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I would be complaining about the scope in my bum, but that's just me...

http://smt.sandvik.com/en/news-media/archive/2016/05/bauer-skates-from-sandvik-steel-allows-ice-hockey-players-holding-the-edge/ Oh, it's @JDub!

Heal quickly and get back on the ice soon!!

That's not a fair comment. The skills required to operate a Sparx are certainly less than a traditional machine, which is a good thing. But you still have to know what you are doing. It doesn't matter how fool proof something is - there's got to be folks with Sparx machines that are not paying attention to alignment, ring height, skate positioning in the clamp, the required number of passes and honing technique and yes - they'd end up with imperfect edges. That's not a knock against the machine, it's a knock against human nature and folks who pay attention to detail vs. those who don't. I know of an 'expert' sharpener (guy's been at it for years, also does equipment repairs) who uses multiple Cag One machines in his shop. Easy to use, right? Just lay the skate on it. Well he doesn't bother to use an edge checker (slows down output, he's very busy), and when one of his machines goes out of alignment, a whole crew of folks go through there with uneven edges on one skate until someone calls it out. Again, the Sparx is just another machine. It makes the process simpler and lowers the cost to entry, but it's not 100% fool proof. But because it exists, a thousand new sharpeners are now active across North America, and I imagine a similar (or higher since the machine is easier to use) percentage of those new sharpeners are good at what they do vs. the ones that existed before Sparx. colins

Had a long-awaited surgery yesterday. So grateful to have a whole house of friends to stay with and help me out.

Sparx has a cross cut ring (called the X-Grind) for taking down deep nicks. At the end of the day, the Sparx is just another machine - one that lowers the $$ entry point for quality sharpenings. A buddy of mine has a Blademaster 850 (great machine) in his garage, and I used to bring my skates to him. I consider him an expert level sharpener, simply because he knows his machine well and his attention to detail is very high. I don't consider him scum just because he sharpens skates for a fairly large group of his friends and charges a nominal fee for his time & materials. As I was debating between buying my own Blademaster 850 or a Blackstone I came across the Sparx Kickstarter, and the single biggest advantage to me was the ease of use and lack of mess. My buddy's garage door and ceiling is full of steel dust - you simply can't use a traditional machine like the Blademaster indoors without some type of dust collection setup. You should also wear a mask to avoid breathing the stuff in. My Sparx sits in my rec room and I can literally sharpen a pair of my sons' skates as they are packing up their gear to head to the rink for a game/practice with no fuss and no mess. I still pay attention to the condition of the blades, the number of passes, and my honing requirements. And I'm still learning - the Sparx doesn't have a whole lot of variables to mess with, but the ring height, position/direction of the skate in the clamp, and the number of passes are all in play to get that 'perfect mirror finish'. I've joked with the Sparx guys that I'm developing an ability to 'hear' a good final pass based on the pitch of the ring across the whole length of the blade, and based on the sound deciding whether or not I need 1 more pass to achieve perfection. This machine is a game changer. I don't intend to use my Sparx to steal business from any local shops. It's a funny thing though - once people find out you have the ability to sharpen skates and the quality is as good as it is, it's hard to prevent the skates from coming to you. My son keeps bringing his teammate's skates home in his bag after practice and the $5 he collects goes into a Sparx jar to pay for the next set of rings I have to order. colins

Best steel I've ever skated on. My profile specs definitely helped, too.