Chassis maintenance/installation

[umafuaba 0]

I've been looking through the Custom Skate thread and I am pretty impressed. What sort of tools do I need to uninstall/install chassis on a boot? Are all chassis holes on the bottom of the boot standard in arrangement, or do new holes have to be drilled every time you put on a different style chassis? Does the lifetime of the boot decrease with each chassis swap? I have an old pair of HiLo chassis that I was thinking of putting on my new Vectors.

I tried to get my old Mission boots re-riveted because one of the rivets ripped off, but the repair only lasted one skate. I think this was because the hole that was drilled into the sole of the boot became bigger and less tight when the rivet ripped out. Re-rivetting into the old hole made the rivet less secure than a rivet that is in a freshly drilled hole.

[Rick 0]

Mounting a chassis yourself is really no big deal if you take the time to measure, mark the spots for the drill holes and then mount with t-nuts and 6/32 bolts. Check the Sprung thread for some real good info on mounting. I have done a bunch of mounts in the last year and once you get the hang of it it really is no problem and best of all when you mount with t-nuts and bolts you can always change to another chassis later if you like. Presently I have 4 pair of skates that I converted from ice to inline for myself and my sons both have a pair each I converted for them. The toughest thing is removing the ice blade. I punch the rivets out from the inside of the boot. A punch or a small screwdriver both work nicely and a couple of whacks with a hammer will push it out far enough to grap onto with a pair of pliers so you can pull it the rest of the way out. The brass rivets are a little tougher but all you have to do is pull,bend or cut the washer off and then knock the rivet out with a hammer. Then I fill the holes with 2 part epoxy and let it dry over night. The epoxy really works great. Then measure across the heel and toe of the boot and draw a center line down the middle of the bottom of the sole of the boot. Line up the chassis and mark the mounting holes with a felt tip pen and then drill the holes with a small drill bit. Be carefull not to let the drill gouge the inside of the boot. Then feed the bolts in from the bottom and thread the t-nut on from the inside. When you tighten the bolts it will pull the t-nuts down into place. I use 3/4 inch long bolts for the rear mounting plate and 1/2 inch bolts for the front. Sometimes I buy longer bolts and cut them off. It sounds like a lot of work but I probably have an hour work time total or maybe a little longer not counting waiting for the epoxy to dry and before I started mounting my own I was paying a skate shop $40 a mount and I was driving an hour to get their. Hope this helps and good luck.

Also as far as longevity of the boot goes with multiple mountings I can tell you this much. I am a big guy, 6 foot tall and 235 pounds. I have one pair of skates that were new with an ice blade. I paid $40-$50 dollars for a skate shop to remove the ice blade and mount a chassis with rivets. They did the mount and broke the chassis. I figured I was dead in the water because I figured that a third mount was out of the question but then I read a post from Keith, the guy that designed the Sprung chassis. He said he used 2 part epoxy to fill the existing holes and then did a remount. I used his technique and it worked great and even at my size the boot is still going strong with no problems. Since that time I have mounted multiple chassis for guys that I play pick up with using the same technique. One guy I skated with asked me where I got my CCM Tacks with a Sherwood E-frame. I told him that I converted them myself. He was surprised and said that he had never thought about that. He bought a pair of ice skates on clearence and I removed the ice blade and mounted a Red Star chassis for him and he loves them. Its cool to have something not everyone has. I have had guys that were skating in top of the line $400 dollar skates comment on how cool my "custom" old school Tacks are. Take a look at my skates on the bottom of page 279 of the Show it Off thread in the ice hockey section.

Rick Henry

[umafuaba 0]

