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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/16/19 in all areas

  1. 3 points
    Howdy, You may not like it, and that's totally understandable, but to the average guy that wants to get his damn skates sharpened, most shops _DO_ suck. And there's no way, as a regular consumer, to reliably find the ones that don't. Particularly when its the standard thing like "Joey is the guy at Pure, but Billy sucks and Jill isn't bad but can't deal with weird stuff either. Good luck! May the odds ever be in your favor". Oh, and then Joey leaves anyway because, surprise, working retail isn't a destination career for most folks. Meanwhile, despite your obvious dislike of these machines, lots and lots of people are happily using them very successfully. Because they do a pretty good job and do it consistently. You sound _EXACTLY_ like the typical machinist from 20 or 30 or 40 years ago when CNC machines were taking over. Manually sharpening a skate is an admirably skill. And, done well, you can get an extremely good result. But that takes lots of training/practice/feel and at the end of the day, there's not enough folks around that do it well vs. a hack job that destroys profiles, has edges so uneven you can see it with the naked eye, that nods their head when someone requests a roh and uses "the standard" anyway, etc. etc. etc. This is a process that begs for automation. The stuff about consistent travel speed, consistent pressure, etc. that it takes a while to get the right feel for is exactly what automation is good at. edit: And in the beginning, where was the money for Sparx to build those free sample machines for the shops? I would imagine they weren't doing a kickstarter project because they decided to turn down big money investors. They saw a need, had an idea for a product that filled that need, and were able to successfully market it to the people that wanted to fill that need. And guess what... Those people were mostly consumers, not pro shops. Or at least they were, until pro shops realized "hey... Wait a minute. You mean I can teach someone to sharpen skates in 30 minutes? And the results will be good?" Mark
  2. 1 point
    Yes, I know the Sparx is made with a solid steel frame and the case is tough. My concern isn’t damage while in the case, it’s concern at what happens if it drops on the floor while putting it into or taking it out of the case. I find my Sparx hard to lift as it is so heavy, hence easily dropped if I slip. That’s why I’d opt for the ProSharp if portability was a key requirement. Regarding the glass, I know someone with Sparx machines that have taken a hard puck shot to the glass, it’s tough. The exterior metal case is tough too, although the cosmetic plastic ends might break more easily.
  3. 1 point
    They are heavy but also sturdy, the plastic casing is strictly for cosmetics as explained in one of Sparx's videos that covered the development of the unit. The glass viewing door is probably the main weak spot in terms of something that may get busted if you toss the unit around. In the travel case it is nice and secure. Sparx published this video of them testing the cases when they first got them: colins
  4. 1 point
    I guess there’s two issues. How many grinds can it do before failure, and how robust is it when knocked about. It looks like it can do oodles of grinds, but can it survive regularly being carried, and potentially dropped albeit in the carry case, or even accidentally dropped 6” onto a bench? These things are heavy.
  5. 1 point
    I doubt Sparx said shops suck, but I find most are poor, and the good ones are 25 miles away. Anyway, if a shop buys a Sparx, it requires far less attention and concentration, so they can serve customers more quickly at peak times. My LHS has one of two top staff members sharpening at the weekend. I’d rather they were serving customers because they kniw what they are talking about. Curiously they have a ProSharp SkatePal, looks like an aluminium camera case, but it sits unused. The wheel clogged up with steel and customers apparently preferred the hand sharpening. That said, my Sparx is incredible.
  6. 1 point
    Seeing that's all the chipped areas are where the rivets were, are you sure the damage wasn't from when you remover them from your skates? I mean, those areas would be hard to even notice with the rivets in and mounted on your skates.... The rest of the holders seem to be in good condition.
  7. 1 point
    It's mid-May. About a month from my last post. Today, I ran 2 miles in 19 minutes 22 seconds. I was breathing hard in the last two minutes. At least my back is doing well under that duress. When I was in really good shape, I was able to run 2 miles in under 16 minutes. I'm off my old pace.
  8. 1 point



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