Schmoe wrote:

I'm new to the group and hope the flames will be kept to a minimum. My 6
year old was skiing on a pair of tiny Elan's which have relatively new and
in excellent shape Salomon 300 bindings. I managed to get a great deal on a
new set of K2 Magic from a Sports Authority ($50) and want to use the 300
bindings on these K2's but with the exact same boots. My son's weight has
not changed much since last season.

This binding simply use 4 screws in the back and 3 in the front. Can I mount
these bindings with the exact same measurements (distance between front
binding and back binding) from the old ski but percentage out for the
correct location on the new skis (110's)? The local shops want $50 just to
mount bindings because I didn't buy the boots or skis there. I know how to
adjust bindings for the additional weight and skill level and check for
motion etc... but need to know the specifics of drilling (measured depth)
and glue (what kind?).

Any help is appreciate. Please save the "pay the $50" flames. I'd like to
know if this is as simple as it looks.

You need to know several things
Where should the boot be on the new skis? Some skiboots don't even have
the center mark, so right away you're up against dealing with ski
cord-length and boot toe position issues - a whole art unto itself.
Assuming the boots and the skis have center marks, you position the
boots at the right location, set the binding heels to the middle of
their track, place the toe and heal bindings pieces appropriately, mark,
centerpunch, and drill the holes, screw the binding down, set the
forward pressure adjustment, set the DIN adjustment, and check for
proper release function and release force. (BTW, you mount the second
ski relative to the first ski binding position; not by going through the
positioning process again. You want matched mountings, even if the ski
position marks are slightly askew.)

Problems occur in drilling the holes right through the base - using a
drill press makes that easy to avoid; and in mis-drilling - proper
center punching can control mis-drilling. But the primary problem is in
testing release function and force - and this is why most will advise
against doing your own mounting, including me. The shop charges alot
because they have an expensive, complex machine to amortise that does
these tests accurately. So there's some risk in doing it yourself: it
can be done. BTW, my boy spiraled his tibia when he was 5 - landed a
jump wrong. The bindings were professionally mounted and checked; it
didn't help. Skiing's a risk sport.

I recommend you not mount your own, but get a shop to mount and test the
bindings. (However, you can get a shop to adjust and test bindings that
are already mounted - probably for about half the mount price. They
won't know you mounted them yourself, if you did it right.)