Behind the Scenes at Riedell: How Ice Skates Are Made
Riedell creates high-quality, supportive, and stylish ice skates for all levels of skaters. But have you ever wondered how ice skates are made? Keep reading to get a behind the scenes look at Riedell Skates and an overview of the process used to turn the dream of gliding across the ice into a tangible reality.
How Are Ice Skates Made?
So, you’re lacing up your new boot and wondering to yourself: how do they make ice skates? A lot is involved, from sourcing the right materials, designing skates, and manufacturing. Before we dive into the technical side of it, let’s start with some insider knowledge.
History of Riedell
Founded nearly 80 years ago in the town of Red Wing, Minnesota, Paul Riedell had the goal of making comfortable, quality, and affordable ice skates. Paul played a huge role in making recreational skating widely available to children, teens, and adults and became a member of both the roller and ice skating Hall of Fame. Today in Red Wing, Paul’s grandsons and a team of skilled craftsmen and women continue to handcraft ice skates.
Did you know? The manufacturing process for building figure skate boots involves as many as 125 different production steps! Let’s break things down into a few simple steps:
- All ice skates go through the cutting department to cut the leather and other materials that will make up the overall skate.
- The fitting department provides all the necessary stitching and cementing for the components on the upper of the skate.
- The ice skate moves to the lasting department where the upper is shaped around the last (the last is a molded foot form that gives the skate consistent shape, width, and dimension). This process is one of the most important when building skates because it determines the overall sizing and shape of the skate.
- The final step in the boot-making process is the bottoming and finishing department. Here, the skate bottom and outsole are prepared, and the outsole and heel are trimmed to match the size of the skate.
- Finally, the skate is ready for final inspection and packing!
That’s a lot to take in! Let’s go a little deeper.
What Are Ice Skate Blades Made Of?
Have you ever wondered what ice skate blades are made out of and how they’re able to support you on the ice? Ice skate blades need to be strong—able to withstand the weight of the skater and keep them upright while performing intricate footwork or intense jumps and spins.
The material of the blade varies, often by the level of the skater, which is why it’s so important to buy skates that are marketed for your specific purposes. Here’s a brief overview of the most common materials:
- Carbon Steel: Carbon steel ice skate blades are reliable and strong, though quality can vary in this category depending on the carbon content as higher grades of steel will maintain the service life of the edge of the ice skates for longer.
- Stainless Steel: Generally used by skilled or intermediary skaters, the steel grade of these skates is higher, has strong corrosion resistance, and can improve the frequent jumping and rotation of skaters. These are often coated with a layer of titanium compound to reduce friction between the blade and the ice, improving speed.
Other varieties, such as coated high-speed steel and powder metal tool steel, provide similar benefits. The most important qualities of ice skate blades are:
- Corrosion resistance
- Wear resistance
- Lightweight
- Friction reduction
What Are Figure Skates Made Of?
We’ve discussed the blade, but what about the boot? Figure skating boots are designed to be lightweight, supportive, and durable enough to protect skaters’ feet while they execute jumps and spins.
The materials of boots can vary, but most are made of synthetic materials, hard plastics, or a combination of leather and synthetics. Prices can vary widely for boots depending on which materials are used. Pure leather boots will be the most expensive, but most skaters likely wear boots made with a combination of leather and synthetics.
How Are Figure Skates Made?
The process Riedell uses to create high-quality skates follows the same steps as most companies. All skates need to be crafted with care to ensure skaters receive the best product possible. Here’s a quick overview of the process:
- Cutting: Leather is cut to make the skate.
- Fitting: The skate’s upper is stitched and cemented together.
- Lasting: The upper is shaped around a last, which is a molded foot form. This step is important because it determines the skate’s overall size, width, and shape.
- Bottoming and finishing: The skate’s bottom and outsole are prepared, and the outsole and heel are trimmed.
- Polishing, inspection, and packing: The skate is polished, inspected, and packed.
Other steps in the manufacturing process include:
- Punching holes for eyelets
- Mulling the skate to make it more pliable (mulling conditions and softens the skate for the manufacturing process)
- Removing the finish from the bottom of a lasted upper, also referred to as roughing to help the outsole adhere to the boot
- Adding a spring-steel arch support shank
- Attaching the leather sole
- Screwing the blade in place
- Adding laces
Skate to Success with Riedell
With Riedell Skates and the precision edges of Eclipse Blades, our ice skates are infused with performance and comfort features to make the most of every moment on the ice.
Looking for Riedells near you? Through a worldwide network of authorized dealers, Riedell helps match skaters’ feet with the right skate. View our Dealer Locator to find a dealer near you.