"Different Shops do hollows differently"

[syinx 139]

Hey guys,

I'm out of town (I live in Vancouver), visiting family in Hong Kong for the summer. Decided to get my skates sharpened as I'll be needing to teach a few friends to skate in a few days, and I had gone a couple months without.

I popped over to the only place I know that sharpens Hockey skates well, as there are only two rinks in the city which regularly have Ice Hockey games and schools. Luckily enough, a friend of mine manages the rink, and I can get a free sharpening. It's also where my old coach (I'm from Hong Kong) plays, teaches, and gets his skates done at a 3/8ths

I asked the girl at the counter for a 5/8ths. She looked at me weirdly and said "we usually do 1/2. Are you sure you want it 5/8ths? You know it's smaller (I think she meant shallower)"

I said "yep, I want it at 5/8ths. I always got them done at 5/8ths in Canada."

Then here's the kicker. She tells me "I can't guarantee that it'll be 5/8ths. Every place does their sharpening different. Every machine's measuring system (meaning the hollows) are different. 5/8ths here might be different to the 5/8ths you get in Canada."

"What machine do you use?"

"Blademaster"

"It's fine. My guy uses Blademaster too."

"The 5/8ths on his Blademaster might be different to the 5/8ths on ours."

I got them sharpened there anyways. Even if they ended up giving me a hollow that isn't what I asked for, I'll manage. Thankfully, she's not the one who does the sharpening. I just had to leave it with her, as the sharpener was out for a lunch break. And if his work is good enough for my coach, it's good enough for me.

The question is, is it possible? Can the same hollow be different on two machines? I've gotten my skates done in places from Richmond to Whistler to Toronto. 5/8ths feels like 5/8ths, albeit the quality of the sharpening varies. Does this girl just not know what she's talking about?

P.S. I brought it up with the manager, he said if there's anything wrong, if it feels wonky, he'll get it fixed for free until it's right. FRIENDSHIP.

[Chadd 916]

The depths should be consistent from one machine to the next. If you want to get extremely anal about it, any slop in the radius arm of the machines could result in some slight variations but nothing substantial in most cases.

[zebra_steve 11]

It sounds like a case of "there is only one person allowed to mess with the dressing of the sharpener." I've even seen a few places that someone dressed the wheel in the morning then removed the dressing diamond and locked it up.... didn't matter how chewed the wheel got, that was what they used. They also were not allowed to adjust the clamp... Another place had a sign posted, "We guarantee that you will get two edges, There is NO GUARANTEE that they will be even or level"!

I've also seen rinks where the zamboni drivers are not allowed to adjust the blade height at all. They set it scape snow w\o a cut and lay water. two guys are the only ones to actually cut the ice.

[EvilPepe 24]

It's easier to be consistent than good, I guess (to say nothing of being consistently good).

[Souldriver 64]

well the 12" in my foot long ruler is a little shorter than the 12" in my neighbors ruler :eye roll:

Nah it's just an excuse to probably try to get you to go with their normal hollow. Either you'll vt 5/8 when they're back or it'll be off, I hope for the first

[bnr032 11]

the rink i currently play drop in... well they take the diamond out of the machine...

Apparently years ago someone stole it?

(i guess they heard the word diamond and assumed its worth big dollars haha).

Now they lock it in the safe 90% of the time...

Mind you i wouldnt trust them to do my skates. so it doesnt really worry me.

[zebra_steve 11]

well the 12" in my foot long ruler is a little shorter than the 12" in my neighbors ruler :eye roll:

Nah it's just an excuse to probably try to get you to go with their normal hollow. Either you'll vt 5/8 when they're back or it'll be off, I hope for the first

Not to cloud things here, but that does happen. When I worked in a shop as a code welder we all would verify our tapes with the ruler on the shear. I've seen 3/16" difference between two tapes.

[syinx 139]

Update. They look to be about right. I can't know for sure until I skate on them. I met the guy who did the sharpening with my coach with me, when he saw him take the skates out my coach nodded and said he's the best one they've got. We'll have to see. Sweet baby jesus, I'm never getting my skates done anywhere but North America from now on.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

Well you could have people set the diamonds a little different when setting the machine up but that being said it all depends on how much someone knows about the actual machine. I am sure if one person set up a machine and dressed 3 different machines and went behind them and did the skates they maybe a little different??

But were talking very very marginal differences!

[syinx 139]

Got a straight answer out of the manager just an hour ago. Yep - the chick had no idea what she was talking about, and was also just trying to be lazy. Apparently she's no longer allowed to deal with skate service anymore, only cashier.

Might be a bit extreme for a little mistake, but when you've got more employees than positions, you gotta do what you gotta do to make sure your rink is the best it can be.

[jimmy 194]

OTG is right. If the sharpeners know what they are doing the hollows will be so close a skater wouldn't really notice anything from minor dressing techniques.. But as syinx described, what he experienced is normally the case. Once when I was at a out of town tournement I asked the sharpener if they could do 3/4", he said sure. I had big problems on that sharpening and when I got back home, I measured it at 1/2". Just lip service and lazyness, which I suspect is the case for most who notice a difference. Having said that, the only time the same hollow will really feel different is if one goes from real soft ice to a rink with real hard ice, or vice verse.

[zebra_steve 11]

Jimmy,

Not to argue or anything, but if the hollow is exactly the same but the finish is mirror smooth with no burs on one but is rough and the edge has burs on the other you will notice a difference when you hit the ice the first time.

[jimmy 194]

Jimmy,

Not to argue or anything, but if the hollow is exactly the same but the finish is mirror smooth with no burs on one but is rough and the edge has burs on the other you will notice a difference when you hit the ice the first time.

If the finish is smooth that skate will go faster but, the average skater will not even notice, because the difference is so minimal. Same with Burrs, most of them simply break off after 10 seconds on the ice if they are not honed off. A skater cannot tell the difference at all. Now, if the blade has a nick that's curled out, well that will catch and can be fely by the skater.

[WSjo22 1]

Not to cloud things here, but that does happen. When I worked in a shop as a code welder we all would verify our tapes with the ruler on the shear. I've seen 3/16" difference between two tapes.

Hey another welder on here, sweet... I've noticed variances between hollows from shop to shop but it's never been enough to make a difference

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Math is math. 5/8 of an inch is 5/8 of an inch anywhere in the universe. Math is the one constant in the known world... other than stupidity.

[cooperalls 4]

The markings on the quill are wide enough to make a difference. We have two machines, on one I know I need to line it up at the top of the mark, on the other I use the bottom f the mark. I agree with OTG and Jimmy in that the difference would be tough to notice. It also matters (as Chadd said) how much slop is in the swing arm, and how worn the diamond tip is. Lots of small factors could compound to a perceptible difference, even with a sharpeners best attempt to be consistent.