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stuie7

Skate Shims

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Hi everyone.

Can you advise me on what material is most suitable (i.e. durable) for crafting shim's out of?

I assume it's zytel or similar but would love to hear if there's a definitive answer.

Cheers,

Stu.

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How thick do the shims need to be? Plastic milk cartons work if they can remain thin.

Different for every skater. Someone who recommends a 3mm shim for everyone, doesn't know what they are talking about.

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Thanks for the help guys.

Ive got a leg length disparity but Ive never really thought it affected me. Last week I noticed when standing listening to the next drill getting explained I keep shifting my weight from side to side and I rarely stand on both legs distributing my weight 50/50. Im hoping about 5mm will address this issue.

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Two quick questions.

Can LDPE sheets be purchased at a Home Depot/lowes type store?

How do you cut LDPE? Can I just use regular scissors or do I need something more?

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Can't commend on the stores as I am not in the US/CAN; but: 3mm plastic will be too much for your average paper scissors, you might be able to cut them in shape with heavy duty scissors but I'd recommend some kind of saw (i.e. fretsaw) and a rasp to smoothen the edges.

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I used Lexan from Home Depot. Drilled the rear rivets out, slipped the sheet under the Tuuk, and traced. Then cut it out with a jig saw and sanded it smooth. I'm about 150 miles from a riveter, so I bolted it back together with SS bolts and T Nuts. I also used two shims of 2mm Lexan for a 4mm lift.

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Two quick questions.

Can LDPE sheets be purchased at a Home Depot/lowes type store?

How do you cut LDPE? Can I just use regular scissors or do I need something more?

Nope, not found in hardware stores.

I use 1/16" because it's easy to cut with scissors or blades, then I shape it on the cross-grinding wheel.

I used Lexan from Home Depot. Drilled the rear rivets out, slipped the sheet under the Tuuk, and traced. Then cut it out with a jig saw and sanded it smooth. I'm about 150 miles from a riveter, so I bolted it back together with SS bolts and T Nuts. I also used two shims of 2mm Lexan for a 4mm lift.

Lexan is too rigid and brittle. While it can be done, it isn't the best material to use.

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I've used Lexan (polycarbonate) many times, its not brittle at all, its the same stuff they make goggles out of. Can be folded in half. Plexiglass (acrylic) is brittle, that might be what you are thinking of.

I prefer polyethylene though, mostly because I can find it in white.

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The lexan seemed fairly pliable to me, plexiglass not so much. It cut and shaped easily; when completed its almost invisable against the bottom of the skate.

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For anyone that has had the shims done, or had the blade shaved in front for pitch, at a +1, +2, or more, I'm very curious as to the result in pitch and stance.

In other words, I've had a +1 and a +2 done and while I liked the feeling of being more on the toes, and the feeling that you can propel yourself quicker and keep it sustained when striding, what I didn't like was the feeling that the balance point was further back toward my ankle area. This resulted in me feeling more unstable and like I had to re-learn how to skate and where my edges were. But with the neutral profile I liked being stable and balanced, at the cost of being flat-footed, and not having that feeling of easily propelling when getting going.

So I'm wondering if anyone who has used shims with a neutral profile has reaped the benefit of the desired pitch but didn't have their balance point affected?

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What skates are you on? I'm on Supremes which are neutral pitch and am looking to get shims done for my pronating ankle.

I would've got shims on my Vapors previously but my foot is too wide for the boot. I did get them profiled down to a neutral stance. I have to assume shims do nothing to the pitch of your skate but I could be wrong.

Logically you are turning the angle horizontally not vertically, so I don't see why it would make a difference

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28k's size 6. I have supreme 190's and there's something about them that even with a neutral pitch my foot wants to twist in the boot. I think Bauer's have a high arch, but could be wrong.

I think that's why reebok's work for me, because they're more flat heel to toe. But I do use super feet. And i cut the original insole in half and use it under the front half of the superfeet, where the plastic ends, because I like the beefier feeling.

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I would've got shims on my Vapors previously but my foot is too wide for the boot. I did get them profiled down to a neutral stance. I have to assume shims do nothing to the pitch of your skate but I could be wrong.

Logically you are turning the angle horizontally not vertically, so I don't see why it would make a difference

Shims will not typically do anything to the pitch of your skate.

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Anyone have an idea of what size shim I would need if I was going to shim the front of my cobra holders to give me a pitch that more closely resembles a Tuuk custom+?  Thinking about getting some lexan and testing it out.  I'm assuming 2-3 mm?  I may just get both and give them both a test run

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I'm exposed to a bunch of different material, LDPE, HDPE, Lexan, Delran, polycarbonate, etc etc. With the right tools you could fabricate a shim out of just about anything.

www.mcmastercarr.com is a decent resource for raw material. They have just about anything you can think off. Extra bonus is they have the thickness you are looking for.

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