PSA: Mount your own fucking skis.

[oftpiste]

I've honestly always just used 3.6, metal or not on my skis, but I should probably not recommend that.

This. For years.

[Shorty_J]

Was not aware of those nylon inserts, which seem better than steel wool and epoxy. I learn something new everyday on TGR, thanks.

No worries. I can't remember where I read it, but I think it was on this board somewhere... but someone did some pull-out tests and compared these with heli-coils and brass inserts and some other stuff... and the nylon inserts were as good or better pull-out strength than heli-coils. And super easy to install... 5/16" bit with a collar on (and I put some epoxy in there because the hole is large and open), tap in insert, put in binding screw and done.

[zeroforhire]

No worries. I can't remember where I read it, but I think it was on this board somewhere... but someone did some pull-out tests and compared these with heli-coils and brass inserts and some other stuff... and the nylon inserts were as good or better pull-out strength than heli-coils. And super easy to install... 5/16" bit with a collar on (and I put some epoxy in there because the hole is large and open), tap in insert, put in binding screw and done.

+1 for the nylon inserts.

[SupreChicken]

I've honestly always just used 3.6, metal or not on my skis, but I should probably not recommend that.

I am 2 for 2 in this endeavor. Just takes longer to drill. Make sure your drill battery is fresh.

[Cocximus]

FUCK the FKS brake spring /tantrum

[NW_SKIER]

I'm going to order that tap though.

Tognar.com is one stop shopping for bits and the tap. Where I bought all my mounting stuff last fall. Quick shipping too.

[Meadow Skipper]

Tognar.com is one stop shopping for bits and the tap. Where I bought all my mounting stuff last fall. Quick shipping too.

Tognar's good, but there's a mag (Alpinord) selling this stuff, and might give a discount for other mags if you ask:
http://www.slidewright.com/ski-and-s...ols-and-plugs/

[NW_SKIER]

Mounted jesters at +1.5 on my goliaths. Thanks to the mags who gave me advice.

[DontTazeMeBro]

Shout out for tognar. Got my stuff quick.

[peace_coast]

i mounted some marker dukes all by my fucking self on some heavily drilled armada JJs. i got a spinner, so i filled it with machinable epoxy mixed with steel wool, let it cure, drilled it, and cranked it down. still tight and no issues after a half dozen days of hard resort use.

[skifishbum]

had to freeballer er

[pfluffenmeister]

^^^ [/wolf-whistle!]

[Cocximus]

Anyone one what the black screw is compared to the regular silver 12AB

[Cocximus]

What's a cheap way to get some helicoils?

I guess the minimum tooling is the drill and the tap. What size is the drill?

[peace_coast]

http://www.tognar.com/helicoil-screw-insert-kit/

there's a couple places that sell a helicoil kit. you're in at least $100 no matter where you go. probably a worthy investment if you mount a lot of skis yourself. otherwise, any decent local shop will probably do it for free, $5-10, or a sixer of good brew depending on how cool you are and how nice they're feeling.

FWIW, i have had very good luck with a recent fix I did of filling a stripped screw hole with shredded steel wool and machinable epoxy and then drilling that and remounting. but they're old skis and it's a ghetto fix. i'd probably do a proper helicoil on newer, nicer skis.

[Cocximus]

Well the QK is 45 everything in. Cheaper, and I dont see why helicoils would be better.

[Jethro]

Just mounted a friend's Vipecs on and old pair of Coomba's. Couldn't find a template here (did i miss it in the template thread?) so we did it by hand. Couldn't have turned out better.

[SupreChicken]

Re fucking mounted. Let's slay some shit.

[Johnny Deep]

Well the QK is 45 everything in. Cheaper, and I dont see why helicoils would be better.

Helicoils need to really be glued well, and not just in the install, but screw/helicoil. They don't make a tight seal like inserts.

