how to do a ice to roller conversion

[s4gobabygo 0]

i have a "set" of the above screws & "t-nuts", but they're entirely too long (looks like i have the shorter ones pictured)... has anyone tried cutting them? the nut itself is like 3x as long as the thickness of the sole of the boot. they're even longer than the thickness of the super-thick sole of my old-school tacks with PE sole. are these things made for mounting holders on wooden clogs or something?

[haNes 0]

It sounds like you got the longer ones! Your sole in the back (heel) is always bigger than in the front (toe)! It's possible to cut them, would try to cut them directly under the little wings! And after cutting you have to put in a screw from the top through the nut, so simply the wrong way but all the way through the nut, to get out the stuff from cutting the metal. But cutting these screws is much harder cause after cutting it's alway hard to get them in again cause they are very flat and never straight! i alway sanded them on the cutted end.

but try it and tell us what happend.

[Bender 0]

i have a "set" of the above screws & "t-nuts", but they're entirely too long (looks like i have the shorter ones pictured)... has anyone tried cutting them? the nut itself is like 3x as long as the thickness of the sole of the boot. they're even longer than the thickness of the super-thick sole of my old-school tacks with PE sole. are these things made for mounting holders on wooden clogs or something?

Id be saying that they are used to mount the blades onto the artistic skates the Graf make, 2 different lengths, long ones for the back, short ones for the front, makes sense to me.

[s4gobabygo 0]

Graf supplied longer and shorter ones for the front and the back, but even the shorter ones are waaaaaay too long for even the back. i ordered a few other bits from McMaster-Carr over the weekend, so we'll see how much luck i have with those when they arrive. i'll have to measure the Graf ones, but i can't imagne them working with any hockey skate i've ever seen (at least not without being cut). the "nuts" measure 13 & 9 mm for the longer and shorter ones, respectively. the sole of my skates is between 3 and 4 mm thick at the thickest point in the heel. has anyone ever used these graf ones successfully?

[haNes 0]

Of course I have used them!

But I think it's right maybe you got them for figure skating. I have mounted three pairs of RBK 9k with a really thin sole in the front I had to cut the Graf screws and needed some washers. But don't forget that the chassis got some thickness aswell maybe you forgot that! doesn't work it with 2 or 3 washers, because there are no better screws out there, believe me.

[ahbroody 1]

Y is this not stickied?

By the way those grafs are sexy.

[Larry54 243]

That center line doesn't look right at all. First of all, it's not centered at the toe. Second of all, look at any ice hockey skate and you'll see that the blade isn't centered at the widest part of the sole, the reasoning that you used when drawing the center line. I think a better way, assuming that the original blade holder was properly installed by the skate manufacturer, would be to use the center mold lines on the blade holder at the toe and heel to mark the center points on the outsole before removing the holder. Then you could remove the holder and draw a center line between those 2 points and it would be positioned exactly like the blade was. With your center line, I'm betting that you're going to feel your skates pulling toward the outside.

[zfyfe 0]

That center line doesn't look right at all. First of all, it's not centered at the toe. Second of all, look at any ice hockey skate and you'll see that the blade isn't centered at the widest part of the sole, the reasoning that you used when drawing the center line. I think a better way, assuming that the original blade holder was properly installed by the skate manufacturer, would be to use the center mold lines on the blade holder at the toe and heel to mark the center points on the outsole before removing the holder. Then you could remove the holder and draw a center line between those 2 points and it would be positioned exactly like the blade was. With your center line, I'm betting that you're going to feel your skates pulling toward the outside.

thanks for this bit of info.... i havent mounted a chassis on these boots yet, i will take look at the placement of the ice holder and make some new lines and post some pictures

[s4gobabygo 0]

when i did mine, i marked where the ice holder was centered at the heel and the toe, and i used that line to mount the roller chassis. i'm styill waiting on a heel lift to arrive in the mail, but i'll post pics and a short writeup when i'm done. i'm not using the graf "nuts". they're way too long, and the ones i got from McMaster look better anyway. the chassis does have thickness, but the "nut" doesnt go through the chassis... only the screw does.

[Larry54 243]

fatwabbit, what size are those t-nuts and where did you get them? The only 6-32 t-nuts I could find have a large diameter base, 9/16" to be exact. Yours seem to be a more reasonable size.

[Larry54 243]

how do you determine how far forward you should mount the chassis?

The Sprung frames come with precise instructions for the fore/aft position.

