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Pablo's Weekly Workshop Diary: 11th October 2026

Writer: Pablo
Pablo
2 days ago
7 min read

Another week, another collection of custom quad roller skates, new products, 3D printing experiments and parcels heading out of the Pabloskates workshop! This week we've been working on a beautiful pair of Nike Flexlites with a personalised heel, checking out the redesigned Air Waves wheels, printing an absolutely ridiculous number of jam plugs and developing something completely new called PabloNutz. We've also added roller skating socks to the shop, welcomed some lovely old Nike N-Dorfins into the workshop and sent more customer orders on their way. Plenty to talk about, so let's get into it! 🛼🔥


🏒 Nike Flexlite Quad Skates with a Custom Logo Heel

We kicked things off with a lovely pair of Nike Flexlite ice hockey boots converted into quad roller skates, mounted on white Sure-Grip Avanti plates and finished with white Air Waves wheels. The black, silver and white colour scheme works beautifully, but what makes this particular build special is the heel. The customer wanted their own logo incorporated into the design, so we produced a custom heel specifically for their skates. It's another example of what we can achieve with our in-house 3D printing equipment, allowing us to personalise builds beyond simply choosing different plates, wheels and laces. We love working on these older Nike boots, and the finished result looks absolutely spot on! 🖤🤍


🌈 Air Waves Have Had a Makeover!

One of the UK's most recognisable roller skate wheels has had a little refresh! Air Waves have undergone a slight redesign, and there are now some additional colours available, including the rather eye-catching Spark finish pictured here. These 65mm, 78A wheels have been a favourite with recreational and rink skaters for years, offering a comfortable ride and plenty of grip. They're also extremely popular with customers converting ice hockey boots into quad skates, particularly those looking for a traditional setup. It's always nice to see an established product getting some attention, especially when it means more colours to choose from. We reckon the new Spark wheels will prove particularly popular with anyone who likes a little extra sparkle under their feet! ✨🛼


🖨️ Jam Plugs, Jam Plugs and More Jam Plugs!

Remember those custom 3D printed jam and dance plugs we launched recently? Well, we've been preparing for what we're optimistically calling the great jam plug rush of 2026! 😂 We've printed an enormous collection in practically every colour imaginable, including pink, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, gold, silver, black and white. There are several designs available, including our Standard, Hex and Ice Gem styles, all produced in-house at Pabloskates. They're designed for roller skating activities such as spins, pivots and dance skating, where traditional toe stops can get in the way. They're also deliberately inexpensive and disposable, because plugs are going to get scraped, scratched and worn down during use. At just £1 per pair, you can afford to replace them rather than worrying about preserving them forever. They're available exclusively at pabloskates.com, so come and get some! 🌈🔥


🧦 NEW! Roller Skating Socks Have Arrived!

We've added something a little different to the Pabloskates shop this week: socks designed specifically for roller skating! These aren't just ordinary thin socks with a fancy name. They feature full cushioning and arch support, helping provide additional comfort inside your skates. Anyone who spends a few hours skating knows how important comfortable feet are, particularly when wearing rigid hockey boots or closely fitted quad skates. They're brand new, individually wrapped and available for just £3.89 per pair. It's a simple addition to the shop, but one that makes plenty of sense when you're spending several hours a week on eight wheels. After all, there's no point having a beautiful pair of custom skates if your feet are miserable inside them! 🧦🛼


⛸️ Nike N-Dorfins: Another Old-School Classic!

We've also had a rather lovely pair of Nike N-Dorfin ice hockey skates in size 5 arrive at the workshop. These are in excellent condition and are another reminder of just how interesting some of the older Nike skate designs were. With their distinctive black, silver and white styling, adjustable ankle straps and unmistakable Nike branding, they're certainly not something you see every day. We have a real soft spot for older Nike hockey boots at Pabloskates, particularly because so many of them make fantastic-looking quad conversions. Finding examples in this sort of condition is always satisfying, and we're looking forward to seeing what the future holds for these! 🖤


🔥 The 3D Printers Have Been Working Overtime!

If you thought the enormous pile of jam plugs was impressive, spare a thought for our poor Flashforge AD5X, which has been working its way through batch after batch of them! This week's photographs show another collection of bright pink plugs being produced, with multiple designs printed together to make the most of the available build plate. One of the advantages of manufacturing these ourselves is that we can experiment with colours, designs and production techniques without having to order hundreds of identical products from a supplier. Of course, 3D printing also involves plenty of trial and error, and occasionally a few choice words when something doesn't print quite as expected! Fortunately, we're getting increasingly comfortable with the process, and the results are looking better all the time. 🖨️💗


💙 Bauer X-LP Quad Skates Heading to Their New Owner

Another pair of custom quad skates has left the workshop this week, this time a striking set of Bauer X-LP boots finished with blue and black laces and transparent blue Ventro Pro Turbo wheels. The blue detailing on the boots ties everything together beautifully, creating a coordinated build that really stands out without being too over the top. The Bauer X-LP is a popular choice for quad conversions thanks to its modern hockey boot construction and distinctive styling. We always enjoy seeing a completed pair ready to leave the workshop, although there's something slightly bittersweet about spending time building a set of skates and then packing them up knowing we'll probably never see them again. Still, that's the whole point: getting them onto someone's feet and out onto the rink! 📦🛼


💗 More Ventro Refresh Packs Going Out!

