Can you move bindings on skis

This could be extremely dangerous for the skier. Just like skis and boots, bindings will wear out over time. Some experts suggest that you should ditch you ski bindings for new ones when you ski shop will no longer work on them. Another thing to consider is how old the skis are themselves. Skis generally only last around days and the bindings are typically designed to have a similar lifespan. It may be tempting to use old bindings with new skis, but this can unfortunately have a high risk of injury.

Some skiers will make adjustments to where the ski bindings are positioned to improve performance. Others will have simply changed boots and the bindings no longer fit with the larger boot size. Sometimes, performance can be compromised by something as simple as gaining weight around pounds.

In this case, a small adjustment to the ski binding mounting position by moving bindings on skis forward or backward can help the skier. Remounting the ski bindings further back can also accommodate a larger boot, either for you or for a growing kid. Anything less than this increases the possibility of your screws coming out.

While there are different ways in which filling your old bindings holes can be done, let go through one of the most common methods. If you are mounting new bindings or remounting bindings on old skis, then using plastic hole plugs to fill the old bindings holes can be a practical approach.

Plastic hole plugs are well-known in keeping water out, which could otherwise expand, freeze or even create structural damage. All you have to do is squirt in a drop of binding or similar waterproof glue and squeeze in one of the plastic plugs into the hole using a hammer. Once the glues dry off, carefully trim off all the protruding plug materials using a razor blade or chisel. A mixture of steel wool and epoxy or glue can also work as a DIY ski hole binding option. Just stuff the mix down the hole and squeeze lots of the gluing mixture.

However, the services of an experienced professional will help in providing the best solution. With the modern flat decked skis, it is possible to change the binding system by simply removing the old binding and mounting the new binding system on your old ski deck.

This, however, will put more holes on your ski, but this is not a problem if you maintain 1cm between the holes. Mounting the new binding a few distances backward or forward will help you get sufficient distance between the new and old holes. In other cases, it might not be possible to mount your new bindings to a particular old ski. This applies to a situation where the old ski had already undergone several mounting. This makes it impossible to squeeze a new set of holes in the ski.

Skis consisting of a rail system where the molded ski top deck combines with the binding system cannot be mounted with new bindings. The same applies to skis that have a deck moulding front and back since this can prevent the bindings from being installed in the right position. For the best skiing experience, you need to have a ski binding that works to its full performance.

This will not only guarantee a smooth skiing experience but also puts your safety first. However, to achieve this, you must ensure that the ski undergoes the right mounting and checkups. Last updated on August 18th, at pm Ski bindings can be reused and mounted on both new and pre used skis. Seems like people have done alot more. I just want to ask someone who I know knows their stuff. Thanks for the blog and your time! Due to how wood screws tend to cut new threads each time they go in, you might also need to build up the inside of the screw holes before your final mount.

Hey this might be a fun project to geek out on : do some kind of quantitative analysis to figure out how many holes can be drilled in a ski before it breaks. Paddy, thanks. I find a good thing to do when reusing a hole is gently rotate the screw backwards to see if I can feel the threads and often I can.

For sure Lou. Basically it just keeps the bit from wandering into the old hole as you drill. FYI, the hole in the plate does tend to egg after repeated use, so monitor this and drill a fresh hole when necessary. Everybody who messes around fixing things should have a small kit of REAL epoxy, not the five minute stuff you get at the hardware store.

Buy a mini-pump kit with it and it will still be usable for years. Mix the silica and catalyzed epoxy to achieve a viscosity about like maple syrup and inject it into the very bottom of the hole.

Wait a few minutes, pop any air bubbles, and slightly overfill. At least as strong a filler as any attempt to use glass fibers or rust prone steel wool.

I like to use the same procedure on a new mount as well. By filling the hole with liquid epoxy the epoxy is squeezed out into the surrounding wood core as you tighten the screw, substantially increasing the holding power of the installation. Never had a problem with removal, but if you do, heat the screw with a soldering iron and it will release. Better to use a scale for this sort of job, in my opinion. Right you are, See For small jobs its a trade off between getting the proper mix ratio vs saving a bit of epoxy.

I prefer to err on the side of having the strongest bond strength.. So I recently pulled some bindings off some used skis Blizzard Kabookies — only a few years old. I would like to re-use the holes.

They have a metal topsheet and the threads in the metal topsheet look good. I can thread a screw in without issues. The threads in the wood are thin at best, pretty non-existant.

OK to re-use as long as the threads in the metal topsheet are OK? I am mounting Dynafits. Competent skier, but not hucking. I ski fast in good snow but dial it back in variable conditions. But you rocket scientists already knew that. I have the utmost respect for the technical sophistication of the Wildsnow community. Hey, I read the whole binding test megathread. Minor detail, but pretty much every non-metal ski calls for 3.

Typo in the original write-up Lou? And Armada calls for their special tapered 3. Just some added info for anyone attempting drilling for their first time. No re-use of holes, and the Radicals were mounted with inserts so the holes are huge. Small holes were plugged with epoxy and plastic inserts; large insert holes just coated with epoxy to seal them.

Glad this post has proved useful and helpful to Wildsnow readers. Have a good winter and keep up the great work! Hi Lou. I want to remove the lower buckle from some old Scarpa boots. There is no way to remove them with screws or threads, as far as I can see. I also thought of using a hacksaw to remove the buckle, but I will almost certainly tear up the shell somewhat.

