NuggyBuggy

Chiefs17 and rachael7 - thanks again. Will try the things you guys suggest and keep you all posted. Just a note, I did buy the child holder and did so as I planned on doing my kids' skates, but right now I am working on a pair of adult Mission S500s. Ironically not all my kids' skates fit in the child holder .

chiefs- thanks for the reply ! I'm using the Child Tri-Lie holder. I will double check that the boot is not touching the holder. That does sound like a possible and plausible cause for the symptoms I am seeing. How do I access the screw ? I could probably move it with pliers, but that doesn't seem right. Does it need a hex key to turn it ? IIRC it looked like a flat head screwdriver would be needed, but there isn't nearly enough clearance to get to it without, as JR suggests, tearing it down and removing the holder from the base. Oh, I'm far past trying to get everything working with just the first two dials :lol: What I did (since I had stupidly moved the pitch dial around when I first got it) was get an inside caliper. I used the front two dials to center (by eye) the blade against the grinding wheel. I then used the calipers to measure the space between the platform and the base at the front, then used the pitch dial to move the back of the base to the same height. I figured this would get me in the right ball park. Bottom edge was still high. After moving the front dials around as per the Blackstone instructions (even moving them so far that the blade was not even fully on the wheel), I started trying to use the pitch dial. I could see how raising the pitch "should" fix my problem, but for some reason it just did not. The pitch dial and the other dials are definitely working. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. When I get back to it I am going to flip my skate around in the holder and figure out how many passes are needed to knock down the edge that was high. This should teach me how many passes I should need to do at maximum. By the time I figure this out, I will be down to grinding the boot :lol:. Thanks for the reminder. I did get an email advising that the part was now available. I probably should buy it. Another thought occurred to me - is it possible I am clamping the blade too much ? The process of clamping the blade seems to change the "level" of the blade/boot. Specifically, the back of the boot rises by a significant amount as I pull the clamp lever. Maybe I am clamping it so hard that the boot is tilted ? How does one know how hard to pull on the lever ? I recall the instructions say to go to 45 degrees, but surely that depends on how far you have turned the screw first ?

After several months of doing other things, I finally got around to spending some time with my X-01 last weekend. No matter what I did, and no matter how I adjusted the holders, the bottom edge of the blade (when mounted on the holder) always came out higher than the top and both ends of the skate. I have tried marking the grinding wheel with marker (as suggested by either AfftonDad or chiefs17) to ensure that I have a proper grind on the wheel. I have also marked the skate blade and have made enough passes that all the marker is worn off. Is it possible that I have something backwards or horribly wrong somewhere ? Also, for some reason one of the adjustment wheels has stopped clicking on rotation. It still works at raising or leveling the column, but is this important and if so - how do I fix it ? I noticed there seems to be a set screw below each adjustment wheel, but don't see any obvious way to access it, and can't figure out what they would do anyways.

Well, that is fascinating. Thank you for that. I bought some calipers and plan to measure the width of my runners tonight, but now I see that I might have done everything right and still not be able to see anything. Wheel hop... I've seen mention of this in a few posts in this thread, but couldn't find an explanation here or elsewhere as to what it is. Can someone enlighten me, and should I have the cover open when dressing to see this ? Thanks for the clarification. While I was trying to figure out what was going on, I would actually try to sight the length of the runner while sharpening to see what was going on. I'll definitely pay more attention.

AfftonDad, Thanks so much for that advice. There are certainly more than a few things there that I found very useful. I do wish I could compare results using the 1/2" spinner to those using an FBV spinner, but unfortunately I had them swap the 1/2" for another FBV spinner (at extra cost), so I only have 2 FBV spinners. Your point about the exaggeration on the Blackstone FBV drawings is well-taken. Is it your opinion that one wouldn't be able to see separation of edge/flat if I held a straight edge to the runner and then held the two up to light ? I ended up buying a digital caliper and am going to first check the width of the runners. If the runners on my beater skates are considerably more narrow than those on my own skates, I may just bite the bullet and start working on my own skates. I did end up buying a magnetic square, the Blademaster one. I was able to figure out how to adjust it to get edges even. As for running through wheels quickly - I bought the accessory kit and an extra spinner so I have one wheel for each of two spinners. When I took the first wheel off, I was shocked to see how much of it I had already used up just experimenting :o. Your idea of marking up the edges of the wheel and grinding down until they're gone is brilliant and I will definitely try it. I will also start paying more attention to exactly where the sparks are coming from as I sharpen. Thanks again for your reply. I'm going to re-read carefully once I am back in front of my X01 this weekend !

