Tollerances

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I decided to buy a truly recommended skate and from their website it looked as if they were made to fit each and every person. Misleading in my opinion now. I was fitted and for the first time both skates feel like they fit perfectly, I take a 7 shoe and 5 skate. My first two games were a disaster. I absolutely could not stand up the first game & thought I had to much hollow. Tried for half of the game to dull them on any wood I could find. next game was close so I did not have anything changed just thought it might be just me. That game was no better. One of the guys that I was playing with sharpens skates on the side and said it is not the hollow there is something wrong with the holders & had me try gliding on one skate then the other at he end of the game - I could not keep my balance & when I took them off he said the holders were off center. They were returned and gladly taken back by the dealer & manufacturer. I received a second pair and thought these would be "inspected perfect", but I failed to take a close enough look at them. I was continually falling on my rear, unable to keep my balance & all round difficulty playing / enjoying hockey. I emailed the manufacturer in January with my complaints and by this time I had an awful lace-bite that I fixed myself. I never even received an acknowledgment. At this point I was the laughing stock of my friends by falling an my rear so often. After this I decided it must be the toe or heel catching & had that rounded off and profiled a bit to lean forward slightly. This helped a bit , but I was still just tripping & falling. I had visited the doctor, had x-rays and a prescription for back pain from falling,but kept playing. Missed a lot of games by making simple excuses, something I never did before. The friend that played with me on one of the nights had sharpened my skates a couple of times & one time indicated that he still felt I had a problem with on of the skates. He did not expound upon this & I put it out of my mind as if it can't be, but the more I played I realized that I was having my problem more often in circumstances where I was making the same moves. At the end of the year I took a good look at the skates and then noticed that the right rear blade and holder were on a slight angle, I believe angled inward off the perpendicular with the out-sole of the skate. The dealer took the holder off and confirmed the out-sole was not flat. At this point a sent another email attaching my original unanswered email to two top executives & got an immediate response. The skates were sent back to the manufacturer and called by the local rep. he told me that the heel was only off by 1mm and was within their tolerances. Then the go on to say that it can be shimmed to make it "right", but on the other hand as told that some people, because of pronation or supination would actually have it shimmed to fix it for them. I indicated that my skate needs to be shimmed when there is nothing wrong with me, meaning the skate does not meet products liability - "suited for the purpose intended". I have tried to do research on tolerances, but did find one article on pronation / supination, but that article showed that the holder is not shimmed, but actually moved to one side or the other to put the skater's center of balance directly over the holder & blade. I have 3 calls from the rep asking what they can do for me, during two I did mention I wanted a different brand of skate and he could understand that and the 3rd time asked I indicated that I should also be reimbursed half of the cost of my hockey year. The next call I got was that the manufacturer was not going to do anything for me. But, I think they will. Can you advise me on the "tolerance and the adjustment type that they suggest. I feel I am not getting the whole story & had such a terrible year I am not going to let this go. The skates may not have suited me, but there was a definite problem with the skates (twice). How many non-pros are out there not playing to their potential because of skate problems from the start or not having the knowledge to have their holders properly aligned, suited for them?  Thanks for any help you can give me.  Alan Sheppard

ANSWER: Hi Allan...

Unfortunately I do not know what the manufacturer's tolerances are for skate manufacturing.   You seem to be asking all the right questions - and with your apparent persistence I can see you finding the answers.

You must be one competitive hockey player!  GOOD STUFF!

Good luck!

martial



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, Thanks for the reply. I will narrow my question down to adjusting a holder for prnation or supination.

How is it done? 1) Movement horizontally so your center of gravity is directly over the blade or 2) are the holders shimmed on the sides to make for the compensation.

Thus my question - one of my outsoles is not flat, warped in otherwords. I am told that it can be shimmed (it was a new skate)as many are for people with foot problems as stated above? I feel the mfg company is giving me misleading information, I do not have a problem except the blade & holder are not 90 degrees with the sole. The boot came off the line not suitable for normal hockey. Again, if you can just advise on the two questions would help. - Thanks Alan

Answer
While I have never seen a "fix" on a skate with shims - I have seen it my moving the blade holder off center like you mention.   From an engineering standpoint however - ANYTHING is possible.   And with the advent of computer aided design - I know that even skates are now being totally reformulated to be lighter, stronger, more durable and more efficient...  so that said - maybe you can ask about getting some "design" support from engineering for their proposal?  (If they do that?)

Another thing that i have seen done is change the insoles - even using the "magnetic" type soles can make a huge difference on the feel and performance of a boot!

Hope this helps!

Good luck!

martial