Nike Blazer Roller Skate - DIY How-to build a custom roller skate.

This video is a DIY how-to on building a pair of Custom NIKE Blazer Mid '77 Roller Skates. And if you're a savvy crafter, this DIY procedure will work for pretty much any shoe and skate plate setup.

Parts Needed:
Shoes - NIKE Blazer Mid '77 Suede
https://www.nike.com/w?q=blazer%20mid...

Skate Plates - Bont Tracer
https://bont.com/collections/roller-s...

Wheels - Radar Energy 62mm
https://www.derbywarehouse.com/search...

Bearings - Breeeze Prestige
https://breeeze-bearings.com/

Alum. Insoles - RollAround
https://www.etsy.com/listing/73665816...

Hardware - Got 'em from the local hardware store. M5 x 30mm machine bolts, M5 washers, M5 nylon locknuts. 4 for each shoe, so 8 total. 

Instructions:
These steps work with just about any shoe, plate, wheel, and bearing combination. 

1. Take the shoe insoles out. Take a measurement of the height of the overall shoe, and from the inside of the shoe at the sole to the top of the upper. Subtract the smaller number from the larger and that will give you the thickness of the sole.

2. Take a thickness measurement of the skate plate base, the aluminum insole, and add 1/4" for the nut. I tended to round up. Add the sole thickness to the other measurements to get an approximate length of the bolt you need. It will be around 1" or 1 1/4" long.

3. The NIKE Blazer has a narrower footbed than the VANS Sk8 Hi that the aluminum insole was made for. You'll need to trim it a bit. Take the insole that you removed from the shoe, and trace its outline on the aluminum insole with a permanent marker.

4.Cut and trim your aluminum insoles as needed. Remember to wear eye protection and to use the correct jig saw blade. Sand down the edges a bit after cutting to prevent it from possibly cutting your shoe uppers. If you don't have a jig saw, borrow one from a relative or neighbor. Buy your own metal cutting blades if you're borrowing, that's just good karma.

5. Find the centerline of your shoes. Measure the width of your shoe where the skate trucks and axles would be located. Mark the centers and connect them with a line. 

6. Line up the center of the skate plate with the centerline of the shoe and mark the hole locations. I marked 6 holes from my plates, but ended up only using 4. The 2 forward-most holes were not easily accessible.

7. Drill through the soles of your shoes being careful not to go through the uppers. Use a drill bit that is about the size of your hardware.

8. Remove the shoelaces if you haven't already and place your aluminum insoles into the shoe. Use a punch to mark the holes onto the insoles. Alternatively, you can place the insoles inside the shoes prior to drilling through the soles. That will help protect your uppers, and the drill will end up marking the locations of the holes.

9. Double check hole location marks against the skate plate before drilling. Drill through your aluminum insoles using a drill bit that is designed for metal. Most drill bits can be used for both wood and metal.

10. Double check the drilled holes against the skate plate again to see if they line up. If they're good, place your drilled insole over the un-drilled insole and mark the holes. Drill the other insole.

11. Countersink the holes being sure that you're doing the correct side of each insole. Countersinking is crucially important in getting a flat insole. You don't want to feel the hardware poking up into your foot.

12. Put the aluminum insoles into your shoes and install the hardware. Note: the video shows hardware with a Phillips head, but I ended up using a few with Allen (hex) key heads. Go with the Allen key heads if you can get 'em. You may need to take the skate plates apart and remove the trucks for better access to tighten the nuts.

13. You may need to cut off any bolts that are running too long. They'll scrape the wheels if they are. I used a Dremel with a cut off wheel attachment. Again, if you don't have a Dremel, borrow one, but buy your own cut off wheels. Then give them to the person you borrowed the tool from for good tool karma.

14. Put the soft insoles back into the shoes. If you find this to be too tight of a fit, as I did, then leave them out. I may slide in a piece of canvas in the future so that I'm not directly on the aluminum insole, but it's not a big deal.

15. Press the bearings into the wheels. Each wheel takes two bearings. The Breeeze bearings have a built-in spacer. Make sure the spacer is facing toward the inside of the wheel, and not facing out. Install all the wheels and don't over-tighten the wheel bolts. Tighten them down until it bottoms out, then back it up a quarter of a turn.

16. And you're done! Go try them out and make any necessary adjustments to the kingpins.

Narration and Kalimba music by Gabriel Leung
IG: @arugolaworkshop