Somehow…I think you have removed some ski buckles in your time. I saw your blog post about shortening Silvretta Pure bindings. Any help, including perhaps another method of shortening these things would be greatly appreciated. In any case, I think Lou would confirm that 4 additional holes have nearly zero effect on the ski stiffness. If the ski is going to break somewhere, I doubt it would be the stiffest part — the middle. Viktor, Matus is pretty much correct, though some fragile skis do tend to break at the binding mount area.

BTW, a mistake like that on a new pair of customer owned skis should in my opinion mean a new pair of skis for you, and the shop takes the pair with the mistake and sells them.

Sending you out on the mistake skis is pretty lame IMHO though you were very kind to let them do that, Christmas Spirit and all. All other screws have a good amount of clearance and were filled with plastic plugs.

Hello Cor, much of this depends on your style of skiing, weight, length of ski, etc. Also, are the existing holes enlarged by previous screw placement, or are they just the pin holes left by a drill bit?

If you choose to use the epoxy and steel wool method, use the same epoxy to do you final screw placement as you do for the fill, and test the final choice in epoxy by saving a blotter with the fill epoxy and hardening some of the additional epoxy on top of it. I had a situation where my final screw placement epoxy softened the original.

The holes look like they have threads cut already. I bought them from an rei garage sale for super cheap. I did manage to speak with the tech that worked on the skis. He said their jig slipped out of alignment while drilling.

The skis were never used and hole not glued. If I mount boot center on the recommended line, the front two screws overlap quite a bit while the back two are plenty far from any holes. If I mount the toe piece back. Do you know What effect moving the mount back that far will have on performance? That much happens when you mold your liners or change boot sizes.

Go for it and have fun. Carpe skium. I drilled and mounted, only to find that the template was off with two holes. Both the two rear-most holes are 1mm too wide — the template had them at 38mm, where they should be at 36mm. All the other inserts are spot on.

Do I fill with epoxy and go again which sounds dubious , or do I go with a helicoil — where do you even get one of those for Binding Freedom!? First, when using paper template always compare to actual binding by setting binding on the template as well as doing some measuring. By the same token, most paper templates have a print scale verification, be sure to check that as well. Then remove binding, and do the inserts. As for correcting this with helicoils combined with inserts, no way, as that would require boring huge holes in your skis.

Instead, I would simply relocate the heel unit forward or back a couple of centimeters so you have room for an entirely new set of holes with inserts. Locate the binding in such a that it of course will still fit your boot length after adjustment, as well as perhaps accommodating another boot you might use.

And this time, actually mount the binding heel on the new holes with normal binding screws, verify, remove, and after that install your inserts. Have found that the paper is quicker once one is used to it, due to how easy it is to center, print multiple copies etc.

Some bindings are also hard to use for marking due to parts over the holes, for example the brake pedal pad. I use both. Seems like bindings are often a little bit out of whack geometrically. I use a drill bit the same size as the screw hole in the binding to make centered marks on the top sheet. Yeah, definitely a lesson learned there! It was due to the heel piece not allowing a clear view of two holes, otherwise I would have detected it much earlier.

Drilling with normal screws would have done the same. Just for context, the ski is a cm Voile Vector. Mounted with Beast 14 toe and heel, Hagan adjustment plate at rear for race heels. I was going to use the Beast toe with a race heel only if I needed to go light — only a g penalty compared to old radical toes. However, I do agree with you about size of holes — it will get a bit ridiculous with such massive holes with an insert holding an insert holding a screw — seems to be asking for trouble.

Use this ski only with race bindings and probably throwing an old radical toe piece on — no need for rotating toe. Here is a question regarding epoxy as I recently had problems with curing 1-hour epoxy. What factors in the process are most critical? Is it application temperature?

Is it ratio of hardener to resin that is more important? Any thoughts are welcome. I suppose a batch of epoxy could also be defective. Perhaps fill the holes once, let cure, re-drill and epoxy again, perhaps test the process in one hole with one screw to determine the best approach.

My wife has a set of skis Icelantic Oracle that already has two sets of binding holes first gen Marker tour F12 and current Marker tour F12 — two different hole patterns. We think about yet again swapping bindings to a Fritschi Tecton. Reading this post and comments seems to imply it is. DIN 6. I mentioned it multiple times to be sure it was noted.

Is it fine to have them remount to 2cm forward like I asked no problem? But you perhaps should have put it in writing. This thing with wondering how much to let ski shops slack is interesting to me. Why should ski shops be any different? Remounting a pair of dynafit pdg skis original holes Will the ski hold up to normal wear and tear? How Many Holes can you Drill in a Ski? Robin September 7, - pm Hey — this is great info.

Thanks for the info! Have a great day… Ski season is on its way! Lou September 8, - am Thanks Piotr, I clarified the writing. Dane December 3, - am hi, Im buying a pair of Salomon Foils and i have been looking everywhere forf some info on drilling, i want to drill some freestyle bindings on them but should i drill them in the center? Lou December 3, - am Hi Dane, I know nothing about that. Perhaps someone else here can chime in. Thanks, Ted. Eric March 7, - pm Lou: I would like to mount a pair of Dynafit bindings on a pair of tele skis.

Lou March 8, - am Hi Eric, no general concern and tele skis usually have a massive binding mounting plate that sometimes extends under the heel area.

Brian December 13, - pm Hey, Im thinking about drilling my Rossignol bandits , so they could be tied to a shovel as an emergency sled if need be, Probably never get used in anger, but hey since since the shovel is designed for sled construction I might as well.