Skate punch question (with pics)

[scorer75 9]

Lately the plastic cap on the toe of the skate has been bothering my foot, like a lot. It presses on the bone on the outside of the big toe, right where the toe meets the foot. Weird, because this didn't happen when the skates were new.

Regardless, the spot where the cap is needs to be punched out a little bit.

Question # 1: Is this a normal place to punch a skate and is it a complicated punch?

Question # 2: It's playoff time and I don't really want to leave my skates at a shop for a few days. Is there any way to do this myself?

Here are the pics of the area I'm talking about:

[almack 0]

thats a very common place to need punching, any shop should be able to do it with ease. I wouldnt think they would need the skates for any period of time. I have heard of people using a c-clamp with some sort of spacer for the outside and having good luck, ive never done it that way so I personally dont know, but a comercial punch would fix it with ease

[Joshison 1]

Not to highjack but is it common to have the space between the nike swoosh and the black piece punched out(last pic). I get extreme pain in this spot after every skate on just my right foot.

[scorer75 9]

Not to highjack but is it common to have the space between the nike swoosh and the black piece punched out(last pic). I get extreme pain in this spot after every skate on just my right foot.

Thanks for the hijack ;)

Yea, you are looking at the inside of the boot, I have a big punch on the outside of the boot that you are talking about, very common area to punch. If you do a search, I posted a pic of the actual punch on here a few months ago.

Here's the link: Post about punch

[Joshison 1]

hah, well I'm definitely going to have this done.

[scorer75 9]

Guys, the pro shop in my area says they cannot punch the plastic toe cap, is this correct?

To be clear, it is not the area by the eyelets that I need punched, it is the plastic toe cap directly in front of that area that I need slightly punched out.

[Tondog 12]

It's mostly the problem of not being able to get into the cap with the punch to do a very good job.

[kr580 2]

I get all my toecaps punched in that exact area since my toes flare out wide. It's certainly possible, it just may be a situation where that particular shop doesn't have a way to get in there, like Tondog said.

[Rashiki 0]

I had mine punched where the boot meets the toe cap, but on the outside of my left boot, but the pressure point was right where they met. So when the guy punched mine, the ring was half on the toe cap and half on the boot. The toe cap maybe moved out a slight bit, but mostly it was the boot that "punched out", which was what I needed.

It took maybe 10 to 15 minutes to do, but like it was already said previously, if you're shop doesn't have the tools, then that could be a problem.

[VakarLajos 5]

Any shop with this:

Should be able to do it. If you show your skates to the employee and briefly explain the problem and he scratches his head and goes, "Uhhhhhh" then thank him/her for their time and find another place.

It's a pretty simple punch-out. A busy shop will do 1-2 of these a week during the heavy season.

[niXon 4]

Depends on how much space you need. I had my skates punched at a shop called Done Right (they do alot of NHL stuff) and my skates were left on the punch for 48hrs. When I picked up the skates there was a large bubble from the punch. 3-4 days later it had retracted back and my skates fit perfect.

[scorer75 9]

Thanks for the replies. I found another shop that will do it so I'll head there next week.

[romdj 26]

is it possible to punch out the toe cap to gain some length? (~3 mm will do the trick...) I'm lacking length on my right foot...

[Davetronz 109]

is it possible to punch out the toe cap to gain some length? (~3 mm will do the trick...) I'm lacking length on my right foot...

This is called stretching, and yes, it can be done quite easily if a shop has a skate oven and a boot stretcher.

I had the left boot on my G75's stretched about 1/4 size to accommodate my bigger foot.

Note: Some skates respond better to stretching than others... I'm not sure if there are certain brands/models that either don't respond well or can't be stretched.

I'll let someone with a bit more shop experience advise on that.

[calixguy18 8]

I have the same problem as the OP. I took it to a shop and they recommended I rebake the skate then punch it. Does this sound like the correct procedure or is it ok to just punch? I have TotalOnes. TIA.

[jimmy 194]

The area before the toe cap punches nicely. If you need the toe cap punched, give it up, the skates don't fit you correctly and likely wont. Toe caps do not open up with punching like the rest of the skate.

[flyers10 57]

is it possible to punch out the toe cap to gain some length? (~3 mm will do the trick...) I'm lacking length on my right foot...

I thought on most modern skates that the rubber toe would most likely go back to its' original shape and you could run risk of it separating from the boot when trying to stretch it. Therefore you would have to punch out the heel to get the extra length but that could cause heel fit issues. Fit experts care to chime in?