In search of the most suitable BC ski

[GrimSurfer]

You can just use a larger drill bit for the bevel as @Theme mentioned. I suggest the bevel bit pictured because it works really well in plastic, with a super clean cut. That is exactly what it is designed for. Plus the angle of the cut matches the bevel angle of the screw. Maybe five bucks. I would not use the other tools mentioned.

You need to use a bevel gauge to make sure that the fastener and bit are the same angle. Without one of those, it’s a crap shoot regardless of what style bit you use. Why? Because fasteners have all kinds of bevel angles depending on whether they’re metric, SAE, UNC, UNF etc.

The problem with simply using a bigger standard drill bit for the head is that the bevel is almost certainly wrong. The head will not seat properly. More stress will occur where the material meets the top of the shank, which could lead to cracking. If the material is soft, it might just cam out over time and need to be tightened, retightened, tightened after that, and so on.

But hey, wtf do I know? Maybe I’m thinkun too much for Telemark Talk.

Everyone will go ahead and do what they want anyway. No sense using the right tools or even thinking about shit. That’s for amateurs. Life is more interesting when punctuated by failure. And it’s repeatable too, so the fun can last practically forever.

Theme did it and it worked very well, look at his sled.

Wow man. What a gift… judging a fastener by how a sled “looks”. LOL

My post wasn’t to critique Theme’s sled… it was to highlight how the lowest common denominator gains constituency around here.

That part of the discussion started out on how to create a beveled hole. Reasonable suggestions followed. Then a solution — not to bevel the hole at all — was selected. Folks then went along.

There’s nothing particularly “fancy” about a counterbore bit, or a bevel gauge. If you bring the fastener to a reasonably stocked hardware store, you can get both for $10-20/euros.

Now I don’t pull a pulk, but I’d imagine it isn’t easier if the skid or shoe detaches tens of kilometres into the bush. So that’s a job you might want to do correctly.

Crazy talk eh? I’m just thinkun too hard again, I guess. Scaring folk with dangerous thoughts.

[wabene]

Theme's solution wasn't not to create a bevel. He suggested first piloting the hole then using a larger standard bit to create the bevel.

So nobody suggested not recessing the screw.

[randoskier]

Theme did it and it worked very well, look at his sled.

Wow man. What a gift… judging a fastener by how a sled “looks”. LOL

My post wasn’t to critique Theme’s sled… it was to highlight how the lowest common denominator gains constituency around here.

That part of the discussion started out on how to create a beveled hole. Reasonable suggestions followed. Then a solution — not to bevel the hole at all — was selected. Folks then went along.

There’s nothing particularly “fancy” about a counterbore bit, or a bevel gauge. If you bring the fastener to a reasonably stocked hardware store, you can get both for $10-20/euros.

Now I don’t pull a pulk, but I’d imagine it isn’t easier if the skid or shoe detaches tens of kilometres into the bush. So that’s a job you might want to do correctly.

Crazy talk eh? I’m just thinkun too hard again, I guess. Scaring folk with dangerous thoughts.

He has over 1000 km on his pulk. He paid $20 for the HDPE runners why blow another $20 on a tool you might use once or twice? He did a nice job.

[GrimSurfer]

Theme's solution wasn't not to create a bevel. He suggested first piloting the hole then using a larger standard bit to create the bevel.

So nobody suggested not recessing the screw.

Yup, I understand that.

A recessed hole is different than a beveled one.

A recessed hole will work fine for a dome head fastener, provided that the aim isn’t a flush fit. Obviously, this isn’t ideal because the hole itself creates drag (even if the edges are relieved). You can get around this by cutting and glueing in a plug, but high molecular weight plastics are very slippery… they don’t take glue well.

A beveled hole will work best for flat head fastener because the taper of the hole and bottom of the head will spread force. Having a slight recess to prevent the head from wearing is a reasonable compromise.

If you look at a drill bit, however, you’ll notice that it has a bevel. So they’re not the best for a dome head fastener (these fasteners are meant to sit on top of the material being fastened. They’re not even good for flatheads because the angles are different. Why? Because a standard drill bit is designed to drill *through* things.

It might be OK cranking things down but high molecular weight plastics are prone to splitting. When that happens, the only fix is replacement of the runner.

This is how fasteners are designed to work. They’re often used differently. Failure, obviously, is something worth avoiding in an application like a pulk used for any kind of distance skiing in the wilderness.

