Whats The Worst Thing You Have Done to a Brand New Pair of Skis

[RudyGarmisch]

I nailed a rock in Jackson on the first day of an epic Powder Mag test week and put a huge compression bulge into the sidecut and base of some next year newly minted Caylors. Sorry Scott.

[HHTELE]

Used a drill press to get precise depth control for drilling new skis. Then changed the table height, Unmistakable feeling, despite it being my first time using a press. There is a distinct pop as the bit goes through the base.

Did not use a drill press mounting wifes new skis. Stripped a new Dynafit screw mucking around with it, had to drill it out. Should have used a drill press.

As far as I can tell, drilling through new skis then filling the hole has no ill effects, other than psychological.

[LiveLarger]

I delivered a pair of brand new Lotus 138 P3 to a clearly incompetent shop here in Oslo Norway. Received them back with two pair of faulty insert mounts. Lesson learned: Don't trust random shop rats you don't know anything about.

[DropCliffsNotBombs]

Used a drill press to get precise depth control for drilling new skis. Then changed the table height, Unmistakable feeling, despite it being my first time using a press. There is a distinct pop as the bit goes through the base.
Did not use a drill press mounting wifes new skis. Stripped a new Dynafit screw mucking around with it, had to drill it out. Should have used a drill press.
As far as I can tell, drilling through new skis then filling the hole has no ill effects, other than psychological.

NEVER use a drill press to mount skis. Overkill. You lose all of the "feel" that you need to drill a ski correctly.
Plus, it doesn't assure straight holes since the base and the topsheet are never perfectly parallel and drill depths will become varied due to slight differences in core thickness throughout the binding area.
Keep the drill press in the wood shop, not the ski shop.

[Meadow Skipper]

NEVER use a drill press to mount skis. Overkill. You lose all of the "feel" that you need to drill a ski correctly.
Plus, it doesn't assure straight holes since the base and the topsheet are never perfectly parallel and drill depths will become varied due to slight differences in core thickness throughout the binding area.
Keep the drill press in the wood shop, not the ski shop.

I would say exactly the opposite, unless you are some kind of über soul master with a hand-held drill. IME, IMO, YMMV, IANAL...etc.

[Slow 'n Steady]

I would say exactly the opposite, unless you are some kind of über soul master with a hand-held drill. IME, IMO, YMMV, IANAL...etc.

I have never seen anyone use a drill press to mount skis, and have only ever heard about it from folks on this board. I can't imagine why it would be necessary, or even helpful?

On that note, a guy brought in a prototype atomic ski he'd been asked to test (I think it was the precursor to the blue top sheet Big Daddy) and it had some throw away nondescript graphics on it. It was late at night and the end of a long day of shop work and on autopilot I mounted up the skis to what I thought were marked center lines...only they were just random horizontal lines. Didn't realize it until I mounted the second ski and punched through rear binding holes, well behind the mounting plate. Binding were several inches off from each other and neither in the correct location...

Lesson learned to always measure skis, esp non-standard mounts. Would have bought the guy new skis, but there weren't any others like them. I felt horrible. He was totally cool about it, which was nice.

[Meadow Skipper]

I have never seen anyone use a drill press to mount skis, and have only ever heard about it from folks on this board. I can't imagine why it would be necessary, or even helpful?

Looks like maybe you're a shop rat, so it might be that you have access to regular jigs. I don't so I use a press. It's very helpful, not strictly necessary. It's very accurate - it will put the bit exactly on your mark and eliminate the bit "walking." It will also put the bit straight in and out, eliminating wobble that can enlarge the hole. And it goes straight in - no angle. Plus, it's faster - mark the hole locations and bang, bang, bang.

I got my Delta press for less than $50 at a garage sale, and I use binding bits with the shoulder that prevents over-drilling. Which brings up a last point - the press can be set so that you don't punch through the base, which is especially handy on skis with a metal layer.

Of course you can, if you're pretty capable, do all that with a hand-held drill or if you have a regular jig, but I usually do at least 4 or more mounts a year at home using paper jigs and the drill press decreases stress and increases beer-drinking time for me. YMMV.

But it won't help you make the marks in the right place.

[Slow 'n Steady]

*was a shop rat.

Your set-up sounds like it works well for you. And beer time is important. I'm as far from a bodhisattva soul-master as one could be, but have managed fine with hand helds for years using jigs, paper, freehand, etc. TEHO

[booner]

When I was in 5th grade my dad took me to Sugarloaf for a boys business weekend party thing.

They got absolutely blasted one night and I went back to the condo by myself...from the bar down that trail to the ski ins.

