The CT Edge Blade

[BIG 0]

1-877-877-0822 call and ask for Boowie... great guy.He s from Colorado

and CobrAA .......Yes im from Quebec City...... ..

[logan 0]

Didn't Rebellion or one of the smaller companies have a similar blade on one of their skates? I clearly remember seeing a blade cross-section like this from at least a year ago.

The concept is very simple and a great idea in theory, but not practical for mass market.

You will be limited to sharpener competence. The effectiveness of the angled walls would require consitent sharpenings all the time--without changing the blade profile. This is pretty difficult for even the best of sharpeners.

You cannot contour your runners, adjust pitch, etc. as you would with parallel-walled runners. You can only customize by having more options in pre-fabricated variations.

T-blades are a more simple technology, and even they have reduced SKU's. Inventory for manufacturer and retailer pose a big problem.

[boomer 0]

wow, i think that these new ct blades will sell good, i would probably try them, i think i seen somethign like them about a year ago, but im not sure. i was thinking and coudl it be possible for a blade to somehow heat up so that it could cut into the ice better. ive always thoight if that woould work

.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Um not the same thing.

[boomer 0]

Um not the same thing.

i know that it isnt the same thing, but with the differnet style of the ct balde, i wa sjust thingkign if that could work

[Chadd 916]

i was thinking and coudl it be possible for a blade to somehow heat up so that it could cut into the ice better. ive always thoight if that woould work

.

That came out about a year or so ago and flopped.

[gavin 0]

Just very curious here Chadd... do you have any links, a wiki or anything on this flop? I don't think I would ever buy something like that but I would like reading about it.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Wasn't that the blade that had the battery to heat it up?

Did it even come to market?

[Chadd 916]

Wasn't that the blade that had the battery to heat it up?

Did it even come to market?

Yeah that was the one. I haven't seen anything on it in a long time though.

[sogaduch 0]

i asked mr.bob allen from max edge about this and his response was that with this blade your bit angel will be changing from sharpening to sharpening because as you sharpen this blade when the blade gets smaller it also gets thinner so it wont have as consitent of a bite angle as standard blades

[Chadd 916]

i asked mr.bob allen from max edge about this and his response was that with this blade your bit angel will be changing from sharpening to sharpening because as you sharpen this blade when the blade gets smaller it also gets thinner so it wont have as consitent of a bite angle as standard blades

What exactly is a "bit angel"? The reduction in the flare has already been noted.

[Sven 1]

i was thinking and coudl it be possible for a blade to somehow heat up so that it could cut into the ice better. ive always thoight if that woould work

Sounds like a t'blade theory.

T'blades generate some kind of friction (friction -> heat) which makes you glide better.

[logan 0]

"bit angel", as in bite angle I presume.

I think its just not only the reduction in flare, but that the amount of flare will vary along the blade because you wont be able to follow the path that will produce the same blade thickness every time.

[echi24 1]

I could see this idea working as a tblade runner, where the blades are disposable, but as standard steel, having to adjust hollow and find sharpeners to do it well as the blade wears seems like a major turnoff

[DarkStar50 679]

When they product test something like this with the advantage of using NHL equipment guys to do the sharpening, it does effect the product's advantages, performance, and practicality in the general marketplace. These are good points that everyone is mentioning. Lets just imagine these blades come on those new Grafs you bought at Hockeygiant and they sharpened them! As John Davidson would say "Oh Baby!"

[Sid 3]

I have no claim to knowing how to sharpen in the slighest. But would they not make a clamp much like regular ones for sharpening but they would have variable locking angles so the angle would compensate for the flare and shapen like a regular skate?

[stickfixchaska 0]

Say you are skating on your new CT Edge blades...Do you have to "relearn" to skate, like with t-blades?

If so, then I guess the question is...How would the difference in width of the flare effect your skating style from one sharpening to the next?

Does your style transition smoothly from the widest base (when new) to thinest?

[notquitedeadyet 13]

Visualize this: You take your skates to be sharpened by the local rink kid (the same kid that gives you banana blades) & he takes too much of the toe & heel-like always.