In the past, for other frames I would have the frame positioned so that the front and rear wheels would stick out the same distance from the boot. When I'd switch between roller and ice skates, the balance felt similar.

The stock frame position even seems to vary from one skate model to another, and some players might prefer the frame a bit more forward or rearward.

[fatwabbit 93]

Tnuts are the 6-32 sized ones that I got from Sprungster. They work perfect.

I cant get the 6-32 nuts in Australia... every hardware store seems to carry the larger sized ones and only sell them in batches of 4.

[Larry54 243]

Thanks for the info fatwabbit.

[fatwabbit 93]

Noproblem... most of the answers were in the Sprung thread, which is where I found out about how to mount the chassis.

Its not that difficult to do, just make sure the wife and kid are having an afternoon nap... otherwise there would be shouting for you to get out of the garage.

[s4gobabygo 0]

i used 8-32 tee nuts and bolts on my heel. they fit snug in the holes in the chassis.

[k13 0]

Do you guys fill in the unused holes (for those of you who need to drill new ones)? I just dropped mine off at my LHS, and I doubt they'll fill up the holes for me. Would it be hard to epoxy the unused holes with a chassis mounted on?

[zfyfe 0]

Do you guys fill in the unused holes (for those of you who need to drill new ones)? I just dropped mine off at my LHS, and I doubt they'll fill up the holes for me. Would it be hard to epoxy the unused holes with a chassis mounted on?

i filled the holes. and its not hard at all, you would just have to fill them from the inside of your boot. i used a little syringe that i got from my aunt who is a dentist and filled the holes from the inside. and it worked fine for me.

[fatwabbit 93]

you can fill 'em up or leave them, doesnt really matter.... unless you sweat a lot like I do. The sweat my drip thru the holes onto the surface you're playing on. For ice, it doenst matter... for inline it could potentially cause you to slip more...

I sweat a lot!, but it so far hasnt been bad enough that I needed to fill the holes with epoxy.

[zfyfe 0]

15. Next you are going to want to place your chassis on your boot, lining them up with the center line you marked previously. I secured my chassis in place by using tape, allowing me to double check theplacement and make adjustments where needed

16. Now once the chassis are in the right position use a marker to mark where the position of the fastener holes is on the boot.

Now you can either take the chassis off and drill your marked holes, or you can leave the chassis still attached and drill through the fastener holes. (I took my chassis off) its kind of hard to see in the picture but you can see it better when you do it

17.Once your holes are drilled you can begin putting your chassis on your boot. This can be done either by riveting or using 6/32 t-nuts with 6/32 by ¼ inch bolts, again I used the t-nuts and bolts for purpose of ease. (graf makes hardware; I personally found mine at a local hardware store)by using a 6/32 by 1inch bolt as a guide I was able to pull the t-nuts down locking them into place, before using the smaller bolts.

Once all bolts are in place you’re finished. (IMP. once you’re finished make sure that none of the bolts stick through too far in your boot, or you will learn a VERY PAINFUL lession!)

[jpeaslee 30]

Looks great man. Glad to see those worked out for ya.

[Larry54 243]

Great job zfyfe! As soon as the ice hockey season ends, I'll be converting my 5K's to Sprung frames!

[zfyfe 0]

not a problem, i hope this helps anyone trying to convert

[ahbroody 1]

Y is this still not stickied.

In the ice forum there are many things stickied. It seems to be a little thing to make this a sticky.

[Brokensticks 0]

Approximately how long are the screws used to mount from the underside of the chassis through the t-nuts? I'm ordering the t-nuts off of McMaster and was going to order some black hex screws at the same time and wanted to get as close to the correct length as possible. They come in packages of 25, so I'll have to get 2 packs anyway, but they come in lengths 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 inches. I'm guessing the back screws might need to be a bit longer than the front. I'm mounting a Sprung chassis on a pair of Easton SE16's.

[IniNew 51]

Approximately how long are the screws used to mount from the underside of the chassis through the t-nuts? I'm ordering the t-nuts off of McMaster and was going to order some black hex screws at the same time and wanted to get as close to the correct length as possible. They come in packages of 25, so I'll have to get 2 packs anyway, but they come in lengths 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 5/8 inches. I'm guessing the back screws might need to be a bit longer than the front. I'm mounting a Sprung chassis on a pair of Easton SE16's.

He stated in the tutorial he used 1/4ths.