How to Build a Simple Skate Mounting Bolt Cutting Jig

If you mount roller skate plates regularly, cutting mounting bolts quickly becomes one of those small workshop jobs that takes far more time than it should.

For a long time, I sheared off skate mounting bolts individually by hand. It worked, but each bolt usually needed some degree of cleaning up afterwards to make sure the threads were still usable.

When you're mounting multiple pairs of roller skates, repeating that process for every mounting bolt soon becomes frustrating. So I built a simple bolt cutting jig using a cordless angle grinder and a bench-mounted grinder holder. The result works almost like a small mitre saw and allows me to cut skate mounting bolts cleanly and consistently in seconds.

Why Skate Mounting Bolts Need Cutting

When mounting roller skate plates, the mounting bolts pass through the skate boot, heel and plate. Because every boot and plate combination is slightly different, the amount of excess bolt protruding through the mounting nut can vary considerably. Leaving excessive bolt length underneath the skate isn't ideal. Apart from looking untidy, excessively long bolts can interfere with the skate plate or other components depending on the mounting position. The excess bolt therefore needs to be carefully removed once the correct mounting length has been established.

The Problem With Cutting Mounting Bolts by Hand

Cutting small threaded bolts individually with a handheld tool works, but it isn't particularly efficient. The bolt needs to be held securely while the cut is made and, because you're working with a threaded fastener, damaging or deforming the threads can make removing or fitting the nut difficult. A rough cut may then need additional filing or thread cleaning.

There's also the age-old skate mounting method of simply shearing the excess bolt off once the plate has been mounted. While this can work, it isn't without its problems. Occasionally the bolt can shear inside the boot rather than cleanly at the plate, creating a much bigger problem than the one you were trying to solve. Even when the bolt does shear in the right place, it can leave behind sharp, rough and unsightly edges underneath the skate. Multiply that process across every mounting bolt on a pair of quad roller skates and a simple job can quickly become surprisingly time consuming. I wanted a quicker, cleaner and far more repeatable solution for the Pabloskates workshop.

Turning a Cordless Angle Grinder Into a Small Cut-Off Saw

The solution was surprisingly simple. I mounted a cordless angle grinder into a bench-mounted grinder holder. The holder allows the grinder to pivot downwards towards the work surface. In effect, it turns the cordless angle grinder into a small workshop cut-off saw.

A simple adjustable stop and bolt holding position allows each mounting bolt to be presented to the cutting disc at a consistent point. The grinder can then be lowered onto the bolt in much the same way you would use a mitre saw. Within seconds, the excess mounting bolt is removed.

Faster, Cleaner and More Consistent Bolt Cutting

The biggest advantage isn't simply speed. Because the cutting position is controlled, the resulting cuts are far more consistent than cutting each bolt freehand. The cutting disc passes cleanly through the bolt and produces a much neater finish, reducing the amount of thread cleaning required afterwards. For a one-off skate build, cutting bolts manually isn't a major issue. When you're regularly mounting and converting roller skates, however, small workshop improvements like this can save a considerable amount of time.

Small Workshop Tools Make a Big Difference

Not every useful workshop tool needs to be an expensive specialist piece of skate mounting equipment. Sometimes the best solutions come from adapting readily available tools to solve a very specific problem. This simple skate mounting bolt cutting jig is now used regularly in the Pabloskates workshop and has made one of the most repetitive parts of mounting roller skate plates considerably quicker. You can see the jig in action in our YouTube Short, where I demonstrate how mounting bolts are quickly cut to length during a skate build.