kdwyer56

NEVER tie them the tightest you've ever tied them. Whenever you go anywhere and bake skates always tie them like you normally would. they are supposed to mold to your foot not be a literal sock.

Whenever I sharpen skates I stone them, do 8-10 passes depending on how many nicks there are and if there is a rolled edge, edge check, if needed adjust, if i adjust i do 3-5 more passes, edge check again, if level i do my final pass, check final time to make sure, stone again w fine stone and use a piece of leather to clean the hollow, then i feel the blade to make sure there are no major nicks left and that the edges are sharp and there is no dull spots.

I would keep using the pressure that is giving you the better feeling skate. I kinda worded it to seem like you're barely touching the wheel with the skate but you just do not want to put way to much pressure. Play around with it and find the amount of pressure that makes a good finish.

We just have a bag of leather used to plug up figure skating mounting holes so I'm not sure.

This is what we use as leather at the shop I work at.

Also make sure that you are lightly applying pressure to the holder and make sure the blade itself isn't grinding the wheel. the sparks should be minimal and you should be lightly guiding the holder during each pass.

You can always look online for skate bite pads because they do make them specifically for that.

I've worked at a skate shop for around a year now and I have found that you just need to give it some time, The damp rag may help a bit but make sure its not too cold. Because as you know a sudden temp change will crack the blade.