Naxo Binding Home Mounting Step-By-Step
Part 3 -- Power Tools!

By Lou Dawson

Paper template taped to ski, boot/binding combo set on top to double check placement of template.

1. After verifying the placement of your paper template, grab a sharp center punch and hammer, and using the the screw marks on the paper template, punch small dimples in the top skin of the ski. With the rear marks, be extra careful to punch for the correct length of binding. To avoid error, I cross out the wrong holes before grabbing any dangerous and powerful tools.

2. Remove the template from the ski. Chuck a sharp 5/32 inch bit in your drill. (Using a sharp drill bit prevents the bit from wandering sideways while you drill.) Seat a screw in the binding so you can see how far it will protrude from binding into ski. Tape a depth stop to your drill bit by wrapping tightly with electrical tape. Drill ONE of the forward screw holes. Drill with minimal pressure, so you don't mash through a ski. Remember, only drill one front hole at this point, and be clear that you're only working with the toe unit at this point, the heel heel unit comes later.

(Note: Using a special ski drill bit is better. These are available from etailers such as SlideWright.)

If you do totally klutz it and drill through a ski, it's actually not that big a deal (repair with epoxy and P-tex), but it's considered poor style -- to say the least -- and is none too good for your kitchen countertop.

3. Screw binding to ski and check everything. Put a small amount of 1-hour epoxy or wood glue in the one hole you drilled, then screw front of binding to ski, latch in a boot, and check your for/aft and side/side alignment. Unless you're an experienced craftsman, don't use a power driver for binding screws. Instead, use a screw driver with a pozi-drive bit to fit screws that come with the binding (with care you can use a jumbo philips bit, but pozi is much better.) Be extremely cautious as as you tighten the screws, so not to strip the screw holes. One reason I recommend epoxy for mounting is that it seals and locks the screws even if they are not tightened to the absolute max, thus allowing the home-brew mounter a bit of caution while tightening.

4. Check? If everything looks good, rotate the binding or remove it, drill the other 3 forward holes (don't drill the rear ones yet), and put glue in the holes.

Bottom of bumper with red protective cover still on.

5. Remove protective covering from the adhesive under the bumper (photo). If binding is still attached with one screw, rotate back into position while holding the bumper up, then let it stick down when it's in the correct place. Before sticking down, clean top of ski with rubbing alcohol -- or clean with something stronger if you suspect it's necessary to remove who knows what gunk. Many ski sellers shine their skis with Amorall or silicon, so this cleaning is super important. Also, once you get the bumper stuck in the correct place, hold it down tightly for at least 3 minutes, as the special adhesive takes time to properly adhere to the ski topskin.

Snug down the front screws to the point where they're somewhat tight, but allow the rear of the binding to wriggle sideways with a bit of hand force. Using the center line on your ski, shift the binding so the rear end cap on the rails is centered (measure if necessary, or eyeball it). Now tighten the screws, all the while checking the rear end-cap for centering.

[Naxo Binding Mounting -- Page 4]