rachael7

So I can take that as an endorsement of the ruby wheel performance? :) I have a couple of each coming to try out. Gerard gave me the impression the pink was finer and since I only do two people's skates and we're pretty frequent sharpeners, I was hoping I could get away with the finest wheel and get the best possible surface finish that way. What's your experience with the finish quality between the two?

Good news for X01 and X02 owners. I just got off the phone with Gerard at Blackstone and they are definitely releasing two new grinding wheels for the X series machines - the ruby and pink. Ruby was described as a multi-grit wheel and the pink is described as a fine grit wheel. I would assume they are probably the same compositions as the bigger wheels, for those that are familiar with them. I'm told I will be the first to get the new wheels, so I'll report back on the performance once I get them mounted. Right now, they only have just a few on hand, but they are expecting full stock and general release in about a month or so.

It should definitely spin some - exactly how much seems to have some variability, but it should definitely move. You should probably ring Steve and Blackstone and get his official opinion about exactly how much. But there is definitely a consensus that it should spin some and several people have improved their surface finish by altering the spring washer and allowing the spinner to spin a bit more freely.

Yes, spinner too tight is probably the problem - it happened to me too. My solution to loosen up the spinner was to remove the spinner wheel and remove the c-clip, which will revealed a wavy spring washer that supplies pressure to keep the spinner from spinning too much. I flattened the spring washer slightly to reduce the pressure on the spinner. After that, the spinner spins more freely and the lines became small enough to be a non-issue. I still feel like the finish could be a touch better, but its as good as any of the local guys ever did and I don't think I'll do much better until they come out with finer wheels for the X series.

That's exactly what I was thinking (hoping!). I'm getting a nice finish now, but since I'm able to sharpen my skates before they're way messed up, I only have to take off a small amount and I figure I can do that just as well or better with a finer grit wheel. Save some steel, get a better final pass... made a lot of sense to me. Hopefully they'll be available soon!

Sweet! I've been hoping for some grit choices for the X01. Any word when they'll be available for purchase online?

Thanks for the tip! Adjusting my speed did help a bit, but it turns out the biggest issue was that I wasn't getting a clean dress on the wheel. The spinner was a bit tight on my X01 and just wasn't putting a clean radius on the wheel. After a bit of fiddling with the wave washer it worked much better and I started getting very nice final passes. Thanks all for the help!

Thanks JR. I thought it might be the dress, so I tried an extra light dress right before the final pass. Still more line than I thought I should have. Do you think it could be too heavy a pass? Like too much pressure against the wheel? My motion is pretty smooth and even, but I wouldn't be surprised if I had a slightly heavy hand.

I'm just getting up to speed on my X01 as well, so my thoughts should be taken only for what they're worth (perhaps not much). But my guess would be one of two things: 1. Because the table is small and the U12 holder is pretty big, a good portion of the holder ends up off the table as you start coming around the toe/heel curve. That makes it pretty easy to tip the holder right about there. Watch your hand placement and pressure to ensure the holder stays flat on the table all the way through. 2. You could have bent blades. Use a machinist's straightedge to check the blades and if necessary straighten them before sharpening. One issue I'm having is the surface finish in the hollow. I'm using the 1/2" spinner and getting even edges and a nice shiny surface finish. There are no ripples or crosswise marks of any kind - all the lines run the length of the blade and there is no sign of chatter. But the lines that run the length of the blade seem awful deep. I can catch them with a fingernail, which generally means they are a couple of thousandths deep. I don't really know if this is normal, since I never actually examined my store-sharpened edges quite this critically. Is this normal? Like I said, everything else about the edge looks great, and if the answer is "don't worry about it", that's fine - I could just use the reassurance from one of the more experienced sharpeners. And of course, if it is not right, any thoughts about how to improve it? Thanks!