I know… people thing all this is bullshit, hogwash, etc. But it costs so very little to do the job correctly. At worst, it means the job is 20€ more. At best, it saves a headache on the trail and having to repurchase another set of runners/guides and do the whole goddam thing over again… with the 20€ in tools you had to buy on the second go around to do the job correctly.

[GrimSurfer]

Wow man. What a gift… judging a fastener by how a sled “looks”. LOL

My post wasn’t to critique Theme’s sled… it was to highlight how the lowest common denominator gains constituency around here.

That part of the discussion started out on how to create a beveled hole. Reasonable suggestions followed. Then a solution — not to bevel the hole at all — was selected. Folks then went along.

There’s nothing particularly “fancy” about a counterbore bit, or a bevel gauge. If you bring the fastener to a reasonably stocked hardware store, you can get both for $10-20/euros.

Now I don’t pull a pulk, but I’d imagine it isn’t easier if the skid or shoe detaches tens of kilometres into the bush. So that’s a job you might want to do correctly.

Crazy talk eh? I’m just thinkun too hard again, I guess. Scaring folk with dangerous thoughts.

He has over 1000 km on his pulk. He paid $20 for the HDPE runners why blow another $20 on a tool you might use once or twice? He did a nice job.

Gotcha. Not trying to be a smart ass here but I would observe that in a contest between quick and cheap and careful and correct, quick and cheap wins every time.

I’ve seen this in other threads on this forum… even to the point where it has cost people a set of skis.

That’s just me though, being crazy again.

[randoskier]

Gotcha. Not trying to be a smart ass here but I would observe that in a contest between quick and cheap and careful and correct, quick and cheap wins every time.

I’ve seen this in other threads on this forum… even to the point where it has cost people a set of skis.

That’s just me though, being crazy again.

Results matter, methods do not. He got the desired result.

[wabene]

@randoskier "He has over 1000 km on his pulk. He paid $20 for the HDPE runners why blow another $20 on a tool you might use once or twice? He did a nice job."

Oh I'd blow the money for the tool, but I do have TAS as well as GAS

[randoskier]

@randoskier "He has over 1000 km on his pulk. He paid $20 for the HDPE runners why blow another $20 on a tool you might use once or twice? He did a nice job."

Oh I'd blow the money for the tool, but I do have TAS as well as GAS

Wunderbar!

[randoskier]

@randoskier "He has over 1000 km on his pulk. He paid $20 for the HDPE runners why blow another $20 on a tool you might use once or twice? He did a nice job."

Oh I'd blow the money for the tool, but I do have TAS as well as GAS

Not sure what you are referring to.

[randoskier]

You need to use a bevel gauge to make sure that the fastener and bit are the same angle. Without one of those, it’s a crap shoot regardless of what style bit you use. Why? Because fasteners have all kinds of bevel angles depending on whether they’re metric, SAE, UNC, UNF etc.

The problem with simply using a bigger standard drill bit for the head is that the bevel is almost certainly wrong. The head will not seat properly. More stress will occur where the material meets the top of the shank, which could lead to cracking. If the material is soft, it might just cam out over time and need to be tightened, retightened, tightened after that, and so on.

But hey, wtf do I know? Maybe I’m thinkun too much for Telemark Talk.

Everyone will go ahead and do what they want anyway. No sense using the right tools or even thinking about shit. That’s for amateurs. Life is more interesting when punctuated by failure. And it’s repeatable too, so the fun can last practically forever.

You seem to have a problem with basic reading comprehension and perhaps concentration.


Theme did it and it worked very well, look at his sled.

Wow man. What a gift… judging a fastener by how a sled “looks”. LOL

My post wasn’t to critique Theme’s sled… it was to highlight how the lowest common denominator gains constituency around here.

That part of the discussion started out on how to create a beveled hole. Reasonable suggestions followed. Then a solution — not to bevel the hole at all — was selected. Folks then went along.

There’s nothing particularly “fancy” about a counterbore bit, or a bevel gauge. If you bring the fastener to a reasonably stocked hardware store, you can get both for $10-20/euros.

Now I don’t pull a pulk, but I’d imagine it isn’t easier if the skid or shoe detaches tens of kilometres into the bush. So that’s a job you might want to do correctly.

Crazy talk eh? I’m just thinkun too hard again, I guess. Scaring folk with dangerous thoughts.