A couple of questions about the Catek Olympic bindings

[Derf]

I just got some used Catek Olympic, and I have a couple of questions regarding them:

1- Where do the washers go? I know they go under the plate for adjustable rise, but when I don't want any rise, where do they go? Above the plate?

2- Do I need to put anything on the screws? Nothing? Grease? Lock Tite?

3- When setting the canting screws, is it normal for the plate to bend slightly? I don't feel like I'm using any force when thightening them. They are short plates and it flexes about 1/32" of an inch (checked with a straight bar).

Thanks in advance for the info.

P.S.: I know about the search function, 18 pages worth is a bit much to sort through.

[Mike T]

1. You can either use one waher below the plate, one below and one above, or both above depending on your needs. Just make sure to use them somewhere - otherwise the kingpin will bottom out against your topsheet.

2. I never used anything on the screws; in fact I had to remove the loctite that came on several of the screws to get them to thread in.

3. Sorry, not sure on that one, but I can imagine that some small amount of deflection would be normal. Is 1/32" too much? No idea.

[Galen]

I just got some used Catek Olympic, and I have a couple of questions regarding them:

1- Where do the washers go? I know they go under the plate for adjustable rise, but when I don't want any rise, where do they go? Above the plate?

2- Do I need to put anything on the screws? Nothing? Grease? Lock Tite?

3- When setting the canting screws, is it normal for the plate to bend slightly? I don't feel like I'm using any force when thightening them. They are short plates and it flexes about 1/32" of an inch (checked with a straight bar).

Thanks in advance for the info.

P.S.: I know about the search function, 18 pages worth is a bit much to sort through.

1: Yes, above the plate, at least thats what I do.

2: Nothing.

3:I had the same thing happen to me(short plates). I contacted Catek about it, he said "yes, they may bend if you over tighten them" but did'nt think it would be a problem. Mine have since relaxed back flat. I had mine unloosen the second time out(noticed on the lift my front foot was pointing straight towards the nose ), so check them twice every time you change your angle, cuz it takes a bit for them to "set" into the divets on the disc. the trick is to set you cant and lift first, then crank it down with the king pin. If you need to, after you can give them all a 1/4 to 1/2 turn more. YOu can check the Catek forum for the thread called "check 'em every day" for more info. Not every one agrees the best way to do it.

[Derf]

3:I had the same thing happen to me(short plates). I contacted Catek about it, he said "yes, they may bend if you over tighten them" but did'nt think it would be a problem. Mine have since relaxed back flat. I had mine unloosen the second time out(noticed on the lift my front foot was pointing straight towards the nose ), so check them twice every time you change your angle, cuz it takes a bit for them to "set" into the divets on the disc. the trick is to set you cant and lift first, then crank it down with the king pin. If you need to, after you can give them all a 1/4 to 1/2 turn more. YOu can check the Catek forum for the thread called "check 'em every day" for more info. Not every one agrees the best way to do it.

Thanks all for the info, it's pretty much what I needed to know. About the screws digging in the baseplate, well, I have done a mod that I expect to post within the next week to prevent the butchering of the baseplate. More to come...

[Hugh]

Adjust your cant and lift (4 screws), then the most important step is to tighten the center king pin first, then tighten the other 4 lift screws...1/4 - 1/2 turn each. Then loosen in reverse order to remove bindings, 4 screws first, then king pin.

This is very important so the king pin does not come loose during your carving adventure.

--Hugh

[Chris Houghton]

Just to add another comment in clarifying Hugh's procedure: The center bolt must be tightened while the top plate is loose, ie the four setscrews are not even touching the base plate. After the center bolt is tight, then adjust the four setscrews for the angle, cant and lift that you like. No need to overtighten, as long as they are evenly torqued after the center bolt is tightened, they will not come loose.