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ID Rollerpop

sharpening question

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My youngest is headed to a squirt tournament next weekend that is going to be played outside. The rink is refridgerated and gets zammed but it is still black ice and harder than our home rink. My question to the skate techs would there be any benefit or reason to change up his hollow to compensate and if so should his normal 1/2" go to a 5/8" or the other way don't want a fragile indoor edge to get hammered and then watch him flounder around.

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As far as what kind of sharpening to get, can't help you there, but I'd definitely consider changing it. From watching a bit of the 24/7 RTWC special, I think it'll benefit your son if you change hollow...I dunno if you'd want more bite or less on hard ice though, sorry.

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I live near to refrigerated outdoor rink, and I pretty often skate there. It's speed skaters' rink, and it's very good maintained. Basically the ice is little bit harder there, and keeps a good shape longer. I feel myself very comfortable there, and don't need to change radius. Anyway you should try to test ice, the feeling of ice will mostly depend from outdoor temperature. In very cold weather the ice could be very hard.

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If the ice is harder, which it should be, he would benefit from going to 7/16 or 3/8 not to 5/8 if you want more edge. My son is a squirt and skates on the FBV 100/50 (like 1/2 ROH), but for hard ice in the coldest rinks around here we bump down to 100/75(like 3/8 ROH).

Because it is a tournament and he is young and adaptable, let him play the first game as is. I am sure you can get them touched up between games. If he feels he needs more edge, go for it.

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If the ice is harder, which it should be, he would benefit from going to 7/16 or 3/8 not to 5/8 if you want more edge. My son is a squirt and skates on the FBV 100/50 (like 1/2 ROH), but for hard ice in the coldest rinks around here we bump down to 100/75(like 3/8 ROH).

Because it is a tournament and he is young and adaptable, let him play the first game as is. I am sure you can get them touched up between games. If he feels he needs more edge, go for it.

If you go 3/8 on outdoor, don't expect the sharpening to last the weekend.

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If you go 3/8 on outdoor, don't expect the sharpening to last the weekend.

Why not? Is there something magical about those micro-hollows that some of you can use? Are you saying that a 1/2, a 5/8, or a 3/4 will last longer than the 3/8?

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Have him skate on the ice, change the hollow to something with more bite (7/16, 3/8) if he complains about not being able to hold his edges. Don't over think it, but be ready to make changes if needed.

Why not? Is there something magical about those micro-hollows that some of you can use? Are you saying that a 1/2, a 5/8, or a 3/4 will last longer than the 3/8?

Actually, he's right to a point. With a traditional edge a hollow with more bite won't last as long due to the thinner points on the edges. A lot of the guys that go with a lot of bite like that brag about how long it lasts, but they also usually don't like the way it feels for the first few ice times. Of course, that's when they've worn down those edges a bit.

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Have him skate on the ice, change the hollow to something with more bite (7/16, 3/8) if he complains about not being able to hold his edges. Don't over think it, but be ready to make changes if needed.

Actually, he's right to a point. With a traditional edge a hollow with more bite won't last as long due to the thinner points on the edges. A lot of the guys that go with a lot of bite like that brag about how long it lasts, but they also usually don't like the way it feels for the first few ice times. Of course, that's when they've worn down those edges a bit.

Guess I'm spoiled having my own machine and putting fresh edges on whenever I want them.... But, I tend to get more than 3 or 4 games from a grind and we have a few rinks that have pretty hard ice (harder than the Ice they had on the rink the put up outside of Heinz Field for the Winter Classic). Personally, I've tried going shallower.... I never got past 7/16 and that was for some really soft spring ice. But to each his own.... I would think that the last thing you might want would be an FBV equivalent to a shallow hollow on the harder outdoor ice for the exact reason you stated - but that's just my opinion and I've been wrong before.

Then again, maybe Chadd's right on what to do... we shouldn't over think this one...

The OP has a squirt player that is normally skating on 1/2 hollow? How big is this kid and is the 1/2 too much for him indoors on normal ice? How is his edge control now? Does he chatter at all when stopping? Able to stop in both directions with control and no chatter? Able to do a control stop? I am assuming that he's learned all of these stopping techniques.... Go with a fresh grind of what he's used to and adjust only if needed.

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