Thanks, it doesn't look like Harbor Freight ships out of the US. I might pick up this one, since I have some Bessey clamps waiting for me at the store anyways. It does metric, fractional and decimal imperial, which seems like a nice feature. Hopefully it will come in handy some other time. I'll drop by their store and if I can find something that is purely mechanical, though, I'd probably pick that up instead. These look cheap (for a 6-pack!) but I can't tell if they give fractional and decimal imperial measurements.

TBL, you're probably right. If the skates were with me, I could just have our engineer take a look at them. I've been on a tool-buying binge (it all started when I was looking for a bench for my X01, couldn't find anything decent, then decided to take up wood-working just to build my own :P ), and the one I was watching looked cool. I just couldn't figure out what I'd do with it, so I let the auction end. Now all the Starretts are 10-15x more than what that one went for

Ahh... this was something I suspected earlier, but I thought improbable... otherwise sharpeners might need to measure the width of incoming steel to make sure they're wide enough, no ? Unfortunately the skates and my sharpener are 2-h away, at the cottage. Guess I'll have to buy a micrometer or caliper. The funny thing was, I was looking at some very cheap Starrett micrometers on Ebay (was looking for their squares first), but then thought "WTH would I ever need that for ?" :D

Gentlemen, thank you. chiefs17, I'm doing an FBV hollow. I used what the Blackstone guys suggested would give the most bite, IIRC (as I do not have the sharpener with me) 90/75. What you say makes sense, however, neither the spinner nor the wheel looks flat to my eye; I'm quite sure if I held an edge to the spinner I'd see light underneath it. If I do everything right, if I look at the spinner in profile, it should look exactly the same as the runner in profile, correct ? Ahh, I see. What defines a "bad dress" - Does it mean that the wheel has not properly taken on the hollow of the spinner ? Is the difference in spark pattern due to more or less steel being taken off ? To my untrained eye, the trail of sparks looks fairly thick and long, but I have no experience to compare it to. Either the Blackstone videos or my salesperson suggested that I could tell when the skates were ready for the final pass when the sparks are going more vertical than horizontal. Is that correct ? Thanks guys !

Thanks JR, but I am not sure what you mean by spark displacement. What should I be looking for, and when ? The sparks seem to mostly go to the left of the skate. I will admit that how long the spinner should contact the wheel is a bit of a mystery to me. The videos make it seem like you just need to touch the wheel to the spinner briefly a few times. If the hollow on the wheel matches the hollow on the spinner (as mine, roughly, appears to do), even after a few passes, doesn't that mean the wheel is fully dressed, or is there something more to it ? Thanks again JR.

OK, I finally tried to sharpen my first pair of skates on my X01 (thanks to the nice guys at Stevenson's Source for Sports in Orillia who gave me a free pair of beater skates). However, I seem to be at an impasse. No matter how many passes I make, I can't seem to get a hollow onto the runners - they look flat, even when put against a straight edge (can't see much light between them), and they feel flat to my fingers. I have put my spinner up against the wheel, and the "hollow" matches fairly well - can't see much light between them. But it looks like the wheel isn't putting any hollow on the runners. I know I am taking steel off the runners because they were very rusty when I got them, and now they are gleaming. The only way I can see this happening is if my blade were narrow than the width of the flat in the FBV, but this seems unlikely ? I have no idea what make the skates are... it was a sort of plastic-y shell with no company markings that I could identify. Does this make any sense ? Am I missing something completely obvious, or doing something really stupid ?

