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Mounting skis

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Jwoww
Posts: 85 - Karma: 39
Is there a difference between center mount and true center mount?
Feb 15 2012 1:13AM
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NW_Rider
Posts: 2580 - Karma: 314
Diffetence in true center and core center
Feb 15 2012 1:36AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
1) take a sharpie
2) draw a line on your ski where you want the midsole of your boot to go
3) take into shop to get mounted
4)give shop employee a 6 pack of beer
5) pick up your skis, mounted correctly, the next day free of charge.
Feb 15 2012 1:44AM
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Dmarc
Posts: 1035 - Karma: 83
yeah make sure u mark it cause my local shop gave me a hard time this year and it was so anoyying
Feb 15 2012 11:05AM
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N.L.
Posts: 2420 - Karma: 2,744
you have to mark your own skis or the the tech will mount them wrong, i remember when I discovered center mounting for the first time, this is the first step to freestyle skiing.

if you have any technical background you can set your own drill depth and make a template to mount your own skis, i wouldnt trust ANYONE to mount or tune my skis, even if im present at the shop.


Feb 15 2012 11:10AM
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PurpleDino
Posts: 1513 - Karma: 483
Basically do what everyone said.  But I'm pretty sure true center would be the true center, equal distance from tip to tail where as center mount is the center mount of the markings or where the ski was meant to be ridden. 

It may be the other way around but I can't remember.
Feb 15 2012 2:19PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Why pay $40 to have some baffoon mess up your skis when you can mount them yourself for free?

All you need are:
Cordless drill
3.6 x 9mm depth-stop drill bit
#3 Pozidrive
Roo Glue (or any other water-based glue)
Combination square
tape measure
center punch
chisel
paper template

(You can get the specialty tools at Tognar.com, and the others at any department store. I suggest Home Depot since Lowe's officially supports xenophobia.)

1. Measure tip to tail with tape measure. Don't bend it along the tips, just press down at the halfway point.
2. Mark that point with a marker.
3. Use the combination square to draw a 45˚ angle from both edges. Where the line intersects will be your midpoint. Do this about a foot and a half apart, connect the dots, and you have your midline.
4. Tape paper template down along both the x and y midlines. Check your BSL, and make sure your print scale is correct before printing.
5. Use the center punch to lightly tap divots where the holes are.
6. Place the drill bit on the divots and drill, being EXTRA careful to drill vertically.
7. Use the chisel to cut down any "volcanoing" in the topsheet caused by drilling.
8. Fill the holes with glue.
9. Screw bindings in by hand with #3 Pozidrive, making sure you cross tighten them (don't screw them all the way down one-by-one.
10. Repeat on the other ski.
11. Go skiing.
Feb 15 2012 2:47PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
^And if you don't have any of those tools, you can buy everything but the drill for around $40.

So $40 for one mount, or $40 for infinite mounts? Hmm...
Feb 15 2012 2:49PM
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BoilingMidnight
Posts: 83 - Karma: 11
Um....what?
Feb 15 2012 2:59PM
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Holte
Posts: 10730 - Karma: 7,744
.
Feb 15 2012 5:38PM
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lukewalnuts
Posts: 2730 - Karma: 152
Feb 15 2012 5:53PM
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lukewalnuts
Posts: 2730 - Karma: 152
^sorry didn't really read the thread thought you meant how to mount skis
Feb 15 2012 5:54PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
^That pen trick is a really good idea...although using epoxy to do a standard mount is bad. You need a water-based glue so that you can get your bindings out later on.
Feb 15 2012 6:08PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
Because I AM THAT BUFFOON!

and i have like 3 of those things.
Feb 15 2012 11:00PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
So did I, until I made one trip to Home Depot and bought them. This isn't difficult. $40 is an obscene amount of money to pay for someone who is using a factory jig to drill 16 holes, and will likely mess up (somehow).
Feb 15 2012 11:10PM
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NW_Rider
Posts: 2580 - Karma: 314
the $20-$50 bucks doesn't go to just putting on the jig and pulling a trigger, rent, tools (montana machines are not cheap) employees compensation, testing the bindings, and the absolute biggest of them all - ACCOUNTABILITY. If you drill through your skis like half the people will probably manage to due one way or another, you have zero recourse. If the shop tech does it, you are getting new skis or free wax/tuning for a season + a substantial discount off a new pair of skis.

I'm not trying to say that you don't understand how a business operates, just clarifying so other people reading dont get all heated up thinking shops are screwing them over by charging 40 bucks for mounts and that for many, going to a shop is a much better route than DIY. Often times the tech will do it for a case of beer off the books. I'm not sure where you are from, but if you are going to true ski shops, Not REI/Sports Authority etc... they will only make 2-3 mistakes per year out of 1,000+ mounts.
Feb 16 2012 2:35AM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
I know this doesn't apply to everyone, since come places have competent shops, but ever since I moved to Washington I've found it difficult to get skis worked on without having the guy completely mess them up. Evo is good, but they're too far away.

