ski binding mounting

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goneskiing
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Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:25 pm

ski binding mounting

Post by goneskiing »

hey guys,
i've been reading this forum for the past year and am finally about to lay up my first set of skis. one thing that i can't seem to get a straight answer anywhere about is how you guys are determining the mounting points of your bindings. i've read lots of web page forums and you get everybody saying that you just need to go out and ride them, but then there's lots of people that will look at the dimensions of a ski and say hey, this center line needs to be put here. others, from a big ski shop out here have simply told me to mount to the highest point of camber on the ski. anyways, if theres a mathmatic way of getting a ballpark figure of where i want to start thinking of mounting, or some rule of thumb that you use, you guys would be putting me at ease come time to drill my first hole. it makes sense to me that i would just mount it in the center of my sidecut, and then move a couple cm forward and back to fine tune where i really want it to be.
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Dr. Delam
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Post by Dr. Delam »

There is so much that affects where to mount them that I strongly suggest putting a pair of demo bindings on first. Without knowing anything about the skis and what terrain they are designed for, it is difficult to make a recommendation. Heck even the manufacturers put different mounting lines on their skis depending on what you plan on doing with them.

For what it is worth, I put my boot centerline at 45-46% of tip to tail length, measuring from the tail, for most skis that I don't ride switch. I also factor this in when I am designing the skis.

Grab yourself some cheap demo bindings that have moveable toes and go skiing.
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vinman
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Post by vinman »

Dd why do you measure from the tail? Most of what I've read and have been using is ~55% of either overall length or 55%of the running length for boot sle center.

I guess if would end up being about equal doing it your way, but I was just curious on why you do it differently?
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goneskiing
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Post by goneskiing »

awesome, thanks guys that helps
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Dr. Delam
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Post by Dr. Delam »

Vinman, back in the day, all skis had flat and squared off tails. You always just hooked the tape on the end of the tail and pulled to measure your mounting points. The old school skis had really pointy tips that would make it really difficult for your tape to stay hooked. So I guess what I am saying is that I am old and stubborn, and 55% from the tip is the same as 45% from the tail.
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vinman
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Post by vinman »

Makes sense, I too remember straight skis with squared tails and pointy tips.
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Isawsass
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Post by Isawsass »

When you factor in the 45 to 46% from the tail are you making this the height of the camber, thickest point of the core, or narrowest point of the side, just curious? I just got my first skis into the press and designed the height of the camber to be at the boot toe for a 308bsl and the boot mid sole to be at the narrowest point of the sidecut and the thickest point of the core. I am not saying that I am right by any means. I am planning on getting out and testing in a in a week or so.
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
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Dr. Delam
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Post by Dr. Delam »

I think you are on the right track. I have been designing my sidecuts so the narrowest point of the ski is close to boot midsole or just slightly behind. Most of my skis have very little camber or none at all and I control it with heat with a flat mold. I usually put my thickest part of the core a few centimeters in front of the boot midsole. I don't do a flat spot at all in the binding area.

How about some more pics of your building progress? As always, we love to see what people are working on. Where are you getting to ski in August?
skidesmond
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Post by skidesmond »

I think the normal/typical mount is such that the mid-point on the boot sole should line up at the narrowest part of the ski and the max height of the camber is also at the narrowest point of the ski.

I put these 2 points at the running length (RL) /2 +50mm. The running length is the length of the ski minus the tip and tail lengths.

Ex: 180cm ski with a tip length of 140mm and tail length of 60mm has a running length of 160cm. The midpoint is (1600mm/2)+50mm = 850mm. So for me the mid point of my skis are at 850mm (remember 850mm does not include the tip).

If you were to measure from the tip of the ski tip to the mid point, the length is 140+850=990mm

But that's where I set my midpoint most of the time. Depending on the ski some times I don't add the 50mm.
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