Mounting Bindings on a Budget

[dovski]

Hats off to @tomahawkins for showing me yet another way I can potentially wreck my skis lol. Joking aside I think going forward my plan B if I need a quick binding mount and the shop cannot accommodate me will be to drive to Bellingham and bribe @tomahawkins to mount the bindings for me

 

[tomahawkins]

Hats off to @tomahawkins for showing me yet another way I can potentially wreck my skis lol. Joking aside I think going forward my plan B if I need a quick binding mount and the shop cannot accommodate me will be to drive to Bellingham and bribe @tomahawkins to mount the bindings for me

Given the chance to drill holes in Stocklis, I'd do it for free. And you could hit up Baker and make a day of it. Speaking of which, it was awesome up there today. About 8" of fresh and stayed cold and light all day.

 

[dovski]

Given the chance to drill holes in Stöcklis, I'd do it for free. And you could hit up Baker and make a day of it. Speaking of which, it was awesome up there today. About 8" of fresh and stayed cold and light all day.

Drilling holes in Stocklis makes me think of Swiss Cheese .... let's start small with a pair of my kids skis lol

 

[crgildart]

Here's what I do instead of tape on a drill bit. Even with tape it can get away from you if you're not super careful.. Old carpenters trick here from the cabinet making days.. We used this trick to drill lines of shelf peg holes

 

[mdf]

I bought some of the fun toys in your expensive self-mounting thread, but I agree they are not really needed. But what does that have to do with anything?

 

[pipestem]

I fully admit I can be off by a couple of mm one way or another and also admit I'm not a skilled enough skier to notice. I do like to put a lot of thought into the for/aft mount point, fwiw.

@crgildart -- that hurts me to see, I probably have some extra stop-collars to share.

Drilling Skis to Mount Ski Bindings - SlideWright Ski & Snowboard Tools, Wares & Tips

Drilling skis to mount ski bindings is very straight forward and similar to drilling a multitude of materials like woods, plastics and composites. Practice on wood scraps helps to relieve stress before drilling your precious skis for the firs time. Take your time, measure thrice and drill once...

www.slidewright.com

regardless, if you are not eager to do it, you shouldn't.

 

[Tom K.]

Personally, I think the correct drill bit with the built-in countersinking "collar" is worthwhile, but then we do start straying away from the budget concept......

 

[crgildart]

@pipestem that isn't my drill in the photo. It is just a google search for the same concept. My DIY wooden bit stop is a little less brutal hahaha. But it's just to show folks that there are safer options than tape at hand..

 

[anders_nor]

the drillbit is CHEAP.

 

[crgildart]

the drillbit is CHEAP.

Ahh but you sometimes need different diameters for metal, wood, foam, Jr bindings, etc. So to do it properly on multiple different skis/bindings one bit probably isn't enough

 

[anders_nor]

universal is 4.1 then, but they are hardly more than a normal bit, and less than manual colar stuff.
a normal 4.1 or 3.6 isnt that cheap either.

I mount so much stuff I wear them out, maybe ask around skishops for older ones? at least 4,1s should be $0 used, as nobody bothers working on slow bits

 

[cantunamunch]

<- waiting for the budget thread tap ideas

 

[tomahawkins]

I was considering trying to put a dremmer tool grinder to a screw and including it in the guide. I got a far as placing a screw in a vice and contemplating how to attack it with a hand file, but then thought for a lot of skiers a vice is a luxury item.

 

[anders_nor]

<- waiting for the budget thread tap ideas

its not like most shops bother tapping 4.1 spec with metal sheets regardless though...

 

[cantunamunch]

its not like most shops bother tapping 4.1 spec with metal sheets regardless though...

Note to self: don't get a mount at a Norwegian shop

 

[crgildart]

universal is 4.1 then, but they are hardly more than a normal bit, and less than manual colar stuff.
a normal 4.1 or 3.6 isnt that cheap either.

I mount so much stuff I wear them out, maybe ask around skishops for older ones? at least 4,1s should be $0 used, as nobody bothers working on slow bits

Ya but I had to mount a lot of kids skis too.. You'll blow though it with either of those..

 

[tomahawkins]

I added template support for the Head/Tyrolia Freeflex ST race bindings. The template generator is smart enough to handle heel track placement with the center strip.

These might sway my binding loyalties: Lots of metal, good brake width options, dual cam design, full on race yet no race plate required. For those who haven't seen these, the heel binding is allowed to float fore/aft in the rear track as the ski flexes. Forward pressure is instead held in check by the center metal strip, isolating the rigid mount point to the front bindings. All the benefits of bindings with a short mounting distance -- actually, arguably more so.

 

[Philpug]

View attachment 171493

I've skied that ski, it skis like a 2x4"

 

[tomahawkins]

I've skied that ski, it skis like a 2x4"

It works better with the forward mount point.

 

[Philpug]

It works better with the forward mount point.