Pablo's Weekly Workshop Diary: 27th September 2026
It's been another properly mixed week in the Pabloskates workshop. We've had skates selling, new builds being sourced, customer conversions heading home, part-ex skates arriving, more carbon fibre work and yet more messing around with the 3D printer. There's even a completely unidentified plate that's been thrown into the mix. 😂
🔵 Bauer X Size 6 – Still Looking for a Home
First up are these black and blue Bauer X quad skates, which are still available for sale. They've already been converted and are sitting on their quad plates ready for somebody to choose the rest of their setup. I really like these boots, the blue detailing works brilliantly and gives plenty of options if somebody wants to go all-in on a blue wheel and lace combination.
🔥 The Nike Bauer Vapor Enforcers Have SOLD!
One pair that definitely isn't hanging around anymore is the Nike Bauer Vapor Enforcers. These sold this week through Vinted after recently appearing in their own Pabloskates Build Diary. It's always nice seeing one of these older pairs go through the whole process, from getting them into the workshop, converting them to quads, photographing the finished build and finally seeing them head off to their new owner. Another classic pair of Nike Bauers back where they belong. 🛼
🧵 What's Actually Inside a Reinforced Skate?
We also managed to grab a good photo showing something you don't normally see once a conversion is finished: the carbon fibre reinforcement inside the boot. When we're dealing with boots that have a weaker inner sole, reinforcement isn't simply about sticking something underneath the skate and making it look fancy. The carbon reinforcement is shaped to the individual boot, strengthening the mounting area and giving us a solid structure to mount the quad plate against. Once everything is assembled, most of this work disappears from sight, but it's an important part of some conversions.
🔵 More Jam Plug Experiments
The 3D printer hasn't exactly been getting much rest either. After getting our prototype jam plugs out into the real world and successfully having somebody snap one while skating, development continues. 😂 Here we've been playing with different shapes and profiles to see what works best. That's exactly why prototypes exist. Design it, print it, skate it, break it, work out why it broke and make the next one better. Eventually we'll run out of ways for you lot to destroy them. Hopefully.
🖨️ £4 Adjustable Skate Heels
There's also another batch of our 3D printed adjustable skate heels coming through, this time including black and silver/grey. The slots are probably the most important part of the design because they give considerably more freedom over mounting position than a heel with fixed holes. At £4 a pair, they're deliberately kept inexpensive and we're able to produce them in different sizes and colours depending on the build.
🔴 Bauer NSX – Now For Sale
Another completed pair heading into the shop are these black and red Bauer NSX quad skates. The red detailing inside the boots looks fantastic against the mostly black exterior, and they're now available through the Pabloskates shop for somebody looking for a ready-converted Bauer setup.
📦 A VERY Rare Pair of Bauer Ignite 44s Heading Home
That battered-looking cardboard box actually contains something rather special. Those are a very rare pair of Bauer Ignite 44s, and this wasn't a new delivery arriving at Pabloskates. It was a completed customer job being packed up ready to head home. We see plenty of unusual old Bauer and Nike Bauer boots come through here, but some models don't turn up very often at all, and the Ignite 44 definitely falls into that category.
⚫ A Pair of Basically New CCMs Arrive in Part-Ex
We've also taken these CCMs in part-ex, and they've got quite a nice little story behind them. They were bought brand new for their previous owner by his wife as a Christmas present. Unfortunately, they hurt his feet, so despite technically being pre-owned they've never actually been skated in. Not great news for his feet, admittedly, but it does mean we've ended up with an exceptionally fresh pair of CCM boots to do something with. 😂
🤷 And What the Hell Is This Plate?
Then there's this thing. 😂 A customer has sent another boot and plate mounting request in, complete with this rather unusual old white plate. What exactly is it? No idea. Sometimes it's better not to pretend we know everything! Whatever it is, the job is the same: work out the mounting geometry, position it correctly on the boot and get the thing securely attached.
One of the things I enjoy about doing customer conversions is that you genuinely never know what's going to arrive next. Modern plates, ancient plates, expensive plates, weird plates... eventually somebody will ask me to bolt it to a hockey boot.
🇩🇪 Bauer Vapor X2.5s Sourced for Germany
And finally, another build begins. These Bauer Vapor X2.5 ice skates were specifically sourced by Pabloskates for a customer in Germany who contacted us looking for a custom setup. Customers don't necessarily need to already own the boots they want converting. If we can find a suitable pair in the right size and condition, we can source the boots, convert them and build the complete setup before shipping them out.
This pair is therefore still very much at the "before" stage. The ice holders are still attached and there's plenty of work to happen before they're ready to roll. We'll get some proper finished pictures once the German build is complete. 🇩🇪🛼
🛠️ Another Week Done at Pabloskates
So that's another week in the workshop: Bauer Xs still looking for a home, Enforcers sold, NSXs going into the shop, rare Ignite 44s heading back to their owner, basically-new CCMs coming in through part-ex, an international X2.5 build getting underway, carbon fibre reinforcement, adjustable heels, jam plug development and one mystery plate that apparently I'm now expected to figure out. 😂
As always, a massive thank you to everybody who's bought something, sent skates in, trusted me with a conversion, recommended Pabloskates or simply followed along with what goes on in the workshop.
Which one gets your vote this week? And bonus points if anyone can identify that white plate! 👇😂
See you next week for another workshop update!
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
Email - mail@pabloskates.com
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