Eventually the front & back of the blade will become narrower than the center & you will be cutting ice (slightly) from the sides even as you travel straight - forward or backward.

Can't be good for glide; think snowplowing down a ski slope.

[g0o0nshow 0]

i didnt feel like reading the whole thread to see if any ones addressed this but when i saw it on tv my dad came up with a good point what about for sharpening the blade wears down so wouldnt you eventually lose the flare of the blades?

[Eazy_b97 1]

i didnt feel like reading the whole thread to see if any ones addressed this but when i saw it on tv my dad came up with a good point what about for sharpening the blade wears down so wouldnt you eventually lose the flare of the blades?

It's been adressed a few times. Sharpening will cause some problems.

[ktang 34]

Visualize this: You take your skates to be sharpened by the local rink kid (the same kid that gives you banana blades) & he takes too much of the toe & heel-like always.

Eventually the front & back of the blade will become narrower than the center & you will be cutting ice (slightly) from the sides even as you travel straight - forward or backward.

Can't be good for glide; think snowplowing down a ski slope.

They might have to have several blade curve options to account for the different profiles. This would keep everything parallel, and it would be easier for the sharpeners.

I can definitely visualize harder turns with these babies. To me, the key is that once you angle the blade enough, the edge would still be cutting into the ice, instead of shaving across the top.

[jimmy 194]

i was thinking and coudl it be possible for a blade to somehow heat up so that it could cut into the ice better. ive always thoight if that woould work

Sounds like a t'blade theory.

T'blades generate some kind of friction (friction -> heat) which makes you glide better.

Not true, hype, all hype. Tblades actually lose heat because of lack of mass. Besides, skate's friction does not melt the ice. Old theory.

[Gongshow11 1]

In quebec they got similar blade for over a year now they call it X-BLADE http://www.aiguisopro.com/produitsHockey.html almost the same blade as figure skate blades

those are the ones that I saw at my lhs, thanks

[biff44 0]

I guess I do not understand the geometry. The pictures on the web site show blue triangles under the blade--I guess they are supposed to be force diagrams. But why is a wider blade going to have more lateral force in a turn? Is it because it is a little more off-axis? I do not think the slight off axis increase will produce discernable force.

I do know that figure skaters have been doing this for years. It drives the sharpeners crazy.

As far as the patent goes, you can read the whole thing on http://freepatentsonline.com/

You have to sign up, but it is free. Type in patent number 6830251

I guess if you really want to try this, just go out an buy a thicker blade, jam it into your holder, and see if it "wants to turn" any more. A thicker blade and a blade with a flare at the bottom will have exactly the same bite geometry, only it will weigh more.

One benefit of the flared thinner blade is that you do not have to adjust the skate holder height on the sharpening machine, so it will be easier to sharpen at the LHS.

The patent specifically says that sharpening will eventually wear down the flare, so the blades have to be made out of harder material.

[biff44 0]

I have thought about it a little more, and I do see three advantages and three disadvantages to the new blade:

+ For a given bite angle, you have more volume and therefore stronger steel under the the edge of a wider blade than a narrower blade. You can see this by looking at the picture of the blade at

http://chuck-wright.com/Skating/blades.html

See the bite angle depicted in the "freestyle blade". Imagine the exact same bite angle in the smaller "dance" width blade, and you will see that the hollow depth has to be much deeper--yielding a more precarious blade edge that is prone to chipping off

+ The flared blade is lighter than a thicker blade whose width is the same as that of the flare width

+ The flared blade is easier to sharpen than a thicker than normal blade since you do not have to change the height of the holder on the sharpening machine (an adjustment that many of the local gorrilla employees may not be able to fathom)

- After many sharpenings, the flare wears down. You will then have to change the hollow depth requested. After enough wear, you are back to a standard blade geometry.

- If, after many (poor) sharpenings, the radius of the blade (9',11' etc) changes, then you will have differing amounts of flare width along the blade. So you will not be able to maintain the same bite angle along the length of the blade.

- You can not have a custom radius, or change the balance point of the blade, since you will have different flare widths along the blade after the custom radius job.

In summary, it seems like this new blade is a boon to skaters who like deep hollows (like 3/8"), since they will have a more rugged blade edge.