Thread: Heli-Coil Tutorial w/ pics

So there I was minding my own business when I got a spinner. Everybody has heard about them. Not many have met one though. Not unless you work in the bowels of a ski shop doing remounts or you have a odd fetish for hooking buddies up with free ski work. Sometimes it's just their time to appear, sometimes they spring from anger.

Tonight's victim, Ski_Faster's V Exsplosivs. I know, I thought it was weird too, a spinner on an Exsplosiv by hand tightening. Unheard of. But alas, it happened so out came the mystical Heli-Coil kit.

Disclaimer:

If you are still figuring out why you should use a posidrive for binding screws, stop here. You'll only cause yourself pain. Go to the shop. They will charge you $5 per coil. You're getting off easy. Tip the poor shop guy some beers and head home.




























Good. Glad you're still here.

Step one:

Assemble your kit. I've put mine together through bribery and deceit. The easier way is to go to Tognar and buy one.

Step two:

Drill out the hole with the bit provided. The bit I have is a bit longer than it needs to be so I always check against the sidewall to make sure I don't drill through the ski.



I turn the ski over and give it a couple love spanks to get any errant drillings out of the hole.

Step 3:

Time for tapping. I know what you're thinking. Take the supplied tap and tap handle



and place it vertically in the whole you just drilled out.



Lightly hand crank it until it gives more resistance. It will usually be 5 to 6 full revolutions but could be less. Be carefull here, you big strong fellas can get over anxious and tap through the ski.

Once again, flip the ski over and give it some pats.

Step four:

The insert tool and Heli-Coil.



I dremmeled the "shelf" on the end of the insert tool to make it more pronounced so it grabs the "nubbin" on the Heli-Coil a little better. Thread the Heli-Coil on the insert tool until it can't go on any further. You'll know.



Put a bit of glue in the hole. I use waterproof wood glue. There is a whole other debate on this in another thread. Search function. Start to thread the tool/Heli-Coil into the tapped hole.



Thread it in until the top of the Heli-Coil is at or just below the top-sheet of the ski OR you feel a stronger amount of resistance. If it goes in all the way, it will look like this



meaning you drilled and tapped far enough into the ski to fit the whole Heli-Coil and this is optimal.

Sometimes the insert tool will go through the "nubbin" and the Heli-Coil will stop spinning but the tool will keep going. If you feel strong resistance and then it turns easily, check to see if the tool is moving when you turn it and the Heli-Coil isn't. If this is the case, back the insert tool out. You will need to do one of two things. If there is four or more threads of the Heli-Coil in the ski, I use side bites and clip the amount of Heli-Coil above the top-sheet off and call it a day. Four or more threads is my rule and some people say you can get away with less but that's how I do it.

If there is less than four threads in the ski, I use needle nose pliars and back the Heli-Coil out. I then retap it and try again. It's has always worked at this point. Not sure what you could do if it didn't work again. Maybe drill, tap and try again. And then, if that didn't work, get an insert kit for the metal snowboard inserts and go to town.

For you experienced Heli-Coilers, let me know if I forgot anything or any good tips.

A+ effort
Thanks for the great info

This could be printed out for training,nice pictures. I still use epoxy. Same tune but a few different notes.

well done, sir.

Nice job, great thread. The first heli-coil job I did I used the wrong (standard 4.1mm) bit----groan. Luckily my shop mentor/boss caught me in time. Make sure the bit you use says heli-coli on it! And dremmeling the inserter tip=genius.

great tutorial, bookmarked just in case.

Awesome thread, the only things I would add are that I usually tap the hole about 3 times before inserting the coil, getting it really clean and defined. Then I try to pinch the "Nubbin" down with needle nose pliers, so it grips the end of the Helicoil tool a little better. Otherwise I do exactly the same.
Especially the bit depth at the sidewall.

thanks. good stuff

I just drill the hole and drive them in with a rattle gun. Is that wrong?

Originally Posted by RootSkier

I just drill the hole and drive them in with a rattle gun. Is that wrong?

Only if you're from MT.

how do helicoils compare to brass inserts?

Thanks, quality thread.

Originally Posted by carl jay

how do helicoils compare to brass inserts?

Brass inserts are bigger. The process is about the same. You can use a flat head screwdriver to screw them in. If you are going the insert route, you will have to use a different screw with finer threads. Heli-Coils allow you to use the normal binding screw. I think some inserts will too so watch for that. There is also plastic inserts but I've never tried them.

all i know aabout the plastic plugs is theyre cheap & nasty and pretty good for fixing rental skis

Nice work, Conundrum...thanks for taking the time to post this.

For what it's worth, I was trying to assemble the goods to do heli-coils...but the Tognar setup is $100 (drill bit, tap, ahndle, insert tool + 100 inserts...they won't sell less than 100 inserts).

The 100 inserts go for $25. It's a pricey setup, no matter how you cut it...even if you can cut out the $25 for the inserts.

(Handle + tap = $22...so they're charging $53 for the drill bit & insert tool?)

go to the hardware store?

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

go to the hardware store?

the stuff's not so readily available last i searched, but if you can get me hooked up with the gear for under $40 i'd be all over it! when i checked, i couldn't find *any* of it, other than through tognar...and at that price is easier to pay someone for the rare spinner.

i *do* prefer to do things myself, though, whereever possible.

helicoil stuff is ski specific? i'm pretty sure you could get a tap anywhere.
EDIT: home depot, baby, fucking shit hole: url to long to past. just do a search on tap
EDIT AGAIN: what is the size? not 4.1 X 9 is it?

ok, tognar sells 100 helicoil for 25 bucks, and a tap is like 5 or 10 bucks, there you go. much googling and can't really find what the appropriate heli size is, so tognar is the safest bet.
EDIT: yeah go to tognar and get the tap, instert tool separate from the 100 heli's since i think you already have the bits for drilling the ski.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

helicoil stuff is ski specific? i'm pretty sure you could get a tap anywhere.
EDIT: home depot, baby, fucking shit hole: url to long to past. just do a search on tap
EDIT AGAIN: what is the size? not 4.1 X 9 is it?

Helicoils are not ski specific. They come in dimension for pretty much anything you can think of. However, for each dimension of screw of bolt, you need a specific set of helicoil tools (drill bit, tap, drive in too etc).

I personally use them in M6 dimension for my home grown binding-ski interface plate (3.5mm build height and som 50 grams per ski, four machne (M6) helicoils in the ski and 3 T-screws from old Marker bindings).

Yes the heli coils we use are ski specific. No you can't buy them just anywhere. Heli Coil (the company) is based a few minutes from my house and when I had my ski shop I went there to try to buy directly from them but couldn't. They only sell distributor direct and there are only a handful of accounts authorized to purchase ski heli coils in the US. Your best bet is to head to a decent shop and have them order you a kit next time they do an order from SVST or whoever they buy their shop supplies from and no it won't be cheap