Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Sorry if this is not the right forum to ask for this, all I want is the metal clip; I have been experimenting with skins, I am a beginner skier (but still an engineer) and this winter hasn't been great; so I just been fidgeting and making things so I wanted to try making my own skins from raw materials.

But the x-skin clip seems like a nightmare to make, so I reckon it'd be easier to just get it from someone who is going to dispose it.

I have bunch of machines at home for textiles, I gotta use them.

Please don't try to dissuade me, I like to make things; just wanna know if I could get those clips in Finland or where I could, I only know this forum.

Also any idea where I may get the skin material either mohair/nylon/or blend; but without the backing glue, just the thin outside, I will process that myself as well; been searching for mohair fabric but clearly that's not.

Oh my friend, this is emphatically the correct place to discuss this!

If you do a search I think you'll even find members you can hassle for parts and advice.

As a fellow ruminant, @sheep, may I compliment you on your wool? Nice to keep warm.

I'm also looking for replacement parts, the rivets for the tails of the military Xskins. I've written Asnes customer service more than once with no answers in return, which I understand is pretty normal for that company, although disappointing.
Anyone have a good source for something that would work? Even with a recoat of the excellent Gold Label skin glue, Xskin tails will pull away from the skis at times, which is annoying, at the least. Don't wanna use straps or duct tape, or full length skins with tail hooks for the type of terrain I ski with the Combats; rolling, short climbs on long moderate tours.

Musk Ox wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 1:29 pm

Oh my friend, this is emphatically the correct place to discuss this!

If you do a search I think you'll even find members you can hassle for parts and advice.

As a fellow ruminant,

Rummys need to stick together!

randoskier wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 6:33 pm

Musk Ox wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 1:29 pm

Oh my friend, this is emphatically the correct place to discuss this!

If you do a search I think you'll even find members you can hassle for parts and advice.

As a fellow ruminant,

Rummys need to stick together!

As a username, @sheep is kind of the best I've ever seen. With the picture. I mean, you know where you are with sheep. You know what you're going to get. You know you can depend on sheep.

fgd135 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 5:47 pm

I'm also looking for replacement parts, the rivets for the tails of the military Xskins. I've written Asnes customer service more than once with no answers in return, which I understand is pretty normal for that company, although disappointing.
Anyone have a good source for something that would work? Even with a recoat of the excellent Gold Label skin glue, Xskin tails will pull away from the skis at times, which is annoying, at the least. Don't wanna use straps or duct tape, or full length skins with tail hooks for the type of terrain I ski with the Combats; rolling, short climbs on long moderate tours.

I actually was planning to make a rivet with a M4 screw and a lot of grinding, because it's at the bottom the fact it's stainless steel should not damage the mechanism, even 1mm stainless can hold; you can also add a washer, some resin and just grind until it has the desired shape.

My plan was however using a 3d printer when I make my own skins and just use a small tab, the design is different nevertheless.

You can also thicken the screw with some resin, little by little by brushing it in, the hole is exactly 5mm, but metal and wood contracts in the cold at different rates, so M5 would be too accurate, however something like 4.75mm should do for an even more snug fit, and resin can do the job well.

The most difficult part is the bottom, and you'd have to grind slowly not to destroy the steel with the heat.

Then gluing it to the skin should do, it doesn't need to glue too perfectly because it is not holding any realistical load but rather keeping tension, as the front does more hold, as well as the glue to the ski surface (if any).

fgd135 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 5:47 pm

I'm also looking for replacement parts, the rivets for the tails of the military Xskins. I've written Asnes customer service more than once with no answers in return, which I understand is pretty normal for that company, although disappointing.
Anyone have a good source for something that would work? Even with a recoat of the excellent Gold Label skin glue, Xskin tails will pull away from the skis at times, which is annoying, at the least. Don't wanna use straps or duct tape, or full length skins with tail hooks for the type of terrain I ski with the Combats; rolling, short climbs on long moderate tours.

