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Either works. If you have someone skilled with profiling, I would pitch the blade, but the easier method is a shim.

Agreed. Great sock for the price point.

That is correct.

T8P has better feel than the T7P, but many people have reported the blade is not very durable.

Yes.

APX has an aggressively-angled boot cut

Pitch is the same

I don't think the Rekker will have enough depth, and I am not a fan of the TMP model. What size shin does he use?

The store in TSC is the size of a closet, not much square footage there for much of anything.

No. In Torrance, there is a new store opening in July, that's nearly 19k square feet plus has warehouse space, is getting all the cool new toys. 😉

Seems like a lot of work to add the ability to profile to this machine. I think you could just buy a bench grinder and fabricate tooling to hold profile templates for about the same cost. You should also look for a ProSharp AS machine for cheap too, I know many pure Hockey locations have been selling their ProSharp machines for cheap. Some stores have sold their machines for $1000 or less.

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.

Easy fix. Get some marine grade epoxy and mix some crushed carbon fiber/fiberglass into it and apply. You can get crushed carbon fiber/fiberglass from chopping up a hockey stick.

Soon there will be one in Los Angeles, CA and also in Las Vegas, NV

I saw a prototype of the Blackstone machine. Is that machine still being released in 2025? At the time, I think it was not using Keyence sensors, but that's interesting they are going to incorporate them. Which sensors specifically? I imagine the design would be similar to this? https://www.keyence.com/keyence-tv/Profile_Inspection_of_a_Blade.jsp https://www.keyence.com/products/measure/laser-2d/ Elite has a new machine for 2025 that will supposedly operate without profile bars. I have yet to see it in person, though. IMO, profiling bars and the process of manual profiling and sharpening is fundamentally outdated. But I am an engineer, so I think a vast majority of the tools used for hockey are significantly antiquated. Humans make mistakes and industrial machines, if properly designed, calibrated, maintained, and properly operated, can eliminate operational inefficiencies while increasing consistency. Skatescribe should be able to do anything, even Ellipse and Omni, you would just need the actual measurements. I don't think there are any patents on Ellipse or Omni profiles. The current machines on the market can still benefit from significant design adjustments, I think.

You are going to love the new TRUE tongues for 2024. They seem to be exactly what you are looking for.

Not sure why Blackstone even bothers anymore, as companies like Skatescribe and Elite are significantly better for profiling. Skatescribe allows for an indefinite number of profile options as everything is software driven.

Cat 9X would be fine for him. TRUE adjusts the stiffness of the shell for the size of the skate (junior/intermediate/senior)

The brands don't care. They are trying to make two fit offerings that cover 90% of players, and anyone who needs something more narrow or wide can order custom. Basically, we are going back to the two standard retail fits like we used to have previously. lol

Removing pitch is easy. Any decent pro shop should know how to remove pitch from a template. I typically do not add ANY pitch unless a customer requests it. With a profile with an aggressive toe, the steel will already feel pitched since you will in fact be more on your toe as there is less material.

Bauer and CCM are both trying to phase out the Wide and FIT3. Both brands have been adding volume to the FIT1/FIT2/Tapered/Regular options. I would imagine by 2025 you will not be able to buy a FIT3 or Wide skate at retail, and it will require a custom skate order.

Did they confirm the order once placed?

Team stock basically means it's the same as retail, but with an NHL colorway that usually isn't found in retail. I would try the retail model on and see how that fits.

If it works for you, why change it?