Old dutch skates

No scenique pictures this time, I am still looking for fake snow to buy. It could be so much fun to set op a scene with the sled I made earlier. Maybe I'm even going to knit a scarf as well... who knows?



After taking the measurements of my own skates and checking them with skates on the site the Fries Marine Museum, I milled the grooves for the irons. After that I drilled the holes for the leather belts. All of that goes a lot easier if your stock is still square, so after that was done, the carving began. I didn't sand down any part, as a cut leaves a far more crisp surface.



The wood was then varnished 3 times, sanding down ever so lightly inbetween to loose the few possible raised grains of the wood. The irons were cut to size using a pair of siccors and some fine needle files to form the curve in the front. No glue was used, they fit snug and tight.

Making the straps out of leather proofed to be as big as a job as the skates themselfs. But they turned out allright. Mostly original skates have stripped orange ribbons to tighten the straps, but I still haven't figured out how to makes those. Using lacemaking techniques is probably the best option, but for now I used ordinary rope. My own skates have that as well, some old shoe laces. And that works just fine, as our doughter has learned how to skate on them,
last january ;-))