Got the BR-100 the other day, after a bit of fooling around it is clear it will be far less fussy than the Bat Gage. I do have two questions: 1- when inserting the runner in the slotted part of the BR-100 (the part with the thumbscrew) is it necessary for the runner to go all the way into the slot, or is just enough that the side of the BR-100 is flush with the runner ? I thought about it a bit, and came to the conclusion it shouldn't matter - am I right ? 2- (somewhat related) do you only need electrical tape on the part with the magnet, or should I have tape in the slotted part too ? Now I need to score some cheap skates to work on until I have the guts to work on my own. I've been touring local thrift stores for the last two weeks, and have been shocked to find that none of them have used skates. A local PIAS gave me a pair they were going to throw out, but it wouldn't fit in the youth Tri-lie holder

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Looks like the BR100 was the unanimous pick, so that's what I just ordered ! Now, what do I do with that Bat Gage.... p.s. they have no problem shipping to consumers.

I have the Blackstone Bat Gage, but whenever I use it seems like I can get 3 different readings depending on how I fiddle with it. It's less than inspiring, and a bit finicky. I've found the following (not sure if I have tagged the manufacturer's properly in all cases): Blademaster BR100 - ~ $150 Blademaster BR200 - ~ $63 Quick square (made by SkateWorks ?) - $150 Edge-Pro EMT Skate Blade Edge Gauge $45 Edge Checker (Goose's Pro ?) - $60 What edge checkers do the pros whose livelihood depends on this use ? Clearly, there's a wide range of prices here, but I don't really care about that: I'm just a regular guy trying to learn how to sharpen my family's skates when I'm away from the city, but I'm willing to pay more for anything that will work even a little better and make my life just a tiny bit easier. Thanks in advance.

What should I do if I have adjusted the pitch knob by some unknown amount ? Like a dummy, when I got mine I twirled the dials around to see what they did. Only afterwards did I discover a loose note me not to do that ....: :o-0 And if the pitch is not supposed to be adjusted - why is it there and why is it adjustable ? I couldn't mount a youth 11-1 (IIRC) CCM Lil Tyke - the skate holder was too thick to clear the "jaws" on the Youth holder. However, I could mount the smaller sized Lil Tyke - I guess the dimensions of the bottom part of the skate holder differs a bit. I also had the same problem with an old pair of CCM skates, I am guessing junior size 5 or 5.5. Not sure what someone is supposed to do in those situations short of clamping the holder itself. The runners do not come out of the holder on any of these skates :(

Anybody order the child/youth tri-lie holder ? I bought one specifically for use with children's skates, but 2 out of 3 of the smaller sized skates I've put on, will not fit. There's not enough room between the jaws of the holder and the back part to clear the height of the bottom part of some skate holders. - smallest pair of CCM Lil'Tykes: works - next size up of CCM Lil Tykes: does not clear - old pair of CCM skates, approx size 5-5.5: holder does not clear Looking at the holder, it seems that all it would need would be a spacer between the back of the holder and the base - maybe a 1/2 cm would allow it to clear all the skates I've tried. I could possibly have one machined myself, but why would they be designed like this ? I'm confused as it seems like the last pair of skates would be encountered reasonably frequently. I studied the Blackstone pictures and cannot tell what the difference is between the 2 holders, EXCEPT that one of the "jaws" on the youth holder looks bigger.

mnpucker - how loud do you find that Shop Vac ? I have a Ridgid shop vac and I really ought to be using hearing protection with it, it is so loud. I see a similar looking Shop Vac at the lowes.ca website which I would buy just for use with the X01, but if it is as loud as my Ridgid, it'd be a no-go. I looked at some Fein and Festool shop vacs but they are out of my price range.

mnpucker - Old post, but still nice setup. I just got an X01, and I'm going to try and set up something similar - hope you're still following the thread. In another post you mention you were able to thread 2.5" hose onto your Shop-vac. Is that a feature ? The Shop-vacs I see online all feature thinner intake hoses and I'm wondering how the Shop-vac can handle two diameters of hose. Also, did you go up to 2.5" simply to be able to mate to available fittings, or is there another reason ? Also - do you need that "Big gulp" to the left of the sharpener ? Naively I'd expect that the dust collection port at the back should suffice, but is that not completely adequate ? Do you wear a mask with that setup ? What's the white thing (looks like a bag of flower) under the sharpener ? I noticed yours isn't bolted down. I've only started mine up, but it seems to vibrate a bit on my tabletop - just an annoyance, really, and nothing that a rubber mat didn't fix. Can I assume the light weight of the X isn't a big enough problem to require bolting ? Last question - did you need to ground your collection setup ?