Honestly judging by the look of it that picture it seems to be cheap ABS, if you make some of stainless and resin, they will last a lifetime, angle grinder and washer.

https://accu-components.com/us/ultra-wi ... 36-ZWM4X10

Also I found something like this, wide head M4 screws, fill the gap with resin, grind a bit more.

Musk Ox wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 1:29 pm

Oh my friend, this is emphatically the correct place to discuss this!

If you do a search I think you'll even find members you can hassle for parts and advice.

As a fellow ruminant, , may I compliment you on your wool? Nice to keep warm.

My fellow hervibore, so any idea where I can get that buckle thingy

I actually have a wild idea to make some side clips with a 3d printer, which should resolve the issues @fgd135 is talking about, at least in theory, and in fact provide me with a glueless solid skin, my friend is making fun of me nevertheless.

There's an attachment point that one may ignore but that's the steel edges, they actually can clamp very well, given the steel edges run all the way through the skin, and they widen at the bottom, if you make a piece under tension (say with a more or less soft plastic like abs) it should resist being moved backwards, follow the camber, have all the resistance towards moving upwards (I mean the ski is on the way), but have very little resistance to being pulled out similar to what tape would achieve, except without glue, and with far more resistance to pull.

I don't think this could be a commercial success because it simply needs to be too accurate, 0.15mm accuracy according to the tests I did, I usually oversize by 0.2mm and begin grinding, but I only did a useless clamp but it showed promise to make skins with that idea, that means that even if just one of them works in one ski it may not work with the other.

The skin will also end up being rigid, and be incredibly easy to put, according to my calculations; 30 seconds both skins without taking the skis off, you just insert, and then tap with a fist; to remove you just pull and it clicks out.

Of course that's assuming it all comes out right, all theorethical I don't know, I need to try.

fgd135 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 5:47 pm

I'm also looking for replacement parts, the rivets for the tails of the military Xskins. I've written Asnes customer service more than once with no answers in return, which I understand is pretty normal for that company, although disappointing.
Anyone have a good source for something that would work? Even with a recoat of the excellent Gold Label skin glue, Xskin tails will pull away from the skis at times, which is annoying, at the least. Don't wanna use straps or duct tape, or full length skins with tail hooks for the type of terrain I ski with the Combats; rolling, short climbs on long moderate tours.

Sorry to bother again but I think I understood why it was made out of plastic, technically you can still make it out of stainless steel and resin, but it's probably because it has flex in the upper part to hold itself in place, likely a slit in the middle; it would work with steel but be a lot more powerful, maybe unnecessarily powerful, also need a lot more precision than an angle grinder can give to make that slit.

You can simply make them out of plastic as well, and just have a ton of disposable ones; ABS would in fact be a good fit, and just 3d print it, it should work just fine even if they won't have a long life, but that's okay you just bring spares in the trip.

Of course you can also just use the screw as it is, grind the bottom, and have a tip on top and screw it in place with a nut so that it is held tight.

I actually tested that and it worked, but you run the risk of that system freezing solid, so you need a big lever in the top handle, which you can make with something from the hardware store as well, like a thin aluminum pipe, if you go like that.

Sadly we are two worlds appart otherwise, me and my friend would be fixing it in the garage already

sheep wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 01, 2025 8:06 am

Musk Ox wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2025 1:29 pm

Oh my friend, this is emphatically the correct place to discuss this!

If you do a search I think you'll even find members you can hassle for parts and advice.

As a fellow ruminant, , may I compliment you on your wool? Nice to keep warm.

My fellow hervibore, so any idea where I can get that buckle thingy

My dear sheep, I think there are some members in this thread who might be able to point you in the right direction:

viewtopic.php?t=3896

There've been a couple of threads, I think, but the culprits here are your first port of call.

EDIT: Here's the other thread, I think!

https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3265

Do you like lichen or are you strictly grass?