The first ice skates were invented in northern europe about a thousand years ago when people began lacing animal bones to the soles of their boots to cross frozen water in 1592 a scotsman invented an iron skate blade and before long the sport of speed skating took off these elite level racing skates are
Produced by a small company co-founded by a canadian speed skater a three-time olympic medalist in short track every single pair is custom made after measuring a skater’s feet a technician applies layers of wet plaster bandages the same way one makes a cast for a broken limb only here each foot cast is
Comprised of two parts Each cast serves as the first stage mold for a skate boot The plaster bandages take five to ten minutes to harden and dry at which point the technician carefully removes the mold one part at a time then reassembles it with elastic bands he surrounds the mold called a negative with sand he then pours liquid plaster into the negative to produce a positive mold the
Sand provides counter pressure so that the plaster can’t push the walls outward and distort their shape the plaster fully cures in an hour or two at which point the negative mold can come off then the technician mixes up some thicker plaster pigmented to make it easily visible against the dried white plaster
He applies it in select areas touching up imperfections and tweaking the shape of the mold he files the toes and the rest of the contour smooth producing the final shape of the boot he labels the finished mold with the skater’s name and puts it in the storeroom until it’s time to begin
Constructing the skate boots construction begins with boot lining they staple a piece of genuine leather to the mold pulling taut because any wrinkles in the lining would irritate the skater’s foot next they glue on the various structural pieces such as this ankle padding it’s made of memory foam
So it gradually forms to the skater’s ankle and holds the shape the next step is the most technically critical because it determines the angle of the skate blade they apply epoxy resin putty to the front and back of the sole and adhere to aluminum blade holders
Then prop up the boot as the putty dries over the next four hours or so once the putty’s hard they sand off the excess to lighten the skate and round out the remainder then they begin constructing the outside of the boot first they layer pieces of carbon fiber a strong fabric commonly
Used in high performance sports products they tie the bottom piece around the blade holders with strong thread and bind the layers with spray adhesive Next they slip a plastic bag over the boot Tie off the ends and vacuum out the air this tightly compresses the layers of carbon fiber now they inject resin a type of liquid plastic and distribute it evenly throughout the bag the resin impregnates the carbon fiber After a couple of hours the resin dries and hardens leaving the carbon fiber boot stiff and durable next they glue on the outside of the boot made of vinyl once the glue dries they remove the plaster mold and stitch the vinyl in place they also take a vinyl lace cover sew
One side of it to the boot and attach the other side with a hook and loop fastener that way it hinges open and closed for lacing and unlacing the skate the final step is to attach the inline wheels or steel blades to the blade holders You
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