Removing NIS plate to install SNS binding

Using a block plane to plane away the NIS plate.

My Salomon ski boots fit me much better than any NNN boot I tried. But these days half the skis on the market (if not more) are sold with NIS plates, which makes installing SNS bindings a bit cumbersome. Having tried some Atomic and Salomon skis, I decided that I like a particular model of Fischer skis better, but the NIS plate on them bugged the OCD part of me, which wanted to not have the stupid unnecessary plates. Contemplating this, I saw a Youtube video (in Russian language) of a guy removing the NIS plates from a pair of skis using a hand plane. Being a woodworker, I could not pass the opportunity to use my hand planes AND satisfy the OCD part of me at the same time, so I set out to remove the plate. Spoiler: I would probably not do it again.

Using a Stanley No.5 jack plane to hog away bulk of the NIS plate.

I clamped the ski to my bench, inserting a block of wood under the crown. Later I covered the area in front and in the back of the plate with some masking tape to avoid scratching it accidentally. I started by using a Stanley No.5 jack plane to take thick shavings off the plate. When there was not much thickness left, I switched to a block plane because it is easier to control (I was afraid of cutting too deep and damaging the edges of the skis.

I discovered that there was a small (0.5mm or so) recess in the ski just under the plate. The recess was filled with some kind of glue, that affixed the plate to the ski. Unlike with the Madshus skis in the above Youtube video, the ski’s paint job was interrupted under the NIS plate, so traceless removal of the NIS plate was not possible in my case.

NIS plates removed.

Once I realized that, my objective was no longer to remove all traces of the NIS plate, but to remove enough of it to create a platform that’s level with the side edges of the ski. In some places, a very thin layer of the plate remained in place, in other places the underlying glue started showing through. Most of this will be invisible once the bindings are installed.

Ugly glue showing from underneath SNS bindings.

Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of glue-filled recess visible in front of the installed SNS bindings. (Notice that there is more glue visible for the ski on the left, this is because one NIS plate was not aligned properly with the ski’s balance point on one of the skis). I will have to live with this ugliness; it does not bother me all that much, but I know that many people have a more developed sense of aesthetics than me.

Some ugliness behind the SNS bindings, too.

Behind the SNS bindings, the glue is not visible, but there is a bit of ugliness on one of the skis, where the NIS plate’s tip slightly damaged the clear coat.

It took me about 30 minutes to hog the plates off. On the one hand, it gives me an odd sense of satisfaction to have them removed; it’s like getting even with the ski manufacturers who don’t care enough about interoperability. On the other hand, the skis have undeniably become uglier. I may have scuffed the clear coat on the edges of the skis in a few places. Overall, I don’t think that I would do this again. I would probably grind my teeth and live with the bindings mounted on top of NIS plates.

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9 comments

  1. Holy crap dude!

    I’m in the same situation. It’s been years since I bought skis, and got a pair of Fischer’s, and bought on the same day Salomon boots… it was a going out of business sale – and the people “helping” me failed to mention this detail. Thanks for the info piece, I think I might just screw the pilot binding on the NIS plate.

    1. Yes, don’t bother with the Salomon’s NIS “adapters” or with removing the NIS plates, just screw the bindings right on top of the NIS plates, you’ll be fine.

      1. No it is not fine – the binding lock mechanism tends to jam a bit on the edges of NIS plate. Making it flat is a good preliminary step but not a real must

        1. You mean the mechanism underneath the binding catches on some parts of the NIS plate? This makes sense, thanks for the comment. I have no first-hand experience with installing SNS bindings on top of NIS plates, so I was relying on many reports of people doing this successfully.

  2. I cought my ski tip in the deeper snow on the edge of the track and ripped the edge of the NIS plate off one ski (Rossignol X-ium). My local shop just screwed new Solomon Prolink bindings through the NIS plates. At first I was also skeptical, but I’ve been skiing this way now for the last 2 seasons and it works fine. The extra thickness of the plate isn’t really noticeable.

    1. Haha, you just described exactly what happened to me last weekend. Same accident, even the same skis. I wound up on this site because I thought it would be clean and look cool if I could remove the plate. But the ski shop is telling me to just screw a prolink over it….which I’m going to do.

  3. Just buy a pair of Salomon ProLink boots that have the NNN binding sole and make the switch. I heard Salomon is discontinuing the Profil SNS system and moving to the NNN Prolink, so now is the time.

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