Our Ventro Refresh Packs have been keeping us busy again, with another bright pink set heading out to a customer this week. These packs are a great way to give an existing pair of quad skates a completely different look without replacing the boots or plates. Each pack brings together a set of wheels with matching laces and toe stops, making it easy to coordinate the entire setup. The pink Ventro Pro Turbo wheels pictured here are particularly eye-catching, and paired with matching pink and black laces, they make for a seriously colourful upgrade. Sometimes you don't need a completely new pair of skates. A fresh set of wheels and a few matching accessories can make your existing pair feel brand new again! 🌸🔥


🔩 Introducing PabloNutz: Solving a Proper Roller Skate Problem!

Now for something we've been experimenting with behind the scenes: PabloNutz, our latest 3D printed roller skate component! The idea came from a problem we've encountered when fitting wider wheels to certain roller skate plates, particularly combinations such as Air Waves wheels on Sure-Grip Rock plate trucks. Because of the wheel width and the relatively short axle, there sometimes isn't enough exposed thread for a conventional nyloc axle nut to engage properly with its nylon locking insert. Some skaters work around this by fitting the nyloc nut backwards, but that's not really a proper solution. We wanted to investigate whether we could create something specifically designed to address the problem rather than working around it. So, naturally, we fired up the 3D printer and started experimenting! 🧠🛼


🛠️ PabloNutz: A Different Approach to Axle Nuts

Unlike a conventional metal nyloc nut, which relies on a small nylon insert at one end to resist loosening, PabloNutz are designed to be manufactured entirely from nylon, meaning the threaded body itself grips the axle rather than relying on a locking insert positioned at the far end of the nut. The idea is to make better use of the limited axle thread available when fitting wider wheels, while also producing a lightweight component that we can manufacture in different colours. The photographs show one of our bright pink prototypes, both on its own and fitted to a Ventro Pro Turbo wheel. We're still very much in the development and testing stage, and there's plenty of work to do before we'd consider offering these for sale. Wheel retention is safety-critical, so we need to establish that the material, thread engagement and resistance to loosening are suitable before they go anywhere near a customer's skates. Nevertheless, it's an interesting project, and we're looking forward to seeing where it takes us. Watch this space! 🔩💗


❤️ Supporting a Small Independent Skate Shop

Every order that comes through Pabloskates makes a difference, whether it's a complete custom quad skate conversion, a set of wheels, a pair of socks or a £1 pair of jam plugs. We're a small independent UK skate workshop, and everything from mounting plates and reinforcing boots to designing new 3D printed accessories is handled right here. We're constantly learning, experimenting and trying to come up with products and services that make skating more enjoyable, more accessible or simply a little more colourful. We might not have the resources of the big skate retailers, but we do have plenty of enthusiasm, a workshop full of tools and an increasingly overworked 3D printer! 😂🛼


🛒 Looking for Custom Quad Skates, Wheels or Accessories?

Whether you're looking to convert your favourite ice hockey boots into quad roller skates, upgrade your existing setup or pick up some inexpensive accessories, we'd love to help. We offer custom skate builds, plate mounting, de-blading, carbon fibre reinforcement, wheels, bearings, toe stops, laces and our growing range of in-house 3D printed products. You can browse everything currently available at pabloskates.com, or get in touch if you have something a little unusual in mind. We particularly enjoy the unusual requests, although they do have a habit of turning into another project that keeps us occupied for the next three weeks! 😁


🛼 Until Next Week!

That's another busy week wrapped up at Pabloskates! From personalised Nike Flexlite builds and colourful Air Waves wheels to mountains of jam plugs and the beginnings of PabloNutz, there's certainly been no shortage of things happening in the workshop. As always, a massive thank you to everyone who's placed an order, shared our posts, recommended us to a friend or simply taken the time to follow what we're doing. Your support genuinely helps keep this little independent skate shop going, and we really do appreciate it. Have a fantastic week, enjoy your skating, and we'll see you in the next workshop diary! ❤️🛼🔥



See you next week for another workshop update!


Paul – Owner, Pabloskates



Every retro skate featured in our Workshop Diary is individually hand-built in the Pabloskates workshop. Since we use pre-owned hockey boots, each pair is unique and no two builds are ever exactly the same.



Browse our latest converted skates or get in touch to discuss your dream setup only at Pabloskates.com.


Pre-Built Retro Skates - https://www.pabloskates.com/skates

Skate Parts & Accessories - https://www.pabloskates.com/parts 

Custom Build Enquiries - https://www.pabloskates.com/services


Phone/WhatsApp - 00447848287929


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