[XXX_er]

A good thing to do on any binding mount is go slow, drill the 1st hole, put in one screw to begin with and see how everything lines up so if you screwed something up you only need to deal with one bad hole, does that boot actualy land dead center on the ski top ... if not why not ?

For AT I mount the heel piece dead center, the toe piece by 1 screw so the toe piece can easily swivel side to side and then drill the other 3 screw so the binding rail slips into the heel piece nicely

IME beer is fine for tele mounts cuz you only need enough time to mount half a binding but on alpine or AT mounts ... nothing but coffee

[kanusport]

Thanks for all the good feedback everyone. I would love to mount my own bindings but I am much more of a nuts and bolts car mechanic type then a woods op type maybe someday.
Thanks again

[skizix]

I have had reputable shops, using a jig, botch the job a couple of times. Like, the heel of one boot wound up off-center by ~1/4" or more (and yes, I switched L/R boots and measured carefully, to make sure it was not the boots, which was in both cases the shops' knee-jerk response). I was irritated, because, well...the shop should get it right, right? But whatever, after being pretty pissy, it turns out that one (well this one at least, but I am pretty discerning, equipment-wise) can definitely not feel the difference out on the hill. Really, you can't. You'd probably think that you could, but...you'd be mistaken.

I've mounted several pairs myself. Never used a jig, and never botched it. Am I that much better than the shop tech? Highly doubtful! I was just obsessed with doing a job that turns out to be not that difficult, perfectly, while the shop tech was just (evidently) trying to get through his assigned tasks so he could then have a beer (which BTW makes a **strong** case for having a beer **before and/or during** the mounting process ). This does not let the shop tech off the hook, because he was clearly slacking, but happily...it matters not.

Conclusion: it's the Indian, not the arrow, for sure, in this case. Well, that and...how much of a shit the Indian is giving at the time.

Go jig shop, non-jig shop, or do it yourself. If you feel worried, go with the one of the three your gut trusts most, completely disregarding equipment at hand. Otherwise...do what seems easiest/cheapest/makes-most-sense. And if the mount winds up a tiny bit off, try hard not to let your BP go through the roof -- despite the piss welling up in your throat...it's not going to matter, as long as the front of the binding is facing the front of the ski. Promise (and I'm not in any way being condescending -- really, I got super tense when it happened to me: almost insisted on a new pair of skis from the shop, but...honestly, in the end it did not matter a fig).

Mount point is way more important than a perfecly aligned mount (as has been alluded to). Sounds crazy, perhaps, but it's 100% true.
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Control is never achieved when sought after directly. It is the surprising outcome of letting go.

[Flyoverland Escapee]