More on the story:

I sent a note to Riedell's customer service about the screws coming loose every once in a while on my blade plates. The customer service guy who wrote back was alarmed and seemed to think that it is not normal for screws to come loose (even though judging from the forum and others at my rink, it is the norm...) and that I should have the blades either remounted or add more screws.

As I like where the blades sit under my feet, my best bet is to go with adding more screws, I would think. Can I do this, or is there a trick to it- or should I take them to the dealer just to preserve the warranty?

Up till now, I just screw them back in, and they stay put for a couple weeks.

I had this EXACT problem when I had Reidells as a teenager back in 1993. I had to have the blades remounted and ended up getting new SP-Teris shortly thereafter.

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I've got mad salchow disease!

How old are your boots? Toward the end of my boots' life (3 years), the screws consistently came loose because the leather was starting to rot/soften from water exposure and couldn't hold them tightly anymore.

I've gone thru quite a number of Riedell's and am now on Harlicks and in all the cases screws have come loose. Most recently I lost every screw at the top of the blade! An old pair of Riedell's got so bad that the guy who worked on my skates said it was a lost cause and actually GLUED the blade on just so I could get a few more months out of the skates! The blade never fell off again!

Moral of the story...skate screws DO come loose!

My coach told me to put a drop of glue into the hole before putting in the screw, to help hold it in place....can't hurt.

Mine work their way loose as well, I often forget, but should check them / tighten them every month or so. When you think about it, it makes total sense that they get loose, given the stress/torque that gets put on a blade.

Boots are only about a month old. I glued the screws in with lock-tight (they really should not have come loose after that!). Still worked loose. We will see, I guess!

Wow, the same thing is happening with my Riedell customs which are less than a year old. My skates are now at my rink to be glued as the screws at the back of my blade are coming loose and the blade has been moving. It doesn't seem like the blade can be moved on mine due to the nail placement?

It is good to know that Riedell seems to have problems with this. Or, not GOOD good, but... uhh. Gives me a heads up on Riedell, anyway. My next pair of boots are out in the hazy future though, so for now I'll just work on keeping these together.

I have two pairs of Riedells. One pair I have had for 6 years, have been rebuilt once and are now my patch skates. My other pair I have had for almost 2 years which are my freestyles. I have never had a problems with either pair of skates since I have owned them as far as screws coming loose.
I skate about 10-20 hours a week too.

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Keeping School Figures Alive!!

Just to chime in, my screws become loose quite often, especially if I am working on jumps. The landing boot tends to have very wet soles that contribute to the screws coming out but I've also found the other skate's screws will also loosen after a while even if the sole is not moist. I usually try to check them once every week or two to make sure they're not getting too loose

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

I wonder if it's an issue with the newer boots' leather? I have Reidells, am a heavier-weight skater and I don't have any trouble with the screws.

FS, my patch skaters are Reidell Silvers and are about 20 years old - and they don't stink!!!!!!! The blades are new - the rink skate guy had a pair turn up in some inventory he bought and they just happened to be the exact size I needed. My "new" skates are Reidell Silvers (the redesigned ones that are like the old Golds) and are about five years old. The Reidells I have before these - and after the patch ones - had a sole that rotten out after about six years. I picked into the ice for a flip and half the sole fell off. The blade was still attached, though. I sent those skates back to Reidell for repairs and they came back like new - except without the break-in pain. Cost me nothing but the shipping, too.

It sounds like the leather has softened and the screw threads are pulling out. All screws will losen, but I only check mine once a month and only a couple of screws will be a tad loose.

Maybe try this: Take off the blade, and let the sole & heel leather dry really well. Use a hair dryer to speed things up.

Once dry, try 2 drops of superglue in each screw hole. This will wick into the dry leather, and once it has cured it will make the leather very stiff and resistant to water. Wait until the glue dries before reinstalling the blade. The screw threads should hold better against the glue-hardened leather.

The heels of my boots are wood (with a thin, soft plasticy-pad on the very bottom of them), and the screws that were coming loose had stripped their screw holes. Being that they are pretty new boots, I assume that they came stripped (because I didn't do it), and my fiancee said that Riedell probably has their screwing-the-screws-in machine calibrated wrong.

To compound the problem, he noticed that the above-mentioned plastic-like pad was thinner on one side of the heel, leaving a gap that you can see daylight though between the heel plate of the blade and the boot heel pad. So every time I put weight on that foot, extra pressure is put on the screws in the heel (which would explain why those are the ones that come loose the fastest).

I'm sure I'll get it put back together eventually...

They just look like wood. They are actually stacked leather; that is, thin layers of leather stacked up and glued together.

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