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A CCM Blade/Runner Observation

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Hey everyone,

I'm going to be getting into sharpneing my own skates pretty soon. I have a machining background, so skate sharpening and the methodoligies involved are not foreign to me.

I fabricated my own edge checker today, and after calibrating it, I then took it to some skates.

After getting inconsistent results on my CCM skates, I noticed that the side of the blades are not flat. They are actually VERY slightly convex (bowed out). This makes the flat edge of the edge checker (it uses a magnet to stick to the side) not sit consistently flat against the blade, since it isn't flat in the first place (this allows the back plate of the edge checker to be rocked slightly). I discoverd this when I took a true straight edge and held it against the side of the blade, and the convex shape became obvious. Both sides of the CCM runners are like this.

I then checked a pair of Bauer skates. It was not the case. In fact, the sides were very slightly concave. The edge checker shows consistent results on these skates since it is able to sit flat and sturdy against the side of the blade.

Has anyone else noticed this on blades before? And no.... I am not talking about the hollow. I know the above explanation is probably quite hard to understand. If need be, I'll draw something up in paint to describe it.

By the way, the CCM skates are RBZ 80s with the Speed Blade holder and Hyperglide runners.

EDIT: Here is a quick drawing of what I mean. Notice how the sides of the blade bow out.

40a97f1ce7.png

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Look into an edge checker like the BR1000, that will eliminate the problem you are experiencing. Doesn't sit against the sides of the runners

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Look into an edge checker like the BR1000, that will eliminate the problem you are experiencing. Doesn't sit against the sides of the runners

Yeah, but wouldn't that just move the problem to a slightly different place with the same result? Checker clamps to holder, holder clamps to (irregularly) shaped blade.

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Possibly. But I get much more accurate readings with my BR1000 vs my traditional edge checker. Especially noticeable on steel like this (When examining each result by eye and edge checker)

The steel is usually a pretty consistent thickness near the spot that the holder clamps on to (towards the bottom in OP's picture)

Also, the tension on the holder is greater than the magnet that is just resting against the steel (The magnets used are not that strong), which should also yield more consistent readings.

The traditional edge checker has a lot more wiggle to it vs the steel when it is clamped down to the holder.

Since the traditional style relies on straight edges, and there is no completely square edge, it is a guessing game as to what results you are getting.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on any of this

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What I did for now is just eyeball it with the straight edge piece on the blade. Sadly, it's more accurate than using the edgechecker backplate on this steel. It of course also has an effect on the blade when it sits in the sharpening holder as well, since the holder relies on the steel to be flat as well. I recently just bought new runners anyways, as I thought these were HyperGlide, but they are actually just the default stainless. Hopefully since the HyperGlides are apparently polished on the sides (which I don't care about anyways), that will maybe ensure the steel is flatter on the sides. Only one way to find out....

I got the EdgeChecker from Seymour just in case (since I know it's a great edgechecker), and of course had the same issue as my own edge checker. It's actually quite disturbing how off it can be depending on what part of the steel it happens to sit against.

A quick modification that I did to make my edgechecker sit flat was to grind a small amount of metal away from the middle of the piece that contacts the blade, so it only contacts the top and bottom of the side of the blade. This remedy won't last however as the blade wears away over time from sharpening.

It's probably a non-issue for most people.... but I'm paranoid about having perfect edges, haha.

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