Neoprene lining/padding for speed boots

The lining is 2 mm black neoprene. One side, the side that is in contact with the skin is a nylon fabric. The basic pattern is shown in the first photo.

The seams were sewed together using a zigzag stitch to form a booty that is pulled over the casting of the foot.

I pulled it tight and stapled it together to hold it in place. Around the cuff I folded the neoprene down and cemented it into place. Around the ankle area I attached an additional layer of neoprene with contact cement. I was hoping to peel the nylon fabric off but it is too solidly attached and was prone to tear the neoprene rubber. I will leave it, even though it will absorb more resin and add to the weight of the boot shell.

Finally, I taped off the portion where the fiberglass will not be resined onto the lining/padding. I decided after this photo was taken to not cut so low in the heel area.

More photos here.

Casting the Foot

In my quest to build my own speedskating boots from scratch I need a last pair to build the boots around.

Step 1: Find a victim. Pictured is my 13 year old daughter. I gathered her together with everything I needed: two rolls of plaster gauze (4 by 180 inch roll, about $5 each at Pat Catan's craft store), Vaseline, thin aluminum strip, utility knife, bucket of water, a towel, something for the foot model to sit on, and not shown in any photo - paper towel. I won't go into the process myself because it can be seen in detail in an online video on the Simmons Racing website here. The molds turned out well after drying for a couple of days.

Step 2: Make the foot last. I poured plaster of Paris into the molds and stuck paint roller extension handles in right away as handles. A lesson learned is that plaster of Paris sets very quickly and it is best to mix small batches according to the directions which in my case was two cups of plaster to one cup of water. It is very liquid when first mixed and you might be tempted to think that it is too runny. Not to worry it will set up fast.

Step 3: Remove from the mold by peeling the plaster gauze away. Let them dry some more, sand, patch with plaster, sand some more, and finally I paint them.

More photos of the process can be seen in this Flickr set.

Anchorage blocks

It is my goal to make short-track speedskate boots myself from scratch. And the goal of this blog, for the time being, is to document my progress. The thinking is if I let others in on it then I will be less prone to abandon the project. Now before anyone thinks that this is going to be a money making venture let me point out that there are really quite a few companies making speedskating boots. From big guys like Bont that claim to have invented the modern speed boot and manufacture at a Chinese factory, down to apparently one man operations such as SS Boot. That last business is actually for sale, according their website: for $150K you can own the business that made the boots that Apolo Ohno used to earn his last two Olympic metals. Update: The business no longer appears for sale, but has entered a period of limited production - two pairs per month.

So to start I made the anchorage blocks. I never heard them called that before, until I discovered the new SEB skate boot website. Apparently that is what the French call them. I usually refer to them as mounting blocks and they are used to affix the blades to the boots. Shown here are the ones I made this weekend from 6061 aluminum bar stock (1.5 by 1/4 inch). I drilled and tapped the holes for 1/4 inch bolts. Most boot makers use 6 mm bolts, but I could only find SAE taps at Lowes. I have since learned that automotive part stores have metric selections available. I made the first cut with a hacksaw with a fresh blade and was happy with it. The other three cuts I used a hand held jigsaw and a metal cutting blade. That was tricky and not so easy to get a straight cut. I then ground the edges smooth and rounded the corners with a bench grinder. They look okay and should do for now. You can see more photos on my Flickr account.