PSA: Mount your own fucking skis.

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Originally Posted by shank

Dowel stop works. Wine cork stop ehh. Too much squish for my liking, especially for metal top sheets. Maybe I should be drinking more expensive wine. Or less expensive?


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A set screwed drill stop will slip which is why I use a cork becuz it is idiot proof, if the bit slips you just don't drill deep enough but nothing is ruined and so a piece of wood about 1.5 " thick is about what you need, as a winemaker I happened to have a bag of corks kicking around, but I suggest drink the wine and drill the ski 1 day later

I have put a washer between the drill chuck and the cork but it sounds like you don't need to lean on the drill so much

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

A set screwed drill stop will slip which is why I use a cork becuz it is idiot proof, if the bit slips you just don't drill deep enough but nothing is ruined and so a piece of wood about 1.5 " thick is about what you need, as a winemaker I happened to have a bag of corks kicking around, but I suggest drink the wine and drill the ski 1 day later

I have put a washer between the drill chuck and the cork but it sounds like you don't need to lean on the drill so much

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Sounds to me like a cork is idiot proof as long as you have lil bitty muscles, big he men like myself need a more robusto solution

Which is why I went and bought a stepped bit, they’re only a couple bottles of wine $$$. Solid quality of life upgrade. Hadn’t thought of using a washer between chuck and cork though, will definitely use that in the future if I’m in a pinch.


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Originally Posted by shank

Sounds to me like a cork is idiot proof as long as you have lil bitty muscles, big he men like myself need a more robusto solution

Which is why I went and bought a stepped bit, they’re only a couple bottles of wine $$$. Solid quality of life upgrade. Hadn’t thought of using a washer between chuck and cork though, will definitely use that in the future if I’m in a pinch.


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+1 on the stepped bit. Having the correct tool definitely improves ones quality of life.

Y’all should check in with the local shop guys, we throw out 4.1 bits all the time. Once they’re even slightly worn out I’m done with it and it goes straight into the trash.

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Originally Posted by shank

Sounds to me like a cork is idiot proof as long as you have lil bitty muscles, big he men like myself need a more robusto solution

Which is why I went and bought a stepped bit, they’re only a couple bottles of wine $$$. Solid quality of life upgrade. Hadn’t thought of using a washer between chuck and cork though, will definitely use that in the future if I’m in a pinch.

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I live in a huge furin country with nobody living in it so we don't just order up anything to be delivered fo free, especially something I use maybe once year. I got a buddy moved here from Bend who said " Not living in America is a bonus and we did crazy good on the RE but I kinda miss just ordering up anything I want on a whim and having it delivered "

Not you of course but I'm pretty sure any dentist can fuck this stuff up when they don't really understand what they are doing or they are in a hurry or both. My favorite one was the guy who posted " I taped the template to the ski, drilled all the holes and wondered WTF I had done ? "

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Originally Posted by buttahflake

Y’all should check in with the local shop guys, we throw out 4.1 bits all the time. Once they’re even slightly worn out I’m done with it and it goes straight into the trash.

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I’ll have to ask the few shops near me if they’d be willing to give them up. I don’t mind sharpening drill bits, just have to be careful on keeping the point centered. It helps that I have access to a nice bench belt sander.


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Is there any merit to removing bindings and checking out your mount job at the end of the season? Still a bit new to Mounting My Own Fucking Skis, and haven’t had a catastrophe yet, but am still wondering if there would be anyway to know it’s coming.


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I’m really new to this and have no idea what’s going on.

I just bought this bit for when I started drilling. fool proof.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MX...b_b_asin_title

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Originally Posted by Shred Baron

Is there any merit to removing bindings and checking out your mount job at the end of the season? Still a bit new to Mounting My Own Fucking Skis, and haven’t had a catastrophe yet, but am still wondering if there would be anyway to know it’s coming.


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Just make sure your screws aren't spinning. If everything is tight and looks good just keep going....

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Originally Posted by halliday

Just make sure your screws aren't spinning. If everything is tight and looks good just keep going....

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Yeah makes sense, I’m sure removing and reinstalling increases the risk of tiring out the threads and winding up with a spinner. I’ll give them another tightness check. I checked each of them after a few days of skiing. I did one full mount and two heel remounts this year. It’s somewhat enjoyable. I might need to buy skis just for an excuse to do a mount.


