Pablo's Weekly Workshop Diary: 20th September 2026
It's been another ridiculously varied week at Pabloskates. We've had skate builds and repairs on the bench, wheels arriving and heading back out again, more 3D printing than I'd care to count, plenty of testing and even a bit of actual skating! The biggest theme this week, though, has probably been development. We're increasingly designing and manufacturing our own parts, testing them properly and finding out what works, what doesn't and occasionally what happens when somebody manages to break one! 😂
Someone Finally Broke One!
One of our prototype 3D printed jam plugs has finally been properly broken during real-world testing! 🔨 And strangely, that's actually good news. There's only so much you can learn from designing something on a computer, printing it and testing it around the workshop. Eventually it needs to go onto somebody's skates and get used properly, which is exactly why we've been getting prototypes out to skaters before settling on the final designs. This one certainly found a weakness! 😂 Interestingly, it was one of our glow-in-the-dark prototypes, which we already suspected might be slightly more brittle due to the additives used to make the material glow. So now we've got another problem to solve: can we make the glow-in-the-dark version stronger, or do we simply stop producing them rather than sell something we're not completely happy with? We'd rather find that out now during testing than after they've gone on sale. On that note, every failure gives us more information to feed back into the design, material and print settings. Test it, break it, improve it and print another one. 🛠️🔥
The Jam Plug Production Line Is Getting Serious
The printer has been working overtime again this week with batches of our own jam plugs coming off the build plate. Purple has definitely been the colour of the week, with a sizeable batch being produced alongside continued testing of different designs. What started as a fairly simple idea has turned into a proper development project involving thread tolerances, different shapes, materials, print settings and plenty of prototypes. Getting a 5/8" threaded part to actually screw cleanly into different skate plates while remaining strong enough for real-world use has been considerably more involved than simply drawing a plug and pressing PRINT!
And Apparently We Make Ducks Now... 🦆
Yes. That's a purple duck. 😂 One customer wanted purple jam plugs to match their purple wheels and then asked whether they could have a matching purple duck as well. Obviously the only sensible answer was YES! Is it an essential piece of roller skate equipment? Absolutely not. Did we print one anyway? Absolutely. 🦆💜 This might be one of the more ridiculous things to come out of the Pabloskates printer so far, but we rather like him. Of course, this has now raised an even more important question... Do we make jam plugs with Dwayne Johnson's head on them? Because then you'd literally have Rock Plates. 🤦♂️😂
More 3D Printed Skate Heels
Jam plugs aren't the only thing keeping the printer busy. Our custom skate heels continue to evolve too, with more prototypes, sizes and variations being produced and tested. There are now quite a few discarded prototypes accumulating around the workshop, but that's part of developing something properly. Small changes in shape, height, mounting position and fit can make a significant difference once the part is actually underneath a boot, so we're continuing to refine the designs rather than assuming the first version is good enough.
From Heels and Jam Plugs to Replacement Skate Parts
Between developing our own heels and now our own jam plugs, 3D printing is becoming a serious part of what we do at Pabloskates. It means we can design parts around problems we actually encounter when building and repairing skates, manufacture prototypes ourselves and keep tweaking them until we're happy. The next challenge is considerably more ambitious: replacement toe caps and outer plastic soles for classic Bauer Flexlite and Nike Quest boots. The carbon-fibre Nike Quest image shown this week is an AI concept, not something we've built, but it represents where we'd eventually like to take our refurbishment work. Actually working out how to manufacture accurately fitting replacement components is going to require considerably more development, but that's the next problem we'd like to solve. 🔥
Purple Bauer Supreme One20s 💜
Back to actual skates, and purple has made another appearance on a very tidy pair of Bauer Supreme One20s. Finished with purple laces and translucent purple Ventro Pro Turbo wheels, it's a relatively simple colour change that completely transforms the look of the boots. This is exactly why we like having so many wheel, lace and hardware combinations available. You don't necessarily need an outrageous custom build to create something that looks completely different.
More Wheels Through the Workshop
There has been plenty of wheel activity this week too, including more Air Waves and Ventro wheels passing through the workshop. The photos probably give a fairly good indication of how quickly wheel deliveries get unpacked, sorted and turned into customer orders! Air Waves continue to be an extremely popular choice for outdoor and recreational builds, while the different Ventro colours give us loads of options when putting together matching setups and Refresh Packs.
Repairs Aren't Always Glamorous
Not everything arriving at the workshop is shiny new hardware. We've also had the usual collection of worn, damaged and decidedly questionable skate components to investigate. Some of the close-up photos this week show exactly why inspecting the complete skate matters rather than concentrating only on the obvious problem the customer originally noticed. Bearings, axles, plates, mounting hardware and the boot itself all take punishment in use, particularly on skates that see a lot of rink time. Sometimes the interesting part of a job is figuring out exactly what has happened before deciding how we're going to put it right.
More Builds on the Bench
There have been several more Bauer builds and conversions moving around the bench this week as well, including some very nice green-accented setups. This is the part of the workshop diary that never really changes: there always seems to be another pair being stripped, prepared, mounted, rebuilt or waiting for its final setup. Some weeks the spectacular finished build gets all the attention, but there's usually considerably more work happening behind it that never makes the final glamour shot.
I Actually Escaped the Workshop! 🛼
And yes, occasionally I actually use roller skates rather than spending all week building them! 😂 I normally skate at Rollerworld Derby on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so one of this week's pictures is me actually out on the floor (or am I actually sat in the bar!?) It's also useful being able to spend proper time skating because you notice things very differently when you're using the equipment rather than looking at it on a workshop bench. And after spending this much time surrounded by skates, it would probably be slightly ridiculous if I never actually went skating.
Building, Breaking and Making Things Better
This week probably sums up where Pabloskates is heading better than most. We're still converting and repairing skates and supplying the parts people already know us for, but increasingly we're also trying to solve some of the problems that come with keeping older skates alive. Sometimes that means carbon strengthening a boot. Sometimes it means designing a heel that doesn't exist. Sometimes it's creating our own jam plugs. And eventually, hopefully, it means manufacturing replacement components for boots whose original parts disappeared years ago. There are going to be plenty of failed prints, broken prototypes and stupid ideas along the way, but that's rather the point. If something breaks, we learn why, change it and try again. 🛠️🔥
Another Week Done at Pabloskates
A huge thank you again to everyone who's ordered parts, sent skates in, bought one of our builds, tested prototypes or simply followed what we're doing. Having people willing to actually use the things we're developing and give us feedback is incredibly useful, especially as the 3D printed side of Pabloskates continues to grow. And apparently we're now taking custom duck requests too. 😂
What gets your vote from this week's workshop: the purple Bauer build, the jam plug development, the future Flexlite/Quest parts... or the duck? 🦆👇
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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