I fucking mounted my own skis..... and I fucking skied them
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I fucking mounted my own skis..... and I fucking skied them
I mounted my buddy's wife's fuckin' skis the other night but I didn't get to mount his fuckin' wife. Guess I don't have to raise his kids either.........
One more silly question. I have a digital caliper. I'd like to use to to double check the middle line, holes, etc. from the edge of the ski. On the practice 2X4 you could just use the top of the 2X4 because there's no taper. Can't do that with an edge. I'm lining up a carpenter's square with the edge and then using the digital caliper to double check. Sort of a pain. Any easier way of doing this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bern43
Establish a reliable centerline and measure equidistant to your marks and holes. Use the longest straight edge (or a string) you have to draw your centerline. The larger the spread from your center line marks, the better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpinord
My recent horror story. A shop screwed up a mount earlier this year by mounting -1cm back even though I'd asked them to mount on the line because they couldn't mount on the line and still have 1cm clearance from the existing holes. I understood the clearance issue but was pissed that they didn't call me first to ask if they should go ahead with the mount (I would have said no). They offered to remount for free, but they couldn't (or wouldn't) do it with the existing bindings because of the clearance issues. I was pissed about the extra drill holes but said fine and told them I'd get some demo bindings which would solve the clearance issues while still allowing me to have my midsole on the line (and play around with midsole points).
I eventually got the demo bindings, brought the skis back in and had them remounted by the same shop. So what did they do? They mounted the demo bindings so far back that even the most forward position on the demo bindings was -2cm - i.e. even further fucking back than the first mount! I pointed this out, they apologized and said that they would remount again (yet another set of fucking holes), which they did. At this point I was hugely pissed about all the holes but happy to finally have my skis back and mounted where I wanted them.
When I got home, however, I noticed that none of the 4 binding plates were sitting flush on the skis and I could actually see that it was because the shop hadn't fully chiseled down the plastic plugs that they'd used to fill the extra holes they'd drilled. Rather than take the skis back, I decided to fix them myself and started unscrewing the bindings. Everything was fine until I got to one screw that offered no initial counter-clockwise resistance whatsoever. So I gently turned it clockwise and sure enough - spinner. Unbelievable - a fucking spinner that the shop either didn't notice or didn't bother fixing.
When I finished removing all the bindings, I got my next surprise - 2 of the rear holes on each ski (4 holes total) had less than 1cm clearance from old holes (about 6-7mm) which were filled with hammered in plastic plugs (no epoxy). Un-fucking believable, especially considering the fact that this all fucking started with them doing the first mount further back because of hole clearance issues. I chiseled all the plugs flush, fixed the spinner (epoxy resin with fiberglass cloth threads) and re-installed the bindings.
So now I've got two extra sets of holes, and bindings mounted with two screws on each ski having less than 1cm of clearance from old holes. Notwithstanding that I'm absolutely livid, I'm inclined to just let it go if the hole clearance (or lack thereof) isn't too sketchy because the only thing they could offer at this point is some kind of compensation which I'd feel bad about taking because the ski economy is absolute shit this year, ski shops including this one are bleeding red from every orifice and the shop tech is actually a really good guy (a complete fuck-up apparently, but a good guy nonetheless) and I don't want to get him shit-canned. What do you guys think about the hole clearance and am I being too easy on these guys?
PS - if nothing else, I learned a valuable lesson here, which is to mount my own fucking skis from now on.
It's not hard to do, I have done the last few pairs of mine and some dynafit races, the ones with no adjustment. (Dun Dun Dun)
I just mounted my first pair of fucking skis using the paper templates on jondrums' thread. It took less than an hour, was easy, and turned out perfectly. I won't let a shop drill my skis again.
just mounted my first pair of f-ing skis. My right toe piece is 3mm farther forward than my left, I think that was my only mistake. I trusted Jons hash marks over my center line for centering. I think I can skip that step next time.
Yes. Not your responsibility to take care of a shop's business plan or hiring nice guys who screw up over and over...Quote:
Originally Posted by krick
Quote:
Originally Posted by krick
That's the truth god damnit! Sorry about your luck man that is shit. Even when a shop makes an honest mistake you can get a bit peeved, because it was unexpected. Your story sounds like a world class motherfuckup.
As you can see from this thread mounting your own bindings is actually pretty simple. Good luck in the future man!