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Originally Posted by Shred Baron

Is there any merit to removing bindings and checking out your mount job at the end of the season? Still a bit new to Mounting My Own Fucking Skis, and haven’t had a catastrophe yet, but am still wondering if there would be anyway to know it’s coming.


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at some point be it the end of this season or the beginning of next season its smart to check the screws

do it now and you got more time to fix fucked up stuff

so yeah make sure they are not spinning and if they are I would do the epoxy & FG hack

https://skiandbikemag.com/tales-from-the-shop/

for your reading enjoyment, I may know the author, let me/him know what you think

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Originally Posted by waxman

https://skiandbikemag.com/tales-from-the-shop/

for your reading enjoyment, I may know the author, let me/him know what you think

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I disagree, as long as the mount isn’t a tech binding or a freehand template, the shop should be covering the 20 minute mount. There are a lot of times we would throw in an edge and wax. 30 minutes of labor and minimal materials needed isn’t a lot to eat as a shop between mark up and keeping a customer happy and returning. That rule also only applies if it’s a ski and binding that were bought from the shop. I would not ever think of comping a mount if they didn’t purchase both from the shop.

FFS. Why should a tech binding mount not be free? Tech bindings cost more that alpine bindings that doesn’t cover it?

Run your business however you want. I hope the guy is still in business charging his customers an honest price for fairly paid technicians doing good work.

And mount your own fucking skis.

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Originally Posted by waxman

https://skiandbikemag.com/tales-from-the-shop/

for your reading enjoyment, I may know the author, let me/him know what you think

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I’ll bite. I appreciate your willingness to put this piece out there. It’s clever and humorous; I think ultimately there’s a morale that we may complicate our experience sometimes being thrifty.

I feel like I’ve been on both sides of that story after 25 years of working in the outdoor industry. I also think real friends don’t ask for deals but are willing to pay full boat to help a friend succeed. That being said, having managed a ski shop, if an actual friend bought skis and bindings I’d probably toss them a soda and put the jig on and drill and mount them myself while we shared a story or two.

As I read this I couldn’t help but cycle through the complicated feelings and love / hate relationship the ski industry has with affluence.

I often come full circle back to my initial observation of lift access skiing from when I first experienced it as 21 year old. We’re strapping two boards to our feet to slide on snow? Nothing after that is going to make much sense. The whole experience defies logic. Both the beauty and the bane of the whole endeavor.

A free mount comes with a ski/ binding purchase but if you bring in a ski or binding to be mounted you will pay is pretty standard

My store now, if you buy it here it is included. Alien gear is you pay.
Tech bindings are a pain to mount (I'm looking at you Dynafit and your stupid Torx screws) and all the fiddly bits that were put in the box attached but fell off in transit. I say that and we sell ATK (unreadable release settings), Dynafit, G3, Fritschi, Marker and CAST.

For extra mounting pleasure every tele binding should be double the cost to mount no matter where it was purchased.

Tele mounts might be slower but also easier? Off-center toe, or heel not exactly right, and you’re still good to go. I hate mounting alpine bindings. Too much accuracy.

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Originally Posted by ski-wpk

Tele mounts might be slower but also easier? Off-center toe, or heel not exactly right, and you’re still good to go. I hate mounting alpine bindings. Too much accuracy.

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no heelpiece so mounting tele is way faster IME so you can drink a lot of beer or do some fentanyl and it will still turn out great cuz its only tele !

Are you even a tele skier if you don't use one of these?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1bcc767f50.jpg

Mounted some new sticks. Put Salomon Strive 12s on them using Knut's Warden 11 template. I had written that the heel needed to be mounted 8mm "short" for the heel to be in the middle of the adjustment range on the template. Since I didn't remember writing that, I tested on a 2x4. Sure enough, when moving the heel forward 8mm, the heel piece was dead in the center of the adjustment range. Don't know if Knut is still following this thread but some input if you are....

To clarify, the BSL on my boot was embossed at 316mm (it's actually closer to 312mm). So I mounted the toe using the BSL listed and mounted the heel at 308mm on the template.

Would post pics but....

