Mountainscribe: Ultimate Touring Skis?

Sometime last winter, I decided that it would be ideal to have a lightweight ski touring setup that utilized a cable tele binding (for use with Garmont Excursion touring boots) and had a heel lock-down mechanism for more control on the downs. I also decided that if I could accomplish this for under $100, it would be a feat. Since there is nothing like this currently available on the market (at least to my knowledge), I knew that I would have to fabricate some custom parts.

Breakdown of Costs:
Karhu 10th Mountain XCD waxless skis (with "fishscale" bases): $69 at REI Garage Sale
Bucket 'o old school generic (?) AT binding parts: $10.99 on ebay (including shipping)
Riva cable tele bindings: Came free with a pair of $25 skis that I recently sold for $25.

Total Cost: about $80 + tax

Fabrication and Mounting:

I began the project with a pair of skis, a pair of cable tele bindings and an assortment of old AT binding parts.

Next, I removed the toe bails (with baseplates) from a broken pair of AT bindings and cut off the toe bail with a hacksaw. The result was a pair of aluminum baseplates.

After the baseplates were free of the toe bails, I figured out that I needed to remove the lip in order to mount the televators on top. The small weight savings was a nice bonus.

Once the lip was removed (with a hacksaw), I filed the edges of the baseplates.

After finishing the initial mods on the baseplates, I removed the heel bails from the broken AT bindings and stuck them into the holes on the baseplates that were left behind by the toe bails.

At this point, I mounted the cable tele bindings and took some measurements for the baseplates/heel bails.

Since I would be mounting the televators on top of the baseplates, I needed to cut some small holes into the baseplates to accomodate the movement of the televators. I used one of the televator mounting plates as a guide.