With mounting the blades, the skate shop said it was VERY IMPORTANT that a layer of silicon be added between the blade and the sole, to prevent water from rotting the screws out. I know not everyone does this step, but they really stressed how vital it was. I don't even know whether the silicone is a strip of gel that gets sandwiched between blade and sole, or if it's a liquid that get squirted under there and then hardens, or what. So I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that myself. I just hope the guy who's doing the mounting knows how to do it!
Determining alignment is going to be tricky for me, since I already have trouble holding my edges. We don't know if it's because of uncorrected flat feet, or poor balance, or because my last pair of blades were defective, but either way, I can't hold an edge for more than a few seconds. If they remembered to include them, I bought a pair of custom Superfeet insoles that were molded to my feet, which the fitter said would correct my prolapse. (Is that the right word? Where your feet are flat, so they fall to the inside? Sorry, my brain's not working this morning.) So I have to get used to the new insoles, as well as new skates, new blades, new everything!
I'm not sure my guards will fit, since they're adjusted for size 7 skates and the fitter said I'm actually size 6.5. If the guards don't fit, it may be hard to determine the alignment by standing on them at home, but I'll give it a shot.
What do you mean, if you "feel that your blade is scraping when you are trying to skate forward on one foot"? Scraping how? The toe-picks?
I'm glad that I'll have plenty of time to determine whether I want to adjust the blades or not. It may take awhile to figure that out and I'd rather not feel pressured to hurry up and decide.
Thanks for the advice. I will save these posts and keep them for future reference, if you don't mind.