Yup - what you found is exactly the same as what I’ve seen on the warden 11 template for the strive. Thankfully if you mount to actual BSL the heel piece has enough room to move in and get to proper fwd pressure, but your “8mm shorter” approach would be better


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^ true but if you go down a shell size, you will likely have to remount to get forward pressure in range


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Sometimes (more often than not) when it comes to mounting my own, I am a total idiot JONG. Today, I mounted a pair of G3 ION LT 12s on Stormrider Lights. These clamps have no brakes, and leashes are used. The leashes are [supposed] to be screwed in to one of the front toe screws when mounting bindings. Of course, I drilled, cleaned, epoxied and screwed in the toes without the leashes attached. I really don't want to unscrew just to attach. I guess my only option is to drill another hole up near the toe, or forego the leash. Otherwise, I can go real old school and just tie a string, voile strap or other to the clamp and then around my leg.

one of those screw holes will have epoxy sealing the threads in the ski, don't overthink just use a binding screw

Can't you girth hitch the leash around one of the arms of the toe piece? That's what I do on the Zeds.

this thread has been dead for a while

picked up a new pair of binders in Andermatt and figured it was time to mount them

I think I did an okay job, had to work around an existing tele mount and some other sillinesshttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3fa2e7c7da.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5d2a856d06.jpg

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^ nice

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I dropped my wife off at the airport early this morning and then decided to take a sick day to get these mounted and work on my bike. Mounted +2 with a V1 CAST system on a 23/24 Nomad 115 @186 with a full Binding Freedom insert mount. Ive done about ten V1 CAST/Insert mounts so far, some for my self, and quite a few for others. I love the Nomad 115 but Im not too keen on the big eye. Maybe take a black Sharpie to it or maybe a big red bloodshot eye? The stained glass Stealie I picked up on Shakedown Street at the Philly Spectrum during the Spectrum final closing shows, It was made by Mountain Family Satined Glass www.mountainfamilyglass.com They were good people to meet on Shakedown. But then again most that you meet on Shakedown are good people.

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Originally Posted by halliday

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I dropped my wife off at the airport early this morning and then decided to take a sick day to get these mounted and work on my bike. Mounted +2 with a V1 CAST system on a 23/24 Nomad 115 @186 with a full Binding Freedom insert mount. Ive done about ten V1 CAST/Insert mounts so far, some for my self, and quite a few for others. I love the Nomad 115 but Im not too keen on the big eye. Maybe take a black Sharpie to it or maybe a big red bloodshot eye? The stained glass Stealie I picked up on Shakedown Street at the Philly Spectrum during the Spectrum final closing shows, It was made by Mountain Family Satined Glass www.mountainfamilyglass.com They were good people to meet on Shakedown. But then again most that you meet on Shakedown are good people.

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Cut yerself a eyepatch out of some vinyl and stow that eye, matey! I actually like the look of them, eye and all. Rasta pivots look good on there too.

Sounds like a great way to spend a sick day, I could use one like that right about now.

What’s the strongest glue/epoxy I can use for reusing holes, but will still be able to remove later on (don’t mind a little extra work when removing)? I’m over 200lbs and ski hard, idk if that makes a difference.

Got some Heritage Lab skis drilled for old Marker Royal demo binders. Picked up some NIB Jester Demos from 2016. Want to reuse holes, but also want to be able to remove once demo binders get sloppy.

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Originally Posted by forumskier

What’s the strongest glue/epoxy I can use for reusing holes, but will still be able to remove later on (don’t mind a little extra work when removing)? I’m over 200lbs and ski hard, idk if that makes a difference.

Got some Heritage Lab skis drilled for old Marker Royal demo binders. Picked up some NIB Jester Demos from 2016. Want to reuse holes, but also want to be able to remove once demo binders get sloppy.

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Curios - why go through the hassle of mounting 9 year old bindings if you’re planning on replacing them anyways?

Catch and release them.

Use plugs with carpenter’s glue instead of epoxy.

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Originally Posted by EricB

Curios - why go through the hassle of mounting 9 year old bindings if you’re planning on replacing them anyways?

Catch and release them.

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I’m experimenting A LOT with mount position on these particular skis.

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Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Use plugs with carpenter’s glue instead of epoxy.

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What are plugs? What I consider plugs are the things you put in holes when you are done with them, to keep moisture away from core.

Is there an epoxy that’s gonna be stronger than wood glue, but still able to break free with heat or something when I want to remove?

