Different size blades?

[Christy]

There's more than a full size difference between my feet, caused by an injury as a child, and they are very different shapes, so getting skates which fit both is a bit of challenge. I usually fit the larger foot then pad the other with insoles etc.
Someone suggested that I could order different sized boots, or go down the custom route (which would also mean different sized boots), however if I do does that mean I will need to get different sized blades, and if so is that likely to affect my skating?

[sarahspins]

it really depends on the difference in the length of the soles between the two sizes - more than about 3/8" difference and you might have to consider different size blades.  A blade that is slightly too long for the boot *can* still be mounted as long as the front is properly aligned (so any overhang by the blade is at the heel, and only about 1/8" or less - you see this more often in kids where the blades are purchased to last through the next pair of boots, often just a little long for the current pair) and it's generally recommended not to have blades more than 1/4" shorter than your boots.

Sometimes though, when working with customs, the boot maker can shape the heel a little differently to accommodate the blade length required by the bigger boot.  Essentially it accomplishes what I described above, but without any visible overhang by the blade on the smaller boot.

[Christy]

The difference between the two feet is over 1/2 inch 

I think I'd need to ask the boot maker if they could provide extra padding in one boot, although that would probably defeat the object of getting customs.....

[sarahspins]

That big of a difference you probably would need different size blades - I don't know what the easiest route would for getting a mixed-size pair though, or what possible downfalls there might be in doing so.

[CaraSkates]

My feet are about 1/2" different in length and I have always worn the same size boot and blade for each. I go with the slightly smaller size boot and with heat modeling and stretching, have always been able to get a comfortable fit on my bigger foot. FWIW, I've always worn heat model-able Riedells. I do purchase different size ballet slippers.

Have you had your feet measured by a skate fitter? They might have some suggestions. I know my skate guy is always willing to glue in extra padding when needed.

[Christy]

My current skates fit the larger foot, with lots of padding to take up the space left by my smaller foot, however I feel like my foot isn't positioned properly in the boot / sitting over the blade as it should, and therefore I don't have the control I would with a smaller boot.
I was worried about getting a smaller boot stretched because I thought it would cause blisters, and I've read that the stretching may not be permanent.

[AgnesNitt]

Anybody know Elaine Zayak and can ask what her solution was?

She lost part of one foot and had to skate with a block in the boot to fill the empty space. She's still coaching.

[FigureSpins]

Zayak used to wear custom Klingbeils.  I remember reading an article about it that featured Bill Klingbeil.  (Founder)

[FigureSpins]

I've had skates fitted for my larger foot and it wasn't a good thing for me.  My larger foot is my spin foot, so my landing foot was always padded.  It just didn't feel right.  For my newish SP-Teri's, I had them fitted to my smaller landing foot and stretched the spin foot.  I'm not going to outgrow skates, so it works for me, although I ink these are a little too snug on both feet.  (The size difference is around 1/3" if that helps.)

[Christy]

I'm the other way round - my spin foot is the smaller one with the padding and I think I've adapted how I spin because of it. Not sure how I would cope with 'properly fitting' boots on the smaller foot!
I'm thinking that because most moves take place on a single foot at a time there may not be too much of an issue if the blades are slightly different sizes, apart from the cost