Mounting a chassis yourself is really no big deal if you take the time to measure, mark the spots for the drill holes and then mount with t-nuts and 6/32 bolts. Check the Sprung thread for some real good info on mounting. I have done a bunch of mounts in the last year and once you get the hang of it it really is no problem and best of all when you mount with t-nuts and bolts you can always change to another chassis later if you like. Presently I have 4 pair of skates that I converted from ice to inline for myself and my sons both have a pair each I converted for them. The toughest thing is removing the ice blade. I punch the rivets out from the inside of the boot. A punch or a small screwdriver both work nicely and a couple of whacks with a hammer will push it out far enough to grap onto with a pair of pliers so you can pull it the rest of the way out. The brass rivets are a little tougher but all you have to do is pull,bend or cut the washer off and then knock the rivet out with a hammer. Then I fill the holes with 2 part epoxy and let it dry over night. The epoxy really works great. Then measure across the heel and toe of the boot and draw a center line down the middle of the bottom of the sole of the boot. Line up the chassis and mark the mounting holes with a felt tip pen and then drill the holes with a small drill bit. Be carefull not to let the drill gouge the inside of the boot. Then feed the bolts in from the bottom and thread the t-nut on from the inside. When you tighten the bolts it will pull the t-nuts down into place. I use 3/4 inch long bolts for the rear mounting plate and 1/2 inch bolts for the front. Sometimes I buy longer bolts and cut them off. It sounds like a lot of work but I probably have an hour work time total or maybe a little longer not counting waiting for the epoxy to dry and before I started mounting my own I was paying a skate shop $40 a mount and I was driving an hour to get their. Hope this helps and good luck.

Also as far as longevity of the boot goes with multiple mountings I can tell you this much. I am a big guy, 6 foot tall and 235 pounds. I have one pair of skates that were new with an ice blade. I paid $40-$50 dollars for a skate shop to remove the ice blade and mount a chassis with rivets. They did the mount and broke the chassis. I figured I was dead in the water because I figured that a third mount was out of the question but then I read a post from Keith, the guy that designed the Sprung chassis. He said he used 2 part epoxy to fill the existing holes and then did a remount. I used his technique and it worked great and even at my size the boot is still going strong with no problems. Since that time I have mounted multiple chassis for guys that I play pick up with using the same technique. One guy I skated with asked me where I got my CCM Tacks with a Sherwood E-frame. I told him that I converted them myself. He was surprised and said that he had never thought about that. He bought a pair of ice skates on clearence and I removed the ice blade and mounted a Red Star chassis for him and he loves them. Its cool to have something not everyone has. I have had guys that were skating in top of the line $400 dollar skates comment on how cool my "custom" old school Tacks are. Take a look at my skates on the bottom of page 279 of the Show it Off thread in the ice hockey section.

Rick Henry

Thanks Rick for the informative response. What type of epoxy do you suggest I use?

[fatwabbit 93]

Any type of epoxy would work, but you may want to start with the slow set type first. You can use some masking tape to tape up the inner part of the footbed first to prevent it dripping.

[Rick 0]

I think you could use just about any kind of epoxy but slow set is a good idea because it gives you a little more working time. I even used JB Weld auto epoxy on a pair of skates that had a black colored composite outsole and it worked great. The JB Weld epoxy is black and dries black and even though I dont really care what the bottom of the sole looks like some of the clear epoxy looks yellowish after a while. Just be carefull to use it sparingly. The first time I used epoxy I got a little carried away and ended up sanding some if it off of the bottom of the boot sole before I mounted the chassis. You can also use the epoxy to build up a small area of the bottom of the skate sole so that the chassis sits perfectly vertical or straight with the vertical axis of the boot. That is another technique I learned from Keith (Sprungster) in one of his posts and it does work very well because I have seen skate boots that for whatever reason the outsole is mounted to the boot at a slight angle which can make the chassis mount at a slight angle if you dont level the sole of the boot with a thin layer of epoxy. I know this all sounds complicated but really its not that difficult with some real basic tools, a little pre-planning and just take your time. The results are well worth the effort. I just basically try to use a minimal amount of epoxy and fill in the existing holes. I try not to smear it too much on the sole of the boot unless I need to level the sole. If you have a boot with a black colored sole and you use the JB Weld the holes will almost vanish. Also I think the drill bit I use is 1/8 inch.

Its kind of funny that this subject came up because my roller league starts next weekend and a guy that I played with last year e-mailed me and asked about mounting a Mission Vanguard to an ice boot when the chassis is avaliable. I might end up buying one of the $69 dollar ones myself but since I really love my Sprungs I can't justify the $150 mag version.

Rick Henry

[zfyfe 0]

GREAT WALK THROUGH!

[fedorov#91 0]

Hey rick awesome post very intresting! You think you could take pictures step by step next time you do a conversion?

[zfyfe 0]

i took some pictures i am a visual learner and i couldnt find any anywhere so i thought id take some for someone else to be able to use

[fedorov#91 0]

i took some pictures i am a visual learner and i couldnt find any anywhere so i thought id take some for someone else to be able to use

Post 'em up!

[zfyfe 0]

heres a link to my thread for the conversion http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...c=44573&hl=