PSA: Mount your own fucking skis.

[TomCrac]

Guess I'll hold off on the mount. Maybe it'll be a project we'll do together. Thanks.

[NW_SKIER]

P18's on 186cm Blizzard Bodacious.
Thanks to this place I got another cheap set up. The stp deals thread for the skis, and Cat in January for the clamps. Chompin at the bit for winter.

[NW_SKIER]

Almost forgot a picture... JONG

[2FUNKY]

Almost forgot a picture... JONG

Nice man! I sorta of kick my self for not getting the adult size Bodacious.

[NW_SKIER]

Nice man! I sorta of kick my self for not getting the adult size Bodacious.

What are you trying to say? Haha

[2FUNKY]

What are you trying to say? Haha

Pissed that I didn't grab a pair so I ridicule you for my short comings.

[NW_SKIER]

As my mom used to say, you snooze you lose.

[cat in january]

Those are looking mighty fine. Hope to see them with some white on 'em this winter.

[doebedoe]

WIth 2 and 1/2 mounts to do this year I decide to JONG-up and mount my own sticks. Order proper shit (2 bits, tap, drill guide, nylon inserts for when I fuck up, glue, etc) because while I'm a cheap bastard, I'm also a gear/tool whore. A few questions:

Mount 1: Should be straightforward -- Head clamps on High Society planks. No metal so 3.5mm bit.

Mount 2: Look Pivots on Nordica El Capos. No screw-size info on the skis, but has metal, so I assume 4.1mm bit + tap?

Mount 2.5: Large Barons on Megawatts: Already drilled twice, so would like to re-use the toes (currently drilled for small Barons). Assume paper-template and just adjust rear holes to my "large" template BSL? Reasonable to install toe piece, adjust to proper forward pressure, and use the binding as a template to mark new rear holes? Figure this would save centerline worries since frame binding will be pretty clear on where new holes need to be drilled. This ski actually is marked for drill size, so no problems there.

[teledad]

Make sure the width of the toe holes matches - i.e. that either both bindings are EPF or neither are. Other than that the my only concern with reusing the toe holes would be the fore-aft change from a different BSL - if your boots are substantially larger than what the previous Barons were mounted for then you may want to remount to keep the boot center in the right spot.

With plate bindings you don't have to worry about forward pressure until the binding is mounted - the only thing that affects mounting is the position of the toe on the ski. If you're not changing that, then the rest can be just marked from a template or the plate itself. Then once it's mounted you can worry about AFD adjustment, forward pressure, and DIN.

[dschane]

What he said.

Slidewright is great for supplies. I'd add a center punch to the list, esp. the SVST one because it fits perfectly into jig bushings, should you ever go that route. I'd also go with the stepped bits -- worth the extra dollars. Slidewright's website also has a center line pdf that you can download and print gratis -- works pretty well.

I've never bothered with a drill guide and don't think they're necessary for mounting skis. I use a cheap, plastic guide for tapping when doing BF inserts though.

[doebedoe]

Yep -- everything is coming from Slidewright, grabbed their Alpine mounting kit (stepped/countersinking bits, #12AB tap, PosiDriv #3, tons of extra screws, hole plugs, glue). I think somewhere in the basement there is a center punch...else I may try just a flattened 16D nail.

Current holes and future mounted barons are both the old non-EPF. Previous boot was 305 mount +1. Mine is 310, so I imagine re-using the toe holes, even with the change in frame size, will put me between +1 and on the line.

I'm sure I'm way overthinking this...

[teledad]

That'll work fine. Frame size doesn't affect boot position, all that matters is where the toe is mounted and BSL. If I were doing this I'd skip the template and just mount the toe plate in the existing holes, flip it to climbing mode, line up the heel plate (checking that the riser hits in the right spot in both positions and that it can drop flush without the riser), mark the holes, remove the heel plate, double check that the holes are straight and centered, punch and drill, then mount the heel plate. Easy peasy.

[daviski]

Well I'm a little late but now that it is september and I can hopefully ski these in the foreseeable future...

I got these skis here from Brianskis months ago -- Rossignol Savory7 with a very girly graphic....Pixie wings make for effortless uphills, right?



If the graphics alone don't make them lighter the Dynafit Speed Turns should help, got these for a great price from Skimo and for anyone who isn't familiar their site (http://skimo.co/article/index) is not only a good source for hardware but full of great information and thoughtful articles
I mounted these with a dynalook toe plate to lower the ramp angle and with additional inserts to swap to my old Axial 2's if I want to go alpine



I have also made a cross bar that let's me use the Dynalook plates as a mounting templates, has worked on multiple mounts now


So now I just need to get some decent boots, I've never loved the BD Factors I'm on and they seem to interface more weakly with the Dynafit Toe than they did with the Onyx I was on last year... but that is just a bench test.

Amazing back to the future, I had one of the first marker bindings with brakes back in the 70's and now I return to leashes--- "you'll put your eye out!"

[sethschmautz]

I have also made a cross bar that let's me use the Dynalook plates as a mounting templates, has worked on multiple mounts now

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing. I have to do the same thing in a few weeks here, and this is an excellent idea. Do you have centerline marked somewhere on your cross bar?

[daviski]

Yes there is a CL marked that you just line up with the manufacturer marks (or move for and aft). I made the cl based on my boot cl when it was in the toe piece attached to the jig. The long flat bar has centers marked at the ends too where they can be checked to insure the set up is centered side to side on the ski.

