jimmy

My question is, why do you guys in the UK even sharpen your skates, the ice there I wouldn't even clssify as ice! OMG is it terrible. :-)

All stainless steel can break from the low quality steel to the best quality. Stainless is just not strong like carbon. Some things can accellerate breakage, like blocking shots, loose runners, to tight runners, jumping over boards, and overheating to name a few. It's the price we pay to avoid rusting. If steel has a defect from poor Chinese manufacturing or raw materials, it would break rather quickly after first usage.

Not really, the Fusions are $130 and they are just half aluminum, so a little bit more for titanium is not bad. Titanium is expensive, I recently paid $95 for a titanium firing pin for one of my pistols, and the amount of titanium on it is way less than what would be on a pair of runners.

That makes sense, I didn't see any reference to nanoglide, I thought he was refering to nitinol not being avail.

Umm, nitinol is avail to everyone. The height does offer improvements, the length does not.

Except that it's really not $300, by the time yo get the spinners, vacuum, edge checker, etc, that bumps up the actual cost quite a bit. yes, i agree stupid for a high volume shop not to support goalies. As a goalie myself, I use to always get pissed when we were dissed because we were not in the majority. There is a shop near me that actually charges goalie $2 more for a regular sharpening because the guy doesn't want to vary from his 1/2" house cut player setting.

Law, here's a suggstion. If Dukes is where you want to go, why not purchase a skate holder and "lend" it to Dukes providing it's set up and aligned and ready for your skates. You'll then let them use the holder for other goalies and they sharpen your skates for free in return. Once they have a seperate holder, no reason why they can't sharpen you with FBV, no extra work or time needed at that point. The money you save from having to drive around will pay for the holder in no time.

Wow, you did everything you could to try to get that done. For $20 tip, I'd pick them up at your house and deliver them! Anyway, it does take 2x longer to do most goalie skates as it is, due to the better quality stainless. For FBV with one head, you have to change holder from a 2.9 to a 4.0, calibrate, sharpen, then go back to a 2.9, and calibrate. Not a fast process and way more labor than a regular FBV. This is why I got 2 more holders. In the beginning when I had one machine, I got backed up 12-15 pairs while doing a goalie or a Rocket Runner. I tried to have them leave them and come back but a lot couldn't do that. But, since I'm primarily a custom sharpening and radius shop, I just couldn't function right with 1 machine and 1 holder. I know Dukes is huge, but maybe they don't focus on sharpening, rather equipment.

First, the speed advantage for goalies IS negligable. But, some goalies may still want the FBV, that's their choice. But, I sympathize with the shop owner. It's not just a simple few click adjustment. With a line of people, stopping to do a FBV on a goalie really slows things down. So I can see why they wouldn't want to offer it for the very few goalies who may want to use it. I have 4 FBV heads and two holders set and aligned and ready to go for 3.2mm and 4.0mm blades, so for me it's not a problem. But the small shop who doesn't have the machines and holders, it's not cost effective for them to offer it.

Soft ice doesnt effect FBV as much as a hollow cut. The flat prevents the edges from sinking into the ice as much as hollows do.

Now you should try the "real" FBV. ;-)

Easy to figue out, Step XL steel is for skates that have Ls2.1 power steel. Same extra length. Howver, any skate any model that has LS2 holder can take Step regular or XL steel, totally interchangeable. X60's have regular lenngth LS2 steel so if you want to stay the same just get the regular Steps.

Do your blades have a ot of scratches on the sides? If so, this is what you could be feeling. Just skate on them and le tus know how they feel.

Did you hone them after sharpening?

Even though the steel is the same, most who use Velocity report that it holds edges longer than their regular STEPs. With the polished finish, the edges are stronger, they do not nick as easy as well. I love sharpening the velos, little to no honing required, the edge is just so much cleaner.

Step's big advantage is the taller height, which gives better turning and longer sharpening life. These have to be factored in. Yes the quality of the STEP regular stainless is better than stock steel, and the Velocity is even better than that, so either is a good choice. BlackEdge is really just hitting the market, and from what I've seen, it will be very good for edge retention. I radiused 3 sets yesterday and am very impressed with the quality. As for Nitinol, it is certainly the best, doesn't need the extra height for sharpening life as these will likely last 10 years or more. Plus unbreakable compared to all the others, + lighter, better glide. So from a cost/benefit perspective, Nitinol wins hands down, but it has it's issues. Virtually impossible to grind out a deep nick or lost edge, it can take hours and dressing after every 2 passes. I just re-sharpened a pair for a ex NHLr playing in Europe that were trashed, and it wasn't a nice experience. And I have the correct wheel to sharpen them. I fear if one uses a regular wheel, and they have to do a lot of passes, the chipping problem will be a big issue. If I had to recommend steel, it would be STEP Velocity and BlackEdges as my top choices.

He asked for the sharpest, that is the sharpest. I have several customers using it, and they like it and have no problems. They were on 100/75 prior and wanted more bite. Same scenario as OP. Shayno, yes, if they have the 100/1 spinner, that's what you'll ask for.

Try the 100/1

Perhaps you have an older holder. Behind the rear hole has a hump in the plastic, the slot is not as deep. That hump is the reverse of the cut out of the Elite, so the elite fits perfect. We tried to fit a PII and STEP in one, they both wouldn't fit. Customer tried at home and I tried as well. No go. I haven't tried it on a different pair yet, will do that when I get some time.

Yes, it's the same steel for the Eastons, same quality. I do a lot of them for my overseas customers because I'm not allowed to ship Easton steel outside the U.S. So STEP is my only option. It does not however fit in the new EQ line of skates, only the Elites fit in those. Looks like they changed the Razor holder.

Not necessary on the velo's, does nothing.

Are you kidding? No, the criticisms, are not accurate. The FBV has been out for 3 yrs now. IMO if someone doesn't like the FBV it is because whomever did their FBV likely didn't do it correctly, or their machine wasn't calibrated correctly, or they tried only one FBV setting and didn't try another. I would say less than 1 of every 1000 who switched to FBV didn't like it. The FBV actually holds edges LONGER than traditional hollow sharpening. With hollows, the edges are always wearing no matter what the skater is doing. With FBV, the edges only wear when turning or stopping. Most of my customers say the FBV lasts as long or longer than regular sharpenings, virtually none say it lasts less. This is no BS. I can't explain why more than 70% of my customers have switched to FBV, other than they love it and would never go back. Some have switched to the Z channel, but less than a hand full have gone back to hollows. The stone can certainly be "dressed" clean by the spinner. Also a smooth finish can be achieved easily. I'd love to talk to the douchebag sharpener who says this can't be done. I'll invite him to my shop and do it right in front of his eyes, over and over again. Dumba$$. Of course, if you have a bad sharpener to begin with, (which is very common), you will not get a good FBV. Recently one of my customers who couldn't make it to me, and he had his skates done by a shop in Wilmington, MA, they now do FBV. He showed up at my shop today, looking for me to fix it. I suspect, all the negatives associated with FBV's can be blamed on just poor sharpeners.

100/1 is very popular for goalies.

I have a name for that.... "Another $6.00" :-) Believe it or not, a lot of sharpenings are needed just because of that reason. Just look around your rink/bench next time you are at the rink, there are skate marks everywhere, on every stanchion, on every wall, under benches, on every screw that holds the thresholds down, literally everywhere.