I got lost and ended up hiking in armpit deep snow until I made it to a random condo in tears. She got me headed in the right direction.


Anyway....They come spilling in a while after I got home. One dude, who's now a hot shot kazillioniare, had a brand new pair of Rossi 4s the first year they came out.

There is, or was, a tunnel you went through under the road on trail. He missed it and went right over the road. The skis were a mess and he looked really sober all the sudden.

The end


Sent from the other side

[Meadow Skipper]

*was a shop rat.

Your set-up sounds like it works well for you. And beer time is important. I'm as far from a bodhisattva soul-master as one could be, but have managed fine with hand helds for years using jigs, paper, freehand, etc. TEHO

Yeah, I didn't mean that you can't do 'em by hand - I have. I was just reacting to the earlier post that said never use a press.

I originally got the press because I was doing Dynafit bindings that I wanted to be perfectly aligned, but I use it for everything.

[pfluffenmeister]

This thread is useless without pics.

SHOW US YOUR CORESHOTS!

191 Praxis Lhasa Pow Fat (Day 2):



Length-wise means you're charging.
Thank God it stopped short of the edge.


189 DPS Koala 119 (Day 1; same day as the Lhasa Pow shot):



Also not on edge (barely).
And more or less charging.


They are now christened.

[ExoticSkis]

First year working in a shop....customer ordered two pairs of specialty GS and Super G skis....boot marks on the skis were old-fashioned boot-toe marks...not boot midsole marks...I mounted the two pairs of race boards WAAAYY forward....customer didn't mention anything wacky after coming back several times...I noticed the blunder and offered to replace the skis....customer said "why? I'm wining races....leave them alone..."....

Dodged the bullet....only 8 lives left....

[Jaxson]

Had a drill in reverse and somehow managed to push hard enough to put a hole in the ski. Found out it was way sloppy and had to put an insert in it.

[nickinbc]

Helped look for, and failed to find, a one and a half runs old ski.

[2clue]

Yeah, I didn't mean that you can't do 'em by hand - I have. I was just reacting to the earlier post that said never use a press.

I originally got the press because I was doing Dynafit bindings that I wanted to be perfectly aligned, but I use it for everything.

Why do dynafits have to be perfectly aligned? or was it just one of those mounts that you wanted to be picture perfect?

[Meadow Skipper]

Why do dynafits have to be perfectly aligned? or was it just one of those mounts that you wanted to be picture perfect?

Because if the toe piece isn’t perfectly aligned with the heel piece that throws the boot heel to one side and the pins in the binding heel piece won’t align with the receiver in the boot heel, causing problems clicking in...and possibly release issues, though I’m not 100% certain about that last part.

[detrusor]

I had a pair of the green dynastar course Gs. Brand new 210’s, first day was a big powder day at Missoula snowbowl. Popped out of the trees in the gully skiers right of the lower chair and onto a big downed tree. Proceeded to rail slide helplessly flail down it banging into all the broken off branches. Tore an edge right out. Second run. Pretty damn bummed.

Fixed em later that week, switched feet and went for a couple years. Were never quite the same.


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[PNW_Skier206]

Put marker bindings on my skis


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[plugboots]

Put marker Duke bindings on my skis

Fixed it for me.

[jackattack]

This thread is sure to go platinum.

Safe to say that didn’t happen.

[MegaStoke]

When I was working as a ski tech, I offered to mount a buddy’s new pair of Apaches in exchange for beer. About 8 beers and a safety meeting later, I drilled the holes.

Turns out, I drilled to where the large bore on the stepped bit went deep into the skis down to a layer of metal well into the layup of the ski. We wound up packing the holes with fiberglass and epoxy, and redrilled for helicoils the next day. He’s still skiing them years later without issue, although it still makes me a bit nervous to think of skiing 60mph+ on that mount.

[1000-oaks]

Think I put the drill all the way through a new ski once (a regular 4mm drill bit, not a ski jig drill bit), but that's easy to fix with a dab of ptex.

A few core shots on shark fins the first day out, that's always fun.

[lordf]

New to me Volkl Kendos, 4 runs in...

[dcpnz]

On a brand new pair of Nordicas I marked centerline 5mm to the left and drilled before realizing. Golf tees, epoxy and 7 years later I’d almost forgotten.

[stuckathuntermtn]

This thread is useless without pics.

SHOW US YOUR CORESHOTS!

191 Praxis Lhasa Pow Fat (Day 2):



Length-wise means you're charging.
Thank God it stopped short of the edge.


189 DPS Koala 119 (Day 1; same day as the Lhasa Pow shot):



Also not on edge (barely).
And more or less charging.


They are now christened.

How the fuck?!