One very nice thing is that a 4.1 bit fits almost perfectly in the plate screw holes, it stops after drilling a few mm then when you remove the jig you continue the holes -- no damage to the threads that I can see. That starter hole can also be used to center other bit sizes for 3.5 or the large one for inserts

Obviously the tricky part of this is making the jig -- you drill pilot holes through aluminum flat stock and into the plate with the two clamped together then you wallow the bar hole but tap the plate hole so it can be taken on and off at least if you are actually using the toe plates, if not they could all remain attached as a dedicated jig. I set it all up to use the M5 screws that go with the inserts, 8-32 screws are sloppy but will function in the M5 threads. It's inconvenient that Dynafit and G3 continue changing their hole patterns w/ each new version

Let it snow!

[doebedoe]

Forgive me, for I have sinned.

I drank coffee instead of beer while mounting my first set of skis this morning.

Decided to use uber-cheap ($32) park skis--High Society Bezerks from STP--as my first real mount. Clamp are Head GTOs from the boys over at LevelNine. The perfection of the color coordination is just dumb luck for $139-all-in skis.



Feeling confident about centerlines was the biggest issue for me. Checked again and again. Found the ruler on the templates, wrapped over the base edge the best way to really confirm. Props to the all the good folks who made and checked the paper templates, and to Slidewright for the supplies.

[Tryingtostaywarm]

I should've known better. I've mounted every one of my ski's for the past few years up until now. I got a set of Dynafit Radical ST's and haven't done a set of Tech's and figured I'd let REI here in Denver do it. I went to pick them up today and everything is squared up looking good at +2 recommended BD line...BUT They didn't screw down 11/16 binding screws..I noticed this when I went to do a functions check with my boot and noticed lateral movement of the actual binding when the toe was locked in. I called them up and let them know, they offered to fix it but I'm not letting anyone touch my ski's again unless I personally know them. Mount your own fucking ski's.

[Meadow Skipper]

I should've known better. I've mounted every one of my ski's for the past few years up until now. I got a set of Dynafit Radical ST's and haven't done a set of Tech's and figured I'd let REI here in Denver do it. I went to pick them up today and everything is squared up looking good at +2 recommended BD line...BUT They didn't screw down 11/16 binding screws..I noticed this when I went to do a functions check with my boot and noticed lateral movement of the actual binding when the toe was locked in. I called them up and let them know, they offered to fix it but I'm not letting anyone touch my ski's again unless I personally know them. Mount your own fucking ski's.

Dude, REI and you didn't expect problems?

MYOFS

[Beder]

A little late I am, but I mounted these fuckers.



it was easier than attaching a pic here

[fire.on.the.mountain]

Any one in Jackson want to trade a sixer for use of their power drill/mounting gear and a few tips?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Had a big weekend remounting skis that I had previously mounted.
1. Retired some Watea 94s that had Fischer-branded Tyrolia clamps on them so I took those off. Those were installed with inserts.
2. Took some Barons off Kaestle LX-92s because I only toured on them once last year; put the Fischer/Tyrolia clamps on the Kaestle's
3. Put the Barons on a pair of Watea 96s that I got from Sierra Trading Post for $136.
Used all of the tricks and tips on this thread to ensure a perfect mount. Drank a Heady Topper or 2 to ensure I was properly lubricated.

Mount your own fucking skis!

[shafty85]

Gf's Praxis BCs (174?) with inserts for fks and radicals done Tuesday evening, 184 Freerides with holes for radicals, inserts for fks and radicals to come later (hope to use this weekend, no time to let epoxy set) and 187 Hojis with holes for inserts for fks and radicals. Looking forward to the season!

[Shorty_J]

Gf's Praxis BCs (174?) with inserts for fks and radicals done Tuesday evening, 184 Freerides with holes for radicals, inserts for fks and radicals to come later (hope to use this weekend, no time to let epoxy set) and 187 with holes for inserts for fks and radicals. Looking forward to the season!

Nice.

I'm pulling old mounts of various skis and putting inserts in existing holes so I can put demo bindings on them and mess around with the mount point.

No photos... shop is in disarray....

[Iluvmoguls]

So this appears to be the thread on mounting your own skis...

How crooked is too crooked?

These are my new g3 highballs with the new dynafit radical ft 2.0 (now with din certification!). As you may be able to see, one is mounted pretty much straight. The other... The toe is good if a tiny little bit counter clockwise. The real problem, if there is one, is that the heel is noticeably too far counter clockwise.

Given the 2.0's toe rotate and the apparent 0.5-1mm / .05-1degree or so play in the the heel i am wondering if this wont be a huge deal? When i click in everything lines up visually and also stepping in clicks fine. No apparent problems really.

I have uploaded pictures. The stickers that g3 put on aren't straight so ignore those! And the tape isnt straight but the center line should be.


Anything ridiculous about just seeing how it goes? Is there any way to measure how much this will affect the release values? If i feel like that ski is extra releasing then i suppose i can just mount it fore or aft a cm.

I am seriously asking these questions. At the same time, i am an example for those who mount without a proper work bench. I got to say, mounting skis at home is fun but much more fun in the ski shop i used to work at using a jig. Ive managed to go outside of their jig selection with NTN and Dynafit and have been self mounting my last many skis. Im for it! Just be careful, more careful than i am. I mounted my last pair of NTNs with one a little crooked too!

Of course i apologize if there was a better thread to post this on!