Blade mount

[irenar5]

How are your blades mounted?  Is the back of the heel plate flush with the edge of the heel or is it shorter?

[sarahspins]

Mine is about 3/16" shorter, but the next size up would have been too long.

[sampaguita]

Mine's shorter. I don't think the back of the heel plate should be flush with the edge of the heel...

[TreSk8sAZ]

My blades are 1/4 inch shorter - flush at the front, shorter at the back. Every blade that I have gotten has been the 1/4" shorter than the sole of the skate.

[FigureSpins]

I've had end-to-end mountings, where both plates are flush with the ends.

When I have had 1/4" shorter blades, they are mounted flush with the front.  The gap is at the heel.

Technique varies based on the skate manufacturer/model.  Klingbeil prefers end-to-end mounting, whereas Riedell suggests the 1/4" shorter lengths.  Jackson's stock skate sets are all over the board because the blade lengths don't match all the boot lengths.  Sometimes, you will see a stock set mounted with a small gap at the front as well as at the heel because that's the best way to make it fit.  (That's also why Jackson's laces are incredibly long - they try to carry as little inventory as possible, so they use the long laces in multiple sized-boots.)

Don K. Explained that his skates have a smaller sole than the comparable sized skates from other mfgs, so he prefers end-to-end.  He said that, if you looked at the edge of the sole, it was smaller than the leather upper.  He said other mfgs' soles come out past the upper.  I couldn't find any photos that illustrate that, though.

What really matters is having the toepick and rocker placed properly under the forefoot so toe jumps, spins and turns aren't a challenge.  I've always felt that the problem with my stock Jackson Competitors was two-fold: a little long on the right foot, which put the toe rake and rocker too far forward for me to control.

[Kim to the Max]

I have been in the same brand and size boot/blade for a while now (the only thing that has changed in about 12 years is the width - from a B up to a C and then back down to a B and the brand of blade - Coronation Comet to a Pattern 99 to a Paramount with a Pattern 99 rocker), and mine are pretty much end to end with a tiny gap at the heel. When I order new boots, my fitter always specifies to Harlick that the soles need to be made to fit a 9 1/4" blade. That way, since the boots are hand made and there is a certain tolerance there, we can be certain that my blades will fit and that there won't be an adjustment for a different sized blade.