Leif

For 1/2” to 5/8” (and the reverse) the edges feel as expected. But it’s a valid point and it would be nice to have some proper validation e.g. measurements from a depth gauge to check the hollow is correct relative to the edges. However, those gauges cost a fortune and a BAT gauge is all I have. Oh I do have a ProSharp depth of hollow gauge, but it’s a useless POS made from stamped steel. If you are concerned, throw in an extra pass.

Tell me about it. However even at the extortionate price we pay, in my case this box will pay for itself in three years with one skater (me). Imagine if you have a family, it’s a real boon. And I get perfect edges and the profile is not ruined.

Thanks, the German shop is much cheaper than t’other. Sadly they don’t have 1/2” rings which is what I use.

I’ve gotten away with two passes when changing the hollow. Obviously this is for going between very similar hollows. Just in case you’ve not read earlier posts, mark the hollow with a sharpie before sharpening, that way you’ll know if you haven’t done enough passes.

That’s where I got mine. There was another but they must have stopped selling them.

I can only reiterate what has been said before, one pass is enough to sharpen blades with no damage. New blades may need 10 passes and when I bought some blades, I had the shop, do them for me as the sharpen was free and it saved me wearing out my ring. Yes rings cost a small fortune for Europeans, but hey ho, such is life. I bought my machine from Sweden almost one year ago, and it is fricken amazing. We do pay a lot compared to Americans but the European alternative is the ProSharp Home and that costs even more. If you sharpen a lot of skates, a standard sharpening machine maybe the way to go as the cost per pass on a Sparx is about 50 pence UK.

I compared gauges from ProSharp, a Canadian ebay seller, Sparx and blademaster. The latter three all agreed with each other very closely when used on the same blades. The first was out by a few thou. What is the source of your information? The Sparx optical aligner can get you close enough, but not bang on.

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

I’ve skated on Glice which is said to be one of the better products. It’s great for shooting practice, but I can’t skate on it, I don’t know why. I know many people who say good things about it and have no trouble skating on it. Can’t you install cooler pipes in your pool? 🙂

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.