Starting with the full size bit is a good way to introduce error. It’s easier to be accurate to the center with a small bit and you can still fix things later if it’s a bit off. 1/16″) and drill a perfectly centered hole on the dot you’ve drawn. To drill the toe holes, take your hammer and nail and make a small dent where you want the hole. Replace the toe piece and ensure your dots are perfectly centered. Attention to detail here has a large impact on the final quality, so take your time and recheck fanatically. I like to trace the perimeter of the holes to achieve a circle, then remove the toe piece and make a dot perfectly in the center of the circle where I’ll actually drill. With the toe piece at the proper fore/aft location, hold it carefully in place while you use the binding as a drill hole template. Parallel is especially crucial for bindings with separate toe and heel pieces, such as tech bindings, as you need the heel of the boot to land precisely in the center of the heel piece for proper function. The toe piece should be perfectly centered and parallel to the ski. Put a dot on the center of the front and back sides of the toe piece and use these to line it up on the ski center line. Now remove the boot and put the toe piece back in the right spot. In the above picture I’ve marked the back of the toe piece. With the boot roughly fore/aft aligned (don’t sweat 1-2mm for this), mark the front and/or back of the toe piece location so you can remove the boot and replicate the spot. Clip the boot into the toe piece and align the center mark on the boot sole with the mounting mark on the ski (or elsewhere if desired – I mounted these skis at +1.5). Next determine the fore/aft location of the toe piece. I use a fine point Sharpie and remove it later with alcohol, but any drawing tool will do. This should take 20-30 minutes for heel and toe center lines on both skis if you’re being paranoid enough. ![]() Do a good job here as the accuracy will pay off later. Measure the width of the ski, mark the midpoint with a dot and repeat until you have enough dots to draw a perfect line down the center. Step 1 is drawing a center line down your skis in the areas where the bindings will go. – Inserts also require thread locker (blue) and a 5/16-18 tap – Something to bevel the holes (Dremel, knife, large drill bit etc.) – Appropriate screwdriver for binding screws (Usually Pozi or Phillips) – Epoxy or a good glue (use >15 min epoxy or Gorilla glue) – Measuring device (ruler is tolerable, digital caliper is best) – Drill & bit (usually 3.5mm but 4.1mm for skis with metal layers or 1/4″ if using inserts) – Binding screws or inserts with appropriate bolts The Quiver Killer inserts looks a little nicer, but I buy from Binding Freedom as they are removable via a flat bladed screwdriver and they’re cheaper. Inserts and machine screws are available from Binding Freedom or Quiver Killer. However they do add cost and a little weight. I prefer using inserts, as they allow for a more robust mount, a nicer aesthetic and rapid swapping of bindings between skis. ![]() This guide provides instructions on mounting with either traditional wood screws or metal inserts + machine screws. If nothing else, a DIY mount is cheaper and gives you a deeper understanding of the gear you rely on. I’ve seen many shop mounts where the screws were incorrectly tightened, the tops of drill holes were left mushroomed so the binding didn’t sit flush, or the holes weren’t epoxied. However, where a DIY mount wins is in attention to quality which is often compromised in a high volume shop. But let that not give you the impression that all things DIY turn out to be bad, for Resin Bound Patio DIY kits would prove you otherwise. A DIY mount will never be as fast and at best will equal this precision. Shop mounts use a jig that rapidly centers the mounting template onto the ski and leaves little room for error. ![]() The quality of a DIY ski mount can easily match or exceed that of a shop mount. Any ski binding can be mounted with the general principals contained here. Alpine bindings are typically easier to mount as they don’t require a heel gap and are often one piece instead of two which reduces sources of error, however some alpine bindings obscure the bolt holes which makes using the binding as the template hard – in which case finding a paper template online is advised. This guide is written with tech bindings in mind, but can be used for other AT or alpine bindings. Since then I’ve mounted about 10 pairs and made the full gamut of mistakes, which I try to advise against here. I mounted my first pair in 2006 after buying $80 skis from a big box store and not wanting to pay as much for mounting as the skis cost. The tools, skills and knowledge are all elementary. Despite widespread paranoia, mounting your own ski bindings is easy if you have the maturity not to rush the job.
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