I would have told u to fuck off and stop being an idiot after the very first mount. 1cm of difference does not matter much. Also 6-7 mm is ok. Like anywhere else being a chill customer will get you better service and will make them care about stuff like spinners ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by krick
I would have asked to talk to your boss. 1cm is a big deal on some skis.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Marshack
I predict a long and successful career for you. You're saying even if you knew you fucked up you'd tell a customer to fuck off for calling you on it? Where can I invest in your upcoming financial success?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Marshack
Fuck yeah. 1cm makes quite a difference on MOST skis I have ever played with mount points on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chugachjed
And that right there is why you should mount your own fucking skis.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Marshack
If you can't tell the difference between two mounts 1 cm apart on hard snow, then you're probably a shitty skier.
^^ Yeah dude, I don't even bother with a template anymore. That shit's for gapers.
Or adaptable. :biggrin:Quote:
Originally Posted by pisteoff
or me.......
Yeah, I agree, but I was talking about noticing it. And what I was really talking about was someone's cavalier attitude toward their work. If I had acted like that when I worked in a shop, I would've been shown the door.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpinord
I was going to pm, but since I've got you here... your excellent center-finding template doesn't download from your link. Instead of downloading a full sized pdf, you get a really small jpeg.
I know. I couldn't resist....:wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by pisteoff
Thanks for the heads up on the download. I revised it and changed it to a pdf, IIRC. It's fixed in this Tips Blog Topic: Finding Your Ski’s Centerline
Direct download: Ski Center template
^^^ awesome thanks.
Yeah - but I have a hard time giving good guys a hard time in a shitty economy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beyond
How exactly was I an idiot, other than by letting them remount my skis after fucking up the first time? I asked them to do something very specific and they didn't do it. I shouldn't be pissed about that? And I was about as "chill" as someone could be - I was pissed but never outwardly - in fact, I apologized for being so anal about it when I pointed out the mounting problems. The only way I could have been more "chill" is if I never said a thing and just accepted the first mount the way it was, but if I'd done that then I really would have been an idiot. And having played around with mounting points over the past 2 weeks on the demo bindings I now have on these skis, I can definitely feel a 1cm difference. I'm not saying it's huge, but it's noticeable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Marshack
I banged out this Hole Layout Guide that some may find useful:
http://www.slidewright.com/Bindings/...ole-layout.jpg
I always end up buying skis that have been mounted to my BSL already, then find whatever bindings the previous owner had and use the same holes with some epoxy.
But holy fuck, people really pay $75 for a mount?! When I need it done my shop charges $20-
I know shops around Central NY have to have a special insurance policy that is really expensive in order to mount someone elses' skis. I have paid the $75 fee for it on certain occasions but only in emergency situations (i.e. replacement race skis a day before a race) but most of the time if you talk to the shop tech I have found they will do it for cheaper. Haven't had any bad experiences having others mount my own skis besides for one incident where I was too young to care/notice, but I cannot justify buying power tools in college nor do I even have the workspace to mount my skis. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shogun
You can get a drill at a pawnshop for like $20 and I mount skis on my kitchen table (when my wife isn't home). For the cost of one mount you could have the tools to do it yourself. Quit making excuses and mount your own fucking skis!Quote:
Originally Posted by StuckInOhio91
And that special insurance policy sounds like bullshit, they're just trying to separate you from your money.
Just mounted my own fucking skis. First pair of tech bindings I've done. Google search and Jong engine turned up more templates and detailed instructions than I could count. So much good material online (and some shitty) that you might as well fuck em up yourself, rather than pay some dude at the shop to have all the fun.
http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...w/photo1-1.jpg
I mounted Krystal Kartwright's new fucking skis today
:the_finge
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ugh?highlight=Quote:
Originally Posted by Shorty_J
My thread with pictures on how to mount skis. with critiques.
Just mounted my own fucking skis and liked it so much I'm gonna do it again. Thanks to all.
Well, for what it's worth, I've had many skis mounted at my local shop (evo) and they've done a great job every time. Just rather not have to do it myself honestly. I'd probably screw it up anyways.
Great thread.
Another way to use a combination square to get the exact center line:
Put a strip of masking tape down middle of the ski - just eyeball it. It's gotta be long enough to span the whole length of the binding mount area - longer is fine, too. Put another strip or two down on top of that one - you'll see why later.
