Leif

Have you tried another machine to rule out any issues with your machine?

That reads like sarcasm. Not sure why it was needed.

I don’t see how that would ruin the profile, you just get a bit of metal ground away from an area you don’t skate on. But if someone really is so stupid that they can’t set the height, it probably is best for all concerned that their blades are trashed and they are kept off the ice and out of harms way. Incidentally, young children probably shouldn’t use the Sparx, but I’m sure a 13 year old would be fine as long as mum and/or dad showed them how to use it first.

As said earlier, I have 2s Pro. They are amazing, near perfect. Apart from the price. 🙂

It depends on how different the hollows are. I swapped between 1/2” and 5/8” using the Sharpie method and I’m sure one pass was enough going either way, you could do two to be completely sure. It might depend a bit on the wheel pressure, which might depend on the height setting, but that’s a guess.

I use mine on Bauer LS5, no problems at all. Yes it misses a bit of the heel and toe, but they are not the areas I skate on. Having perfect sharpens every session is amazing.

A few people I know with Trues haven’t complained about rubbing at the ankles. My Bauers have comfort edges but as said the hard boot shell is close to the edge, maybe 3-4 mm away from the top of the comfort edge. Yes it is squishy, but it’s needed.

I’ve seen Bauer customs for someone with weird ankles, and you could see the weird shape in the scans and the boots. My Bauer customs have a close fit. I was (incorrectly) scanned with Bauer compression socks on, and the toes are indeed a bit tighter than I would like. So I believe they use custom lasts.

I’ve just read Marka’s post, and I agree completely. My last blades were sharpened manually by good operators at my LHS, and at the end of their life they were flat! 😨 The Sparx preserves the exact same profile.

I had the funds to buy either, and the cost was similar here in the UK. I chose the Sparx, and ten months on I have no regrets. I decided against the Wissota firstly as I didn’t have a suitable heated room to keep it in: I didn’t want it in my spare bedroom due to the mess. Secondly I didn’t want to have to go through the process of learning to use it, especially as I’d only be sharpening one pair of skates twice a week. Thirdly and lastly the Sparx is far more convenient. I can stick a skate on and leave it alone while cooking dinner, or watching cat videos on You Tube. There are some good reasons to opt for the Wissota, or alternative manual sharpener. If you need to cut a range of hollows, it works out cheaper as the Sparx needs a wheel for each hollow, and they ain’t cheap. Also, if you are earning money from sharpening, the Wissota is much cheaper as the cost per grind is far less. I know someone with a Sparx who bought a Blackstone when he had to sharpen boxes full of skates, for cost reasons. And apparently manual sharpeners cope better with bent blades, not that I have experience of my Sparx with bent blades. Lastly the Wissota is a simpler device, with much less to go wrong. The motor should last a very long time. The Sparx on the other hand has electronic circuits inside, and they are more liable to failure. Thus far the Sparx is very reliable going by reports in this forum. However, electronic devices such as cameras and computers do fail, and I doubt the Sparx will have on average the same longevity as the Wissota. As an aside, I wonder if the Sparx contains an internal surge protector? Mine is connected directly to the mains. Another good reason to choose the Sparx is portability, although personally I think it is rather large and heavy and I will not travel with mine.

Interesting post. I think that in general better skaters can control shallower hollows as they have better edge control. That certainly reflects my experience, with my ability improving thanks to lessons. How did you find the 5/8” Fire compared to the normal 5/8”?

The bare aluminium one with the dots on a sticker, made in Canada. It looks pants but it works! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Over500-Sold-NHL-Edge-Checker-check-level-hockey-skate-sharpening-tool-Bauer-CCM/333302165389?hash=item4d9a5b6f8d:g:P2AAAMXQEgpTD9AK It was quite a bit cheaper when I bought one. I suspect your ProSharp one will be fine.