The thing is, mounting skis really IS as simple as putting on the jig and pulling the trigger. I used to work in a boutique ski shop in AK and I was the guy mounting skis all day, and it literally took me 5 minutes to do the job (including binding testing). The most expensive mounting tool involved was a factory ski jig, which is around $100, and the rest of the tools can be had for under $100. Spend 20 minutes mounting 4 pairs of skis and you've completely payed off all tool expenses...

Accountability varies from place to place. I'm appalled when a shop manages to A) mid-drill my bindings (if you can't use a jig, you are a legitimately stupid person), B) break my brand new FKS bindings and blame ME for bringing in "expired bindings", or C) starts arguing with me that I "don't want center mount because I don't know what I'm talking about." Too many shops I've come across exhibit these problems, at which point you might as well do it yourself. Again, if you have opposable thumbs and aren't completely stupid, mounting skis yourself is a piece of cake. Sure it's scary at first; I can understand that. That's why you practice on some junkers before drilling into your nice new skis.
Feb 16 2012 12:48PM
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NW_Rider
Posts: 2580 - Karma: 314
Thats pretty bad, what shop was that?
Feb 16 2012 1:57PM
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TRASHTALK
Posts: 324 - Karma: 493
you don't have to pay 40 dollars. you just get them a 6 pack. (10 dollars) YOU WILL SCREW UP YOUR SKIS IF YOU MOUNT THEM YOURSELF.
Feb 16 2012 2:20PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Glacier Ski Shop. I was stuck with broken FKS bindings for over a year until I brought them back to my old shop in AK, where they fixed them up for me.
Feb 16 2012 2:21PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
Don't do this. $10 worth of beer is insulting when $40 could buy us four times that amount of beer. If you don't want to pay the price of a good mount, man up and do it yourself.

At the most, beer will push your skis to the front of the que. Don't expect it free of charge unless you're already good buds with people who run the shop.
Feb 16 2012 2:24PM
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zerospinskier
Posts: 4867 - Karma: 350
I am not a fan of doing it this way. The sidecut of the ski, and inconsistency in the sidewall worry me about keeping the intersect in the center. You are using a very accurate method based off the sidewall, which has curves, bumps, and errors. I prefer to measure straight across (eyeballing "straight across") with a ruler 5 times over the length of the template, then make a centerline from an average of those.

That's just my preference though. Both have proven themselves to work fine. We're just talking about mounting skis here. Its not nanoscience.
Feb 16 2012 4:18PM
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clive_bixby
Posts: 1834 - Karma: 499
Dude fuck that don't come into my shop with a 6 pack and expect a mount. 18 minimum man.
Feb 16 2012 4:46PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
The sidecut has no impact on the accuracy of the square method because we can assume both sides to have a negligible amount of QC inconsistency and are therefore reasonably reflexive. Since the radii are reflexive, by the transitive property the 45˚ measurement from both sides will as well. Sidewalls won't impact the measurement because you're basing it off the edge, not the sidewall. Factory jigs are anchored against the edge as well (or the sidewall if its perfectly vertical).

The reason I dislike measuring side to side is because you're confined to the resolution of your measuring device, and most household rulers don't cut it (calipers are ideal, though less common). The square method is also adaptive because the distance between the intersections is directly proportional to its accuracy. So to increase the level of detail, simply space the intersections farther apart. Overall the square method involves little to no math/increments, making it generally easier and faster.

Not that it matters either way, since they both work the same and nobody will feel a difference in a microscopic error. Preference I guess.
Feb 16 2012 7:30PM
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haha_urmom
Posts: 13 - Karma: 10
Im swithcing to skiing from snowboarding. When I get skis do you guys reccomend i have a shop do it, or have my dad (a mechanical wizard) try doing it for me. You all make it seem like having a shop do it is a big risk.
Feb 16 2012 9:28PM
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[~_~]
Posts: 20239 - Karma: 1,273
If you have a good ski shop nearby, there's no harm in having them mount your skis. Some shops like REI aren't trustworthy. The "little guys" tend to have a better idea of what they're doing, but unfortunately there are exceptions.

If you only get skis mounted once every few years, $40 isn't so bad. But if you're like many of us and need ~3+ pairs of skis mounted per season, it only makes sense to do it yourself. Otherwise you're wasting money.

If your dad has even a basic understanding of geometry and some basic tool skills, it's ridiculously easy. Just follow my instructions.
Feb 16 2012 10:11PM
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