IME, I use a general strength epoxy - I think I'm using T88 from system three currently. (I've used others, but that's probably the stuff I've used most cases.)

I've *never* had an issue removing screws. I usually use a 1/4" impact when removing stuff, though I'm about 99% sure I've done it with just a regular screwdriver and hand-power too. We're not talking hundreds of pairs, or anything - but easily 6-10 pairs - so 100-200+ binding screws - and it's never been an issue. (I've never had to heat up a screw to get it to release, etc.)

I've seen posts talking about issues removing screws with epoxy - using a torch etc - but I always, always use epoxy and I've never had a single issue.

I don't know if the "problem" is way over-stated, I'm just lucky, there's some "special epoxy" that's has way more adhesive properties to the screws that everyone else uses or what. But yeah, zero issues here.

If I were to use my N of 1 results, I'd say just toss epoxy in and you'll be totally fine. :)

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Originally Posted by forumskier

What are plugs? What I consider plugs are the things you put in holes when you are done with them, to keep moisture away from core.

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These are plugs, or you can use pieces cut from bamboo bbq skewers.
https://www.tognar.com/plastic-ski-binding-hole-plugs/

Yes, you use them to fill holes and keep moisture out, which seems to be exactly what I believe you are trying to do by filling holes with epoxy…or should be. Plugs and carpenter’s glue will be infinitely easier to take out than any kind of epoxy, and if done right will prevent moisture from getting into the core

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Is there an epoxy that’s gonna be stronger than wood glue, but still able to break free with heat or something when I want to remove?

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I believe you are wrong (jong) to be putting emphasis on epoxy strength for filling holes. Epoxy in binding holes in skis won’t significantly affect the overall ‘strength’ of the ski. Filling holes is to prevent moisture from getting into the core.

And just for perspective, IMO you will never find an epoxy that will easily come out of binding holes. Plugs and carpenter’s glue will come out more easily.

And FWIW, there are significant reasons to be skeptical of re-using binding holes, especially after they’ve been plugged and the skis have been used after plugging.

Edit: ^ unless you’re using inserts, in which case just drill the damn expoxy (or whatever) out.

Editx2: Disregard me if I’m misunderstanding (and I might be) and that you just want to reuse the holes right away, not plugging them and coming back later. In that case like other posts have said, just heat the screw and back it out. Use marine grade epoxy.

I would just use a slow set epoxy if you want the strongest glue it will stick to the screw SO before you try to remove the screws remember to hit the screwheads with a soldering iron BEFORE you strip the head

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Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

These are plugs, or you can use pieces cut from bamboo bbq skewers.
https://www.tognar.com/plastic-ski-binding-hole-plugs/

Yes, you use them to fill holes and keep moisture out, which seems to be exactly what I believe you are trying to do by filling holes with epoxy…or should be. Plugs and carpenter’s glue will be infinitely easier to take out than any kind of epoxy, and if done right will prevent moisture from getting into the core


I believe you are wrong (jong) to be putting emphasis on epoxy strength for filling holes. Epoxy in binding holes in skis won’t significantly affect the overall ‘strength’ of the ski. Filling holes is to prevent moisture from getting into the core.

And just for perspective, IMO you will never find an epoxy that will easily come out of binding holes. Plugs and carpenter’s glue will come out more easily.

And FWIW, there are significant reasons to be skeptical of re-using binding holes, especially after they’ve been plugged and the skis have been used after plugging.

Edit: ^ unless you’re using inserts, in which case just drill the damn expoxy (or whatever) out.

Editx2: Disregard me if I’m misunderstanding (and I might be) and that you just want to reuse the holes right away, not plugging them and coming back later. In that case like other posts have said, just heat the screw and back it out. Use marine grade epoxy.

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Yup I'm talking about reusing them to screw into now. Still, your posts have been helpful.

Thanks to all you guys

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

I would just use a slow set epoxy if you want the strongest glue it will stick to the screw SO before you try to remove the screws remember to hit the screwheads with a soldering iron BEFORE you strip the head

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This is what I was originally thinking, but don't know much about actual ski work, so wanted confirmation. I'm going to do this, or what MO was telling me on the HL threads about silicone bathroom adhesive.

^ Got it. I suppose I’m easily confused these daze…must be my age.
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I also could have worded my original post slightly better, talking about actual screwing, to make it more clear.