your right i am a beginner, been skating for approx 5 months.

i have put the screws into the holes on the front part of the mounting plate, but i cant put any into the heel because the shaft of the electric screwdriver we have is too wide so it would hit the blade of the skate before the screw was fully in so we are going to try to buy a new screwdriver tomorrow or tuesday.

The blades did not twist when the other screws were inserted into the front plate ( i checked using the mechanists steel rule that rustyblades suggested).

i have applied snoseal to the soles of the boots but they didnt change colour so im not sure if it worked??

I also have Jackson Freestyles, and the bottom of the soles are coated with a tan-colored waterproofing material. The Jackson name and the skate size are embossed in it. If yours are like that, you only need to Sno-Seal the exposed leather of the soles (heel, edges just below the uppers, front of heel). Those parts will darken slightly when you Sno-Seal.

ahh ok, mine are the same as that. I splashed a bit of snoseal on the heel and it did darken it so ill apply the snoseal all over the heel and the other parts you suggested. thanks!

My skates (Jackson Elites) look all splotchy from when I applied sno-seal...so before each show/competition I have to hit them with brown polish (ok, overkill I know but I'm soooo particular-I am also the only one at my rink that actually cares...)

Maybe I should swipe them with alcohol or something then sno-seal them??? Any ideas/suggestions for that??? (no wisecracks about boot OCD either... )

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I am the same way....I have Harlicks, so the soles are pretty evenly colored, but if I even notice that the soles are not repelling water the way they should, I put another layer on them...I'm getting annoyed right now that I keep kicking the heel on my right boot while working on axels (and not successfully crossing my feet)...

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

When i added the sno-seal...it got splotchy. I was like ????? and each time I treat them (4x so far) they are splotchy.

Ok, that is why I also don't wear white canvas sneakers....I don't like grungy shoes either.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

That's odd...and you put a thin coat on? While using a hair dryer to open up the leather? hmmmm....

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Um, well I don't use a hair dryer...I put them in the clothes dryer on a rack...on low heat.

My thinking on this? There was something put on them at the factory-some sort of treatment for the uppers...and it got on the heels.

Maybe I should just not worry about it sooo much I mean, they are really nicked & gouged up now...

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I don't mean to sound patronising (sorry if I do!!) but you can get long screwdriver bits and extension bars for electric screwdrivers. all I will say is go easy when the screw is nearly in as you risk ripping the threads that the screw has carved to the boot. I speak from experience here so I have always since then used a manual hand screw driver. You can't go wrong really and it isn't that hard to screw them in manually.