So JR, be honest with me. Is it unlikely that I would be doing a good job on my skates in, say a few months time ? Because while I think it would be fun to do it, if at the end of the day I'm just giving myself crappy sharpenings, there's really no point.

I contacted Blackstone and was told if I bought the X01 and picked it up, they'd show me how to do things. Now I just have to figure out whether I want to spend that kind of money. I don't think it'd ever make financial sense for me (only skate once or twice a week now, and my sons are a few years from playing), but I think it'd be fun to do my own skates - IF, that is, I could do a decent job. God knows I've gotten my fair share of poor sharpenings at LHSes, so I acknowledge it might not be that easy.

Ooof, found this thread while searching for information on personal skate sharpeners (thinking about the X-01). I read about a third of these 100 pages and my boss is looking at me funny.... I'm in downtown Toronto, and I know National does FBV. Do I need to ask for this specially ? I've had my skates done at Markham a few times about a year and a half ago, but just remember asking for my old hollow. Who else does it in Toronto ? EDIT: I see the Black Stone page lists a few dealers (though not my LHS). Finally, if I bought an X-01, is it likely I'll be able to learn how to do this myself ? I have a winter place where I'll be setting up a rink, but natural ice chews up edges a lot. I thought it'd be fun to do my own skates AND not have to drive an hour to get a sharpening. Can I pay Blackstone to teach me ?

If I were the parents, I sure as hell wouldn't have paid for the stick - broken or not - once you wrote on it. And if I discovered you had removed the warranty stickers later, I would begin chargeback procedures with my credit card company. You're within your rights to make me pay for breaking the stick, but you're not within your rights to deface it.

You've never asked for a better price when buying furniture ? Mattresses? Appliances ? TVs ? If that's the truth, you've left a lot of money on the table. And if a discount is available, then the price on the sticker or the sales tag isn't the price.

For many of the larger ticket things I buy, I will ask for a better price. I don't consider myself cheap - in fact, all my friends think I am pretty loose with my money - but I know that discounts are already priced into many, many items. With all due respect, I don't believe anybody who says it doesn't ever cross their mind to ask for a better price. Not even when you're buying a large appliance ? A car ? A house ? If you don't ask for something that's probably already priced in, you're just cheating yourself. Once when I bought skates, after they were heat molded the guy started throwing in socks and stuff into my bag without my asking for it. I usually know what I want, and if I do, I don't need the salespeople to help me figure this out. Many times, they know less about the product than I do. They're there to ring up the sale for me and hand me my box. Sorry, but you're not getting a $400 *bonus* commission on that large screen TV just because I was too dumb or lazy or embarrassed to negotiate, and bought it from you without getting a price concession. I once saved a *lot* of money off MSRP by negotiating with a salesperson and his manager at a home show on a big TV. Nobody put a gun to their head, nobody forced them to discount the TV, and they both know full well that they walked away with a commission that could have just as easily gone to the guy in the next store. I'm sure that none of the parties lost a wink of sleep over it, in fact I am sure the guy and his manager were happy that they rang up another sale - otherwise, they wouldn't have done it. Some stores having a sliding commission scale which rewards salespeople with bonus commissions for sales they make without offering discounts. In these stores, there will be salesguys who make their money by refusing to discount so that they can collect these bonuses. Then there will be salesguys who make their money by being quick to offer discounts, moving lots of volume, and taking lots and lots of smaller commissions. I have no problem opting to give my money to these guys. As for rich people being cheap, many people are "rich" precisely because they keep track of *everywhere* their money goes, and refuses to let any of it slip away needlessly. They bring lunches and walk to work, wear less expensive clothing, buy things on sale or closeout, and ask for discounts.

Whether or not she knows what she is looking at, as a paying customer it is her prerogative to check out what she's paying for. Maybe she's trying to learn a little by trying to look at the things that other people look at. I know next to nothing about engines, but when I go to buy a car, you don't think I'm cracking open the hood and looking things over ? I'm a crappy golfer, but I'm still going to look that shiny new driver in the store over as if I was a scratch golfer. And while you may not have anything against Asians, the words you chose suggested otherwise (forget that you even thought her ethnicity to be relevant). Try replacing her words with an Ebonics equivalent, throw in a "You guessed it, she's black", and see how that reads.