Painting blades

[spiralina]

A bit of an odd one.

The Boy used to skate with me a LOT i.e., 4 times a week. In fact he was the one who dragged me skating in the first place. He was doing ok, but suddenly gave up last summer and has never gone back

He says he will start again if i get him stars and stripes blades and no, the etching won't do which leaves the Paramounts - way too advanced and expensive!

Soooo do any of you lovely skaters have experience with painting blades? Would just metal primer and enamel withstand flaking in the cold? Thanks in advance!

[AgnesNitt]

When I read this the first thing i thought of was Car Painter! You know the ones who paint scenes of elk on trucks. The second thing was: Take it to a body shop. They get weird requests sometimes.


However,as the daughter of a child of the Depression, I can't help but hear the voice of my mother: "You think I'm made of money? Do it or don't do it. I'm not going to bribe you."

[Clarice]

Skittl has talked about coloring hers with Sharpie pens or something like that, and being able to take the color off again with nail polish remover.  Hopefully she'll chime in on this thread.

[Skittl1321]

I've have colored mine with sharpies

Some colors come off (I had problems with light blue) quickly- like when you slide the ice off mid practice, but neon green and fushcia would stay on for multiple sessions without need for touch up.  I think I recolored them after 5 sessions.

It cleaned off the blade easily with nail polish remover. 

For something intricate like a flag, it would be difficult to do the detail work.   My Paramounts didn't cost much more than a Coronation Ace, they make lower level blades as well as upper level blades.


Since blades are chrome, maybe an autoshop would work.  I've heard of them doing kitchen-aid mixers.  I can't imagine that would be cheap though.

[sarahspins]

Just FYI, sharpie comes off (almost anything) with simple rubbing alcohol... nail polish remover seems a bit over the top

[Skittl1321]

I keep nail polish remover in the house, and not rubbing alcohol.  Does rubbing alcohol work for sharpie on transparencies too?  I've always used nail polish remover for that too.

[FigureSpins]

I write the owner's names and the last sharpening date on the blade plates with permanent marker. 
I started doing it for Synchro, because they tote all the team skates together and it's too easy to get them mixed up.
It's handy for sharpenings as well, since the skates have to go off-site.

Rubbing alcohol is what I've always used to remove permanent marker, even from skin.  Just never use it on finished wood - it melts the finish.

I keep nail polish remover in the house, and not rubbing alcohol.  Does rubbing alcohol work for sharpie on transparencies too?  I've always used nail polish remover for that too.

For transparencies, you should use Vis-a-vis markers.  They wipe off with water.

I'm always out of nail polish remover, which is odd since none of us wear nail polish.  The kids get the manicure bug and change the polish daily for a while, until we run out of remover, lol.

FWIW, I would make him earn the blades by proving that he's earnest about skating. 

[Skittl1321]

I write the owner's names and the last sharpening date on the blade plates with permanent marker. 
I started doing it for Synchro, because they tote all the team skates together and it's too easy to get them mixed up.
It's handy for sharpenings as well, since the skates have to go off-site.

Rubbing alcohol is what I've always used to remove permanent marker, even from skin.  Just never use it on finished wood - it melts the finish.
For transparencies, you should use Vis-a-vis markers.  They wipe off with water.

Very interesting about writing the skaters name on the blades.  That is a fantastic idea!

(As for Vis-a-vis, I stopped using them because they wiped off too easily.  Kids would ask to see the transparencies days after the lecture, either because they were absent, or they just took bad notes.  If i wrote them in permanent marker, I knew my notes would still be there for them, until I ran out of transparencies.)

[sarahspins]

I keep nail polish remover in the house, and not rubbing alcohol.  Does rubbing alcohol work for sharpie on transparencies too?  I've always used nail polish remover for that too.

It should.. I have it on hand in the form of alcohol wipes.. with 3 (small) kids it's inevitable that if there is a sharpie in the house, it ends up *everywhere*

[FigureSpins]

That makes sense.  I used do training with transparencies.   We would write on the "original" transparencies, so we had to clean them after every use because someone else would need be using them the following day or week. Couldn't use solvents because it would take off the training slides' print.

[AliyahSk8]

I never even thought about decorating my blades!  I'm still not interested, but my daughters would probably get a kick out of it!  My youngest asked me to get her some pink blades-- I told her that she would have to be well beyond gamma for that, but this should hold her over in the meanwhile!

Ha, learn something new everyday!!

[spiralina]

FigureSpins, problem is that he is not earnest

Skittl - fortunately/unfortunately I am England-based which makes John Wilson and MK much cheaper and Paramounts, even low level, at double the cost

Thanks for all the suggestions. I might try car paint up to the grind strip. The sharpie idea sounds awesome for my own useage though!!

[Sk8tmum]

Sk8tape?  If you can tape the boots ... why not the blades?  Obviously, not over the edge ... but ... ? You could cut it in strips and apply it ...

and, thinking about it further, Lord knows you can get amazing scrapbooking stuff and stickers. Why not buy some stars & stripes stickers, put them on the blades, then lightly lacquer or even clear nail polish over them to hold them down. When the novelty wears off, the nail polish remover suggested would take it off. It would be easier, and I would think you would get a cleaner edge and picture than trying to handdraw it, and the colours would be more intense.

[Isk8NYC]

That's brilliant - stickers!  The holographic stickers would be perfect since they're not made of paper. 

Clean the bades well before you apply the stickers, when he gets bored, pull them off and use a little Goo Gone or even laundry stain remover to take off any residue for a clean canvas.

I love this idea - thank sk8tmum!

[Skittl1321]

Now that I think about it, we have a coach who has rhinestones attached to her blades- just up by the toepick.

[Isk8NYC]

I have a friend whose black blades have a real diamond embedded near the toerake. 
It was a special-order for a pair of black boots that she won at a coaching seminar.

I want to say they were Phantoms, but they may have been Ultimas since the boots were a Jackson giveaway.

[MimiG]

I'm pretty sure I've seen magnetic jewels you can stick on the blades too... Never seen them on actual skates though.

[sk8lady]

Could they be airbrushed?

[katz in boots]

Now that I think about it, we have a coach who has rhinestones attached to her blades- just up by the toepick.

OMG, Want !!!!
Problem is that even sticking rhinestones on blade guards, they fall off in the cold environment of the rink, so they'd need to be well & truly glued there.

[Sushi]

OMG, Want !!!!
Problem is that even sticking rhinestones on blade guards, they fall off in the cold environment of the rink, so they'd need to be well & truly glued there.

Jerry makes magnetic blade gems for $3.99

http://www.northerniceanddance.com/store_/jerrys-magnetic-blade-gems-p-5410.html

[Skittl1321]

OMG, Want !!!!
Problem is that even sticking rhinestones on blade guards, they fall off in the cold environment of the rink, so they'd need to be well & truly glued there.

She told me she used E6000- the same glue I use to stone a dress.

[jumpingbeansmom]

I'm pretty sure I've seen magnetic jewels you can stick on the blades too... Never seen them on actual skates though.

My dd has them on her laces-- the bottom part