mounts.

Your skis look clean, and I'm sure you're confident, but I'm not convinced to make a template off of an old drill pattern to afix to new ski with a new shape. The window that opens up for error on the next mount grows quite substantially, imo.

Either way.. measure 8x and use all tools possible... just remember that your previous mount may not actually be as accurate as you'd like.

I don't doubt that you had confidence in your previous mount for the template, btw.

I

Nice write up thanks. As others have added:

I always measure from the tails to verify boot center. My Ants were off by 2cm from one ski to the other.

I cover the tops of the skis with masking tape so I can draw lines, hole marks, even notes and then peel the whole mess off when done.

Ski drills bits: http://tognar.com/

Good Job. I also have a collection of templates from previous mountings.

awesome--thanks for such a sick post, i am getting ready to freehand for the first time and any advice helps. also bump for tognar.com they have all the equipment and are super helpful!!

Cool to know that Ace hardware sells the acryllic. I spent a lot of time cutting up sheets in the past. Nice write up.

I would second the digi calipers and ski bit. Harbor Freight has cheap calipers and tognar is the way to go for the bit.

Another thing is to measure the template from the tail of the ski for both mounts to make sure it's the same. It's been said but worth repeating-ski graphics and manufacturer marks are off a lot of the time.

Don't forget setting din, forward pressure, toe height and toe wings in that order.

With plastic templates, mark the holes, remove the template, then drill. If you consistently drill through the template, the holes will become inaccurate over time.

One more

Instead of making a plastic template, you can use a Salomon Suspension Plate (if you have one leftover from a pair of DR9s mounted flat), which can be adjusted for different boot lengths by temporarily screwing the bindings into it.

I'm sure there are plenty of them sitting idle in maggotdom.

Bump. What size drill bit did the original poster use?

Originally Posted by VTsession

Bump. What size drill bit did the original poster use?

drill bit was 5/32. i gauged the depth to put the collar by just holding the drill bit to the sidewall and guessing. All these shoutouts to http://www.tognar.com starting to make sense, huh!

Originally Posted by Bandit Man

Looks like they turned out okay...I like the acrylic homemade template, too. For sticks that pretty though, I would have to go with breaking down and but the sixer of suds, show up at the show ~30-minutes prior to closing and get them done right.

If so many bros are only getting a six-pack to mount skis, no wonder so many of them get fucked up. There are two threads started on the front page alone about fucked up mounts. And in years past we've seen around a dozen. As for getting them done right... when you want something done right, do it yourself.

I just think that drilling a template based on an old drill, would result in too much room for drill-error between what results as 3 drills for 2 mounts.

Your skis look clean, and I'm sure you're confident, but I'm not convinced to make a template off of an old drill pattern to afix to new ski with a new shape. The window that opens up for error on the next mount grows quite substantially, imo.

im a fan of taking a punch and marking the holes before i drill. that way i can take the template off and measure once more before i drill to ensure accuracy.

also, I neglected to mention in my original post that I used to template to mark my holes. I didn't just throw it one there and drill. All your comments on the template were my feelings, too. I punched the holes a tiny bit with the center punch, took template off and remeasured everything. Then I drilled.

Originally Posted by Conundrum

I would second the digi calipers and ski bit. Harbor Freight has cheap calipers and tognar is the way to go for the bit.

this is the cheapest caliper on Harbor Freight ($10), will it do the trick?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93293

I have always freehanded tele mounts but I just freehanded my 1st alpine demo binding .

I like to do the layout on masking tape ,a nail is fine for a center punch ,use a drill collar on yer bit and do a pilot hole 1st.

I spent about 8hrs getting it perfect ,IMO the trick IS to take a LONG time , measure everything 3 times ,listen to the radio ,drink expresso ,stoke the woodstove,do 3 or 4 coats of wax between all that measuring and just relax

Originally Posted by Core Shot

1) make sure the boot center on your skis is right - NEVER trust the graphics - they can be wrong.

truth. measure the center from the tails to make sure it's identical on both skis.

Originally Posted by Spew

you can see how I screwed the heel binding on without the baseplate. I noticed it right away and took it off and then put the baseplate back on.

^^^an oversight that could have caused base dimples, or screw hole damage, on a thin ski!!

i have never had that stuff work on anything

The key is a good sharp punch...this is where there's room for error. Mostly punching/marking the template when making it.

just a bump to encourage people to mount their own.

Done a few more mounts since this thread started and my 1st AT mount which had me a little intimidated

-I like the 45 degree crisscross to get center line somehow I missed that tip even tho I have read this thread ... I am definatley gona use that tip

-buy a bottle of wine drink the wine & wait a day ,drill a hole in the cork leave ONLY the length of drill you want sticking out the end of the cork and tighten down the drill chuck ,a wine bottle cork makes a good drill stop ,better than setscrewed collars which can slip and it comes free with the wine

-use a very small drill to make a pilot holes for your first hole just incase you don't get your bit centered you can still horse a pilot hole a little L or R

-I did my first FR+ last month ,figure out the distance between toe & heel latch BUT attach the toe piece by 1 screw ONLY so it an pivot L-R,mount the heel piece DEAD center , jam some layers of tape into the heel latch so the rail is centered and lock it down so nothing moves ,NOW drill the rest of the toe piece screws and the toe piece is perfectly centered ... you are using the heel piece as the jig to locate the toe piece

-drink beer for a tele mount but only coffee for a fixed heel mount

Good thread.

One suggestion on using the intersecting diagonals for determining center line to increase accuracy is to spread the points wider to near the template ends. If you are off a little, the angle of the centerline will be less than if the two points are closer together.

Here is another 'PDF tool' to assist with locating ski centers.

Originally Posted by Alpinord

Here is another 'PDF tool' to assist with locating ski centers.

That's cool. Thx.

I am going to do my first mount and have the Tognar drill bit. I have done a few test mounts on some 2x4's. Do the Tognar bits counter sink enough by themselves? They drill like a half mm of what I wouldn't even consider a countersunk hole at all.