I compared my ProSharp and ebay BAT gauges against Sparx and BladeMaster ones at my LHS. Three out of four agreed with each other. Yes, check it when you get it. Be aware that the aluminium plate will wear from contact with the skate blade. My ebay gauge has a steel contact plate, it’s altogether better albeit rough looking. I returned my ProSharp gauge, the US company head said it was fine. Hi ho. I never did get a refund, one reason I bought a Sparx machine rather than a ProSharp, as I did not trust them. The ProSharp hollow gauge is expensive and a piece of cheap xxxx.

I have no idea how common your experience is. I have 7/16”, 1/2” and 5/8” rings. I can swap between them and get perfect edges every time. I have an edge checker. I do agree an edge checker is desirable, I got to about two clicks away from perfect using the optical tool on its own. It is probably good enough but I like perfect. However, not all edge checkers are perfect, my ProSharp BAT gauge was out by a few thou. My cheapo one is dead on.

Several people at my local rink, which is very humid, use the Gy hybrid visor. I spoke with them and they said they’ve had no issues with fogging. I have the latest Bauer gold fish bowl, and water streams down the inside surface after ten minutes in the rink. I only used it once. I prefer to wear glasses instead of contacts, and I assume condensation on glasses would be even worse with a hybrid visor rather than a cage which I normally wear.

Your grinding wheel is probably carborundum which is softer than diamond. You use a diamond tool to dress (shape) it. Sparx rings are I believe made from diamond particles embedded in a matrix and hence they wear much more slowly than your wheel. In fact Blackstone are now selling spinners to dress the wheel which are like little Sparx wheels but with a hollow, and they claim they are better than the traditional method, which to my way of thinking validates the Sparx wheel: https://blackstonesport.com/technology/history-of-skate-sharpening My 7/16” wheel produced level edges when nearly used up, and the blade surface still felt good. I have no way to know if the curve changed noticeably, but subjectively it felt the same and very different to a 1/2” hollow. Maybe Sparx can comment.

This thread has gone a bit wonky. Changing the subject slightly, I tried switching between 1/2” and 5/8” hollows, and vice versa, using a sharpie to mark the blade hollow before the grind. It looks like one pass is enough to change the hollow on the basis that all of the sharpie ink was removed. Any relevant comments? Any reason I might be mistaken? I now use the honing stone on my black LS5 blades, so much easier to remove burrs, and the black finish has no use for me.

I must have read most if not all of this thread prior to buying a Sparx machine, and I don’t recall any such comments. My sharpens feel must like ones from my local hockey shop. Maybe if you quote the posts you refer to.

I don’t know if you can get that done without committing to a purchase, maybe the shop that did your skates has a Bauer scanner?

A Bauer scan would tell him for sure how his feet compared to others. It measures arch height, ankle width etc and gives the results in a clear way. Bauer did not allow me to choose width or length, I guess I could have asked for a bit extra length, but they are perfect in that respect.

Bizarre.

I’m only 5’10” and 11 stone 6 (160 pounds), and not an expert skater, but going from mid range to top end (Bauer 2s pro), the biggest differences were comfort (no lace bite) and more control. I can skate for three hours no problem.They certainly don’t restrict my ankles, quite the opposite. Maybe they are beyond my abilities, others may know better. It is possible the construction of top end boots has become more sophisticated since Laura Stamm made her comments. Your comments relating to older players border on the offensive.

If there is an exposed heating element at the top of the oven, you might want to place a layer of foil on a rack just below the element, but above the skate. That will prevent the oven toasting the skate. Or skip the foil and shove a slice of cheese on.

Vet88: How long per session do you skate without laces, and how many sessions before you get benefit? I can imagine my skates wobbling about, I can’t see how you place the foot down on an edge when the skate is wobbly. Is this useful for all skaters?

I’m an older player, 56, and I skate roughly 7 hours a week, 3-4 hours of hockey scrimmage/training. Are you saying I don’t have time for skating without laces? IMO someone will learn quicker with lessons, most of us learn and then reinforce bad habits through practice.