Heat Molding Skates at Home

[usahockey22 0]

I received my new stealths today, and rather than pay $20+ dollars to have them molded at our local jerk-off hockey shop, or risk toasting them in the oven (have used this method in the past with old skates), I created my own heat-molding machine:

Tools used:

Old Computer Printer Box

Packaging Tape (duct tape or electrical tape would be better)

Reynold's Aluminum Foil

Hairdryer

Bad picture, and not a good thermometer to use, but I'm confident that this "oven" could reach temperatures of 160 degrees or so...my skates were supposed to be baked for 4 minutes at 200. I left them in the oven for about 6-7, figuring the temperature was a bit low. Anyway, it's a lot, lot safer than sticking them in the conventional oven.

Here's the device ready for action...preheat on high, then hurry up and stick the skates in...stick some in-lines on top to keep the air from leaking out, leave the hair dryer on low-medium. (Dryer was facing up, so as not to directly blow onto skates)

And...presto! Skates ready for heat molding. They felt just the same as they do coming out of an offical skate oven, though these particular skates don't really seem like they can mold much anyway, and I honestly don't even need to do it...they fit my feet better than anything I have ever worn, straight out of the box.

[A2rhino 70]

So how did it work?

[kovalchuk71 212]

Thats pretty sweet. See if you can get the skates to stand up like they do in the oven. Use wire or something

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I don't get it, you spring for new skates, but balk at $20 to get them baked, instead doing them at home, possibly damaging them.

That makes little to no sense to me

[usahockey22 0]

I don't get it, you spring for new skates, but balk at $20 to get them baked, instead doing them at home, possibly damaging them.

That makes little to no sense to me

The temperatures in this box were nowhere near high enough to do any damage to the skates...the skates weren't touching metal, or in contact with the heating element...the blow dryer keeps the air hot, but still in circulation. As they say, a penny saved is a penny earned. The skates fit so well anyway, so I didn't really even need to mold them, but wanted to try this, so I did.

[barrett 0]

Not sure if I would do it with $700 skates. Pretty cool and creative none the less though.

[A2rhino 70]

Did you buy them from your LHS or did you net them? My guess is if you did buy them at the LHS they wouldnt have charged to bake them.

[usahockey22 0]

Did you buy them from your LHS or did you net them? My guess is if you did buy them at the LHS they wouldnt have charged to bake them.

No, I did not buy them from my LHS. I know you will all bitch at me for this, but these people have been nothing but a headache when dealing with them...salesman deliberately misled me about what size skates he was getting in, kept me waiting for about 3 weeks for skates that wouldn't fit. Kept trying to sell me skates in the wrong size, because he wanted to get rid of one of the 5 pairs of stealths they would be selling this year instead of ordering my size. Then he told me that it would take weeks or months to get my size from Easton, as they were "all backed up " with orders...said he would call me that night after speaking with the rep, a week later, no call. So, I got them from total hockey for $50 cheaper in the right size.

Long story short, I would prefer not to do business with these guys.

BTW, total hockey was good to deal with, the order arrived next day (I'm one state over), and with their 10% off membership deal, I got these for $30 less than the standard online price.

[t-bone 1]

If you have more time than money ....

... if you have more money than time ...

... if you just want to build a skate oven ...

Good for you, now go build a boot press, riveter, and a sharpener!!!

:)

[BK 0]

I have seen people use heat guns and hair dryers (minus the box contraption you came up with).

Blow it into the skate, careful not to get it too hot (especially if you are using a heat gun). Strap that skate to your foot while sitting down. Repeat on the 2nd skate.

I prefer just going to my LHS. If you don't have one, well you have to do what you have to do.

[hockeyplaya97 0]

Good idea.

TERRIBLE PUN.

[Sven 1]

[...]and with their 10% off membership deal, I got these for $30 less than the standard online price.

So, you saved $30 - Why dont you spend $20 of the saved money for a good LHS fitting procedure?

Anyways, good luck with the Stealths and i hope you did not smoke them.

[usahockey22 0]

Good idea.

TERRIBLE PUN.

hahaha, that was the point.

So, you saved $30 - Why dont you spend $20 of the saved money for a good LHS fitting procedure?

Anyways, good luck with the Stealths and i hope you did not smoke them.

I already explained that...they tried to sell me skates that did not fit, and I already know my size. Guy was saying how the 9's would fit just fine after they break-in, even though he didn't have his feet in them...my toes were slammed up against the end, and I told him they just wouldn't fit. He wouldn't listen, and made no effort to get me 9.5s. When the 9.5s arrived in the mail, I put them on and they fit perfectly. I really didn't need to heat mold these at all, but I just thought it would be fun to try making something.

The "fitting procedure" at this shop was basically, "Here, try some skates on and let me tell you which ones fit the best so that you can buy a top of the line skate at the wrong size in order for me to sell off one of our 5 stealth pairs rather than ordering you a pair that fits."

This shop was also charging $50 more (not 30) than what I paid at totalhockey...

[Sven 1]

I already explained that...

I know, but that was not my point. After you got your skates online, you could go to that store (or maybe some other, even tho its some more miles to drive) and ask for a heat fitting procedure, which obviously would cost some bucks but since you saved some it wouldt hurt you and your wallet.

[usahockey22 0]

I know, but that was not my point. After you got your skates online, you could go to that store (or maybe some other, even tho its some more miles to drive) and ask for a heat fitting procedure, which obviously would cost some bucks but since you saved some it wouldt hurt you and your wallet.

Yes, I could have...but like I said, I didn't want to give business to this first shop, and the next closest shop is an hour's drive from me. The main thing though is that they fit so well in the first place, I wouldn't have gotten them heat molded anyway...I just wanted to try this method out; it was free, easy to make, and seems to work. Definitely better than paying 20-30 dollars at a shop, or certainly than risking skates in an actual oven.

[Viking 1]

There are some serious reading comprehension problems on this website -- the guy's LHS is no good and jerked him around, so he didn't want to spend money there. He wasn't going to get the skates there, or get "expert fitting" from them (seems like whenever I'm in an LHS, the fitting procedure also tends to be "what size do you want?" - or if they're real experts, they say "what size are your shoes?" and just tell me two sizes smaller, regardless of the skate, and without me trying them on), or give those people money for the baking after getting bad service from them. Three posts in this thread suggest the LHS, even after the first post explains exactly why he didn't go there. Sometimes a store is no good, and you don't want to shop there - even stores that happen to sell hockey equipment.

[Chadd 916]

Like the store or not, it just seems like a waste of time and effort just to avoid giving them $20. Doing a half-assed job baking skates just to spite the shop makes no sense to me.