Leaderboard

Issues with the sp3: - if the blade holder on the boot has any damage to it that affects the way it sits in the V (eg a small cut where the plastic may sit a little proud), the alignment will be out. Instead of a V they should have just had a flat surface. You must religiously check the holder every time and double check how the boot is sitting in the machine, every time. - the clamp that holds the blade is too small, in my experience a lot of blades have slight curve in them so if you want a straight edge on anything bigger than a junior size you need to remove the blade from the holder and put it into a separate holder that will hold it straight. - the clamp itself should be made from hardened steel. Instead its made from a soft steel that wears quickly (remember this is supposed to be a commercial version) where it runs around the clamp alignment bearings. You end up with different wear on each side of the clamp which starts to throw the clamp alignment out. Not only does the alignment move out on one side but it also moves out from front to back ie it slightly twists so the blade will be more left at the front and more right at the back. - now you have to realign the clamp to take care of minor wear in the clamp. wtf, it's actually not designed to be realigned, even by a few thou. You can do it but because of the way they have designed it, the bearing is meant to center the clamp and be located in just one place. But the bolt that secures the alignment bearing can float by 1/2mm in the securing the channel. 1/2mm one one side in the front bearing and 1/2mm to the other side in the back is up to 1mm deviation, f**k. Now you have to manually align it over and over with no way to move the bearing securing bolt in any controlled manner. Yes, a new clamp mechanism fixes this but I'm talking about very minor wear here and the alignment starts to go out. - the overall design of how the clamp bearing alignment bolt is secured is really piss poor (this would be my biggest complaint). They use a really thin shim to help secure the bearing where it sits over a channel. The shim gives way (the shaft of the bearing pushes the shim into the channel) and the bearing securing bolt gets loose, oh f**k, now I'm having to realign the F*****G machine again. JFC!!!!!! - You have to move the sharpening wheel forward by about one inch to access the sharpening wheel adjustment nut. wtf, all they had to do was cut the opening into the machine further to the right so you could easily access the alignment wheel without having to move the sharpening wheel, morons. And if you forget to push the start button just right so it moves the wheel for adjustment instead of a sharpen, bugger. Now it runs up the device and the sharpening wheel takes chunks out of the blade alignment clamp. I've done it, I've seen 5 of these machines where everyone else has done it, what a cluster f**k. So when these things get any wear in them, they are stuffed. This is why they end up sitting under a bench, every time you realign them and you think its ok, the alignment goes out after a few sharpens. You can't run a sharpening business with this device unless you are prepared to replace the clamp mechanism and associated parts every few months (in a commercial or rink setting) and getting support from Prosharp, what a joke (my experience and other rinks I've talked to). What I have done to fix this (if you know the machine you will know what I am talking about) - made the clamp from high tensile steel. Made multiple clamps that are longer to better hold blades straight. Changed the way the clamp is held to the arms, instead of rivets I now use a nut and bolt and miniature bearing. Modified stand offs to fit the clamp alignment bearing (so I didn't need the shim and when I secure the bearing in place it doesn't lock the bearing and stop it from spinning). Changed the clamp alignment bearings so the center spigot was bigger. Added high tensile steel flat bars that perfectly fit the channels the clamp alignment bolts go into. The bars are machined from high tensile solid steel and include a machined pin the clamp alignment bearing sits onto. This allows me to secure the clamp alignment bearing from the top instead of a nut at the bottom in the channel. I can change the clamp quickly without worrying about the clamp alignment bearing moving so the clamp alignment always stays the same. At the other end of the bar are 2 additional holes that securing bolts go into to hold the bar in place. One the bar is secured the bearing cannot move and can be perfectly centered in relation to the other 3 bearings. Added to the end of the locking bar is a tube, I can insert a threaded rod into the tube and use this to move the locking bar and therefore the clamp alignment bearing by thousands of an inch to help realign the clamp when wear occurs. I've cut openings in the side of the machine and attached some digital laser beam measurement devices that take measurements (both sides of the blade) back / middle / front of the blade. Once the machine is properly aligned, these measuring devices can be zeroed to the distance of the blade. Now every time I put a blade into the machine I can instantly check that it is centered to the wheel and centered along the length of the blade. My next project on it is to make a locking mechanism that will hold template profiles and the blade. I also have to modify the pin that holds the sharpening wheel on (add a bearing to it). Now I will be able to do profiles on the machine. I will have to take the blade out of the boot holder to do the profile but I'm ok with that.

They had this on display at Bauer World and it had a catastrophic failure on the first day and became inoperable. Lol I think it's overpriced and the fact that Bauer is wanting retailers to sell the machine and accessories doesn't make sense. Personally, if I was to use a machine at home and wanted something easy to operate, I would buy a used Sparx.