| I think you passed the test on being a vertical rollerskater as that looks like a sweet set up! I am not familiar with the material you used for the baseplates and if that will hold a long time but you did an amazing job altogether. I am home with a headache from hell so missing out on fun in general, but thanx for posting some awesome skates! Cool that you found a drill press, I dont have one myself but bet they make life easier. Homemade skates are the best!!
: First, thanks everyone who responded to the previous post about the trucks.
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: I decided against the Seismics for 2 reasons. 1. I would not have a way to mount my specially shaped steel grinder plates. 2. The owner at Seismic responded very well to my email inquiry, and gave me his best guess on what spring rate to use front and rear. However, it was still only a guess. Going with the suggested springs would cost an extra $10 per truck, since the trucks come supplied with only a base spring. If I needed to change the springs again, which would be likely to happen, then I would need to pay up another $40 to cover all 4 trucks. This all made the concept unappealing.
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: What I finally decided on was a couple sets of 105mm Bullet trucks. They are low profile and seem to be build fairly tough. If I need to change the suspension, Khiro bushings are easily available for a modest cost.
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: The trucks took about a week longer to arrive than I had originally hoped for, so I got itchy to skate and patched up the broken old SuperX plate using aluminum brazing rods and a propane torch. The result ,after some filing down of the excess material, was a usable skate plate. I also replaced the rubber pivot bushings with some of the hard plastic type.
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: That got me by until I could finish the new build. I scored some 1/4" phenolic sheet material from a friend who works in plastics. He had this stuff, which is of the canvas variety, as leftover from a previously cut sheet. I was able to get a piece 26" x 6" wide for only $5. I cut that in half and began to measure and drill for the trucks. The wheelbase of my old skates worked very well for me balancing between front and rear axles. I could roll up on the toe or the heel equally easily, so I kept really close with the new setup. Wheelbase is now 195mm vs 193mm on the old setup.
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: I happened to find a nice lightly used Craftsman 10" drill press on Craigslist for $80. This made things much easier overall.
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: The steel grinder plates took the most time to create. At 1/8" thick x 2" wide, they are hard enough to shape yet still can be bent a bit while standing on them without a center support. Getting all four angles just right to fit between the trucks, and drilling the kingpin holes with the right gap was all very tedious. I had done it once before, but it was still a real pain. Then end result was definitely worth the trouble though.
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: I cut the phenolic base plates with a jigsaw to fit around the perimeter of the truck mounts. The plates do have some flex to them, but once the grinders are mounted on the kingpins all that extra slop disappears. The end result is a skate that turns well, has stability at speed, and holds a rail very easily.
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: These boots have been mounted 4 times before, so I had to fill in some holes and then re-drill in order to make everything line up as needed. The boot height above the wheels is exactly the same as with the previous plates.
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: The park was good today... with my new skates I had fun. The ride quality with these trucks is so much better than what I had before! My right foot slid sideways a bit as I came up over the steel coping once. I think that I am almost ready to learn some basic grind moves now. Also, the tail bone is not hurting anymore, but the left knee is a little sensitive under certain movements, but that is only a minor annoyance at this point.
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: You all at RollerCon can BITE ME! :P Bunch of fricken winners... I wish I could be there to hang with yous and learn from all your different skating styles. Keep us losers entertained with lots of pics and video clips!
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