Lightspeed Edge Holder Mounting

[Arkainium 1]

Is it possible to tell if a holder is mounted properly by looking at a picture of it?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fOaTZOTVp5cUszdDZfcmtHNTRpcDJhYWhyeE1v/view

The problem I'm having is that I'm struggling to swap the runners with Step Blacksteel. Maybe it's the coating on the blacksteel that makes the slot in the holder a really tight fit? The thing is, the stock LS3 steel does have a slight curve to it so I'm hoping that's not due to the alignment of the holder which might explain why sticking the straight blacksteel into it could be difficult.

I also see more space in the heel than I'm used to seeing. Is that normal?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fObUN3cG9nOUQ4bXZ3VXJFc08xUUVNWmRQdTBr/view

When I took them to my LHS they thought I was crazy when I asked if they had a tool that could measure and/or correct the straightness of a runner.

Thanks in advance.

[CigarScott 132]

Heat the holders with a heat gun before popping Black Step Steel in for the first time.  I had the same problem, too and once I heated the holders up to make the plastic expand and more maleable, I was finally able to pop in my Step Steel.

[Sniper9 517]

Try putting the step steel in as best u can with ur skates on. Then use you body weight and stand on it and it should pop in.  

I personally would avoid heating the actual holders and instead, put the steel in the freezer and then try putting it in after a few mins. 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Sniper9

[Arkainium 1]

Getting some interesting ideas here. I can use my body weight with the skates on my feet but I’m really worried about forcing the steel into the holder if they aren’t perfectly straight. Don’t want to risk bending the steel. Maybe I’m just being paranoid because the stock LS3 is slightly curved. Going back and looking at older posts it sounds like it’s not that uncommon for the steel to come from the factory.

Any thoughts about the heel of the skate? Shouldn’t the holder be flush with the boot in the back and front?

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

It's hard to tell from that picture.  The left boot looks to be mounted slightly inward than the right, but then again, from that angle, I can't tell about the rest of the alignment.

There are tools that you can determine alignment with.  Maximum Edge has one.

The gap in the heel isn't a huge problem, but usually something you don't see from a stock mount.  Question...what size are they?  I remember we had to send back a bunch of skates from that line (mainly MX3s) in big sizes due to the shoddy mounts they came with.  I believe it was 288 and 296.

However, if you're basing this just on the inability of putting Step in, that's usually the case with Step Black.  You have to snap it in there to make sure it goes in sometimes.

[Arkainium 1]

LHS does not have any tools for this unfortunately. Any angle that would help for doing this visually?

Here’s an overhead view:

left https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fOMDRqM3RnaXBCVWtHcE01clVIVEhkeGt0aUpv/view

right https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fOa2cwTUY5MU0wTTM4LWhuclhHUDJlYUZINTZB/view

The left boot happens to be the one that had the slightly curved runner. 

Also these are from the MX3 line: supreme 190. Size 7 though, so 263 holder. 

Got them “new” from eBay to avoid the new injected eyelets without going custom. 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Arkainium

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Yes - the back of the skate, from tendon guard to runner, then from heel of boot to middle of holder.

7 hours ago, Arkainium said:

LHS does not have any tools for this unfortunately. Any angle that would help for doing this visually?

 

[Sniper9 517]

I had issues with step black going in vs stock Bauer steel on my edge holders. The edge holders were a nightmare for me in general. Only ever user them for about five skates and ditched them for ls2s which are still my favorite holders. I prefer a bolt system to hold runners, personally. 

[Arkainium 1]

16 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Yes - the back of the skate, from tendon guard to runner, then from heel of boot to middle of holder.

 

Back of skate I get but what do you mean by heel of boot to middle of holder?

[superchad 2]

anyone ever used the blademaster alignment tool? is it any good?

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

20 hours ago, Arkainium said:

Back of skate I get but what do you mean by heel of boot to middle of holder?

Closer up

11 hours ago, superchad said:

anyone ever used the blademaster alignment tool? is it any good?

Nah, I use the Custom Skateworks RAT-300. 

[gosinger 122]

@JR Boucicaut I saw your post on the RAT here, would you mind giving some insight into how you would do alignment of a fresh skate both without specialized tools (to show what we are trying to achieve) and with such a tool (to show how mechanical engineers assist in achieving it - twitter #1, #2)? Would be greatly appreciated.

[Arkainium 1]

On 4/22/2019 at 3:59 PM, JR Boucicaut said:

Yes - the back of the skate, from tendon guard to runner, then from heel of boot to middle of holder.

 

How’s this?

left:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fOVzBTZC1pTk1BQ29ZRUlPaVkycWM5TnBFd25Z/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fOdy1SQkhXNlNPU3JzREpBS29xbE1ESkxiS0Vv/view

right:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fON0NBZ21GNWpVanZZdWlCcVBLZ1MyS19TYVdV/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwSiofaCU6fOSG41WWd5X1dQcm9FbElBZUdWLXR6NFd5RVEw/view

Thanks for helping out with this. It’s much appreciated.