Take your combo square put against the ski edge with the "ruler" part going across the ski top. Yes - the ski edge is not parallel to the center line, but as you'll see in a bit, it doesn't matter.
Take an x-acto knife - place its edge against the ruled egde of the square, somewhat near the center of the ski. Use one of the ruled measurement marks as a reference. Many combo squares have those rule markings stamped into the edge, which helps you hold the blade there. Holding the tip of the blade agains the ruled edge of the combo square, and ever so slightly biting into the masking tape, pull the two together down the length of the masking tape. You're scoring a very shallow line into the tape down the length of tape - and it's only somewhat close to the actual center line. This will be a line that effectively parallel to the ski edge (an arc that matches that of the edge). This is why you use a double thickness of tape - to allow you to comfortably score the tape without marking the actual topskin.
Now flip the square over and do it from the other side - putting the xacto blade on the precisely corresponding measurement mark on the opposite side.
Unless you happen to eyeball the exact center when scoring the lines (unlikely) you'll have two lines scored into the tape. Those two scored lines exactly span actual centerline of the ski. If they're close enough, you can then split the distance to get the true center line. If they're somewhat far apart, repeat the process moving the xacto blade a bit closer to the center line. If you repeat it once or twice, you'll get two lines that pretty much tell you where the exact center line of the ski is.
With this method, you're not actually measuring anything - you're accurately bisecting ski to get the exact center line.
An even better tool than the combo-square/xact knife setup is adjustible wood scribe - but I'd suspect most of us don't have such a thing - but they're not hard to make, either.
Finally, if you don't mind somewhat sacrificing a combo square (they're cheap) - you can file a little notch into the ruler edge to exactly hold the exacto blade in the same spot when you flip it over. This works better if you want to use a pencil instead of an xacto knife.
so what you are saying is draw 45degree angles across your top sheet and where they intersect is ski middle, use the ski edge not the top sheet edge ?
If you're replying to my post (#153) then no. The problem with drawing 45's and connecting the intersections is that when you flip the combo square to the other edge, you're not sure you're getting it exactly in the same position on the new edge as you had it on the original edge. The "crossing points" in this method could be off of the actual center line.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
The method I describe (not mine but is a common technique to find the center line on a surface from two symmetrical edges) has you scribe two lines (at a minimum) down the ski onto the tape - each parallel to the one of the ski edges. The actual ski center line is the middle of the gap between those two lines. You make those two lines close enough together, you get a very precise "boundary" of where the actual center line is - more than close enough to then align your template.
I would draw a 90 degree line from both edges on masking tape & take the middle of those 2 lines if they are off by much and draw each 45 diagonal from that lineQuote:
Originally Posted by nb1234
Here's a sketch of what I'm talking about. Obviously, the arcs I drew for the edge radius is very exaggerated, but you should be able to get the point.
In this case the scribe lines actually intersect - so you can connect the intersection points and get the actual center line (shown in red.)
Depending how you set up your scribe, it's also possible that the two scribe lines don't intersect. If they're close enough you can simply find the middle of the "gap" between the two for the center line, or readjust the scribe and do it again so they do intersect.
http://www.tgrmedia.com/i.ashx?w=800...ap_730X550.jpg
Since this thread has some good mounting info and is the most recent mounting thread that is not "where should I mount my _____", I figured it would be a good place to ask this question:
If you clamp your ski to the drill press/workbench/table this will decamber the ski. If you drill the ski in the decambered state will this cause problems? If yes, what is the best way to drill so as to not decamber the ski?
Apologies for the nerdy jong question, but I couldn't find this in any of the other mounting threads.
Not enough to make a difference. I've mounted plenty.
You will not decamber a ski clamping it flat to a table. A drill press is only about 6" wide, and you will not even notice any camber compression. You can repeatedly reverse flex skis between moguls and terrain undulations, with full body weight and skier velocity. There is no way you will decamber a ski on a workbench. Maybe you could if you left it that way all summer in a hot shed.Quote:
Originally Posted by COBuckeye
great observation, but the answer is an unequivocal "no". If you consider the total possible error that this could introduce it is way way way less than a typical drilling location tolerance. It'll never matter. This can be proved using geometry, but that is an exercise I will leave to the reader.Quote:
Originally Posted by COBuckeye
Great, thanks all for reassurance.