[balefulstare]

I've mounted probably 90% of my own bindings: unless the shop does it for free or discount w/purchase. Never use templates, the only time I did it ended in disaster. About 15 yrs ago a friend bought a pair of Voile 3-pin cables w/the hokey release and asked me to mount them, somehow the toe ended up where midsole should be, oops! he was less than impressed but a few holes later and I got em right. Had a bit of a mishap today whilst mounting some spare Jesters on an old pair of Movement Baggy's: two of the toe holes were out 1.5mm and I had to hammer in some dowels & redrill half on the orig holes. The screws went in nice & tight when all was said & done though.

[roundabout]

Started taping up and marking some Liberty Double Helix's before they get some P18's thrown on. Been a year since mounting up some solly sth 2's so went the full transparency template route and double/triple checking measurements on the skis. Template turned out great and I now have some lovely 2x4 scraps mounted with some cute green bindings. Should get everything finished this weekend and move on to throwing some speed radicals on some hoji's

[NW_SKIER]

G3 ions on 182 Praxis yetis. Can't wait to ride them.

[The SMP]

Just mounted a friend's Vipecs on and old pair of Coomba's. Couldn't find a template here (did i miss it in the template thread?) so we did it by hand. Couldn't have turned out better.

I used the one on wildsnow (https://www.wildsnow.com/12587/frits...-template-jig/), worked well. doesn't have the BSL lines like here but it works.

[roundabout]

Mounted my own fucking skis last night; 190 Double Helix to P18's and 195 Hoji's to Speed Radicals. Having now done both paper templates (previously) and transparencies (for both skis this time around), transparencies are certainly the way to go. Because I was new to mounting both these bindings, I did dry mounts to scrap 2x4 to quadruple check the templates. Ran centerline tape down lower 2/3 of the ski (removed most of it, one of the hoji's still has ~ half the tape still there) and found centerline. Measured BSL of both boots, and used the Powderguide templates on transparencies (I liked the flexibility to turn off information and maintain color/measurements on the template for another extra check). Set those up and marked for the appropriate BSL, then taped to match centerline to mount point. Used a brad nail to make the first poke then followed with a center punch. Drilled a small pilot into those holes, then followed up with the ski bit. Countersunk the holes a bit, then made sure holes were clean before adding epoxy. Used the drill to insert screws until they met some resistance and then finished everything by hand, tightening screws in a figure 8 pattern a turn or so at a time (was tempted to pull out the torque wrench for the radical's torx bolts, but resisted the inner bike mechanic). Threw some boots in and cycled a few times, doing this on the radicals before tightening fully to help alignment.



Compared to all the crazy torquing of carbon parts and delicate bits on road bikes, this was almost relaxing! Heck, building the workbench I did all this on was so much more of a headache.

[Boissal]

Remounted 2 pairs of DPS last night due to ever-shortening boots. No pics unfortunately as I was afraid of epoxying my phone.
I've used a modified version of Jondrum's template printed on semi transparent paper and re-used since it worked so well the first time.
The interesting frankenmount was the heel piece of the Lotus 120s which had been drilled once for Dukes (??, not my mount) and once for Dyna ST10s. I needed to move the binding about 2 cm forward and didn't have too many options so I ended up putting inserts in the plugged rear holes of the Dukes (same exact hole spacing, what are the chances). I measured everything 4 times to make sure that these holes were lined up and centered then re-drilled the holes to clear the epoxy. Enlarging the 4.1 mm holes with the 1/4" bit worked well and the hole seemed to be all wood (no epoxy sidewall). I was worried about the tapping part since I had only done it with a drill press but after practicing a bit on hard wood (oak for the chimney) I felt pretty good about mounting the tap on the drill and using the slowest possible speed for the skis. Three out of four holes came out perfect, the last had a couple of threads crumble when I went too deep. The inserts threaded in fine though with the expected amount of resistance. I'm horrible at drilling straight holes so one of the insert has a 10 degrees tilt. I used a 5/32" bit (3.97 mm) for the front 2 holes and used dynafit screws epoxied in place. I lined up everything with the boot in place and cranked the screws, no issues to speak of, alignment seemed perfect. I'd definitely want a drilling/tapping guide if I was putting holes in new skis though...