Leif

Does anyone sharpen Step black steel on a Sparx with a normal ring eg 7/16”? Do you have any issues? I’ve used mine on Bauer LS5 and standard Step steel, and they sharpen nicely. However, I prefer the Step blade profile, so I’d like to move over to Step black. Does it work okay on other brands of black steel? And a side question, how consistently flat are Bauer LS5 and Step black? My ordinary Step steel blades were not plane parallel, and gave different BAT readings on each face.

It looks like a Jewish skull cap on his head. The guy is big.

I could never get the same reading on both sides of my old blades for that reason. Which steels are not punched? I now have Bauer LS5 runners and they have parallel sides. My previous Step steel runners didn’t. Just a sample of one set of each though, so you can’t draw firm conclusions.

If it makes you feel any better, the UK price is £1200, or over $1,500. That includes 20% sales tax. I’d be curious to know how well they sell in Europe.

Nicholas G. said "Our store is considering doing a loaner/lease program to the hockey association for the 16U and 18U AAA teams " If you're going to do that, you need to know if the machines can stand up to the sort of abuse customers will give them. I am also interested in the robustness of these machines, in case I do transport mine. I'm going to take care, but accidents do happen, and it'd be nice to know the sort of abuse they can take. A two foot drop onto a floor is unlikely, but a 6" drop could easily happen. Colins posted a nice video which shows the Pelican case is very tough. But I honestly don't think I can trust myself to carry a $1500 machine around.

You missed the key point, which is that I (maybe not you) find the Sparx hard to carry as it is big and heavy, and it has no carrying handles, and I’d quite likely drop it. With two people it’d be fine. I doubt there are any laptops that weigh even half the Sparx weight. Most people don’t walk round with TVs.

Yes, I know the Sparx is made with a solid steel frame and the case is tough. My concern isn’t damage while in the case, it’s concern at what happens if it drops on the floor while putting it into or taking it out of the case. I find my Sparx hard to lift as it is so heavy, hence easily dropped if I slip. That’s why I’d opt for the ProSharp if portability was a key requirement. Regarding the glass, I know someone with Sparx machines that have taken a hard puck shot to the glass, it’s tough. The exterior metal case is tough too, although the cosmetic plastic ends might break more easily.

I guess there’s two issues. How many grinds can it do before failure, and how robust is it when knocked about. It looks like it can do oodles of grinds, but can it survive regularly being carried, and potentially dropped albeit in the carry case, or even accidentally dropped 6” onto a bench? These things are heavy.

I doubt Sparx said shops suck, but I find most are poor, and the good ones are 25 miles away. Anyway, if a shop buys a Sparx, it requires far less attention and concentration, so they can serve customers more quickly at peak times. My LHS has one of two top staff members sharpening at the weekend. I’d rather they were serving customers because they kniw what they are talking about. Curiously they have a ProSharp SkatePal, looks like an aluminium camera case, but it sits unused. The wheel clogged up with steel and customers apparently preferred the hand sharpening. That said, my Sparx is incredible.

Presumably because a metal dust tray is more durable. Mine came with one too. The plastic one did look a bit flimsy. The locking screw is in addition to the locking guard. Nice to see improvements after launch.

Of course it is completely down to personal taste. Many reckon ~15 hours between sharpens: https://medium.com/@number9hockey/when-to-sharpen-skates-fc95f12de7f6 Our ice is quite hard, and after ~8 hours I do feel my edges sliding during crossovers. This might be poor technique of course. I happen to like the feel of fresh edges, a luxury that costs very little (~25 cents per pass) once a Sparx is available. I don’t sharpen my car tyres, but then again us Brits are often behind the times. 🙂

I skate at least six hours a week, lots of sideways slides, lots of sprints with deep cuts, generally before the Sparx I liked to get them sharpened every two weeks to maintain the edges. I'd have done more but it meant a morning driving. I have a 7/16" hollow. With the Sparx I can do one pass before every session, as I really like the feel of fresh edges.

Does anyone know how much steel one pass removes? I’m curious to know the lifetime of my runners compared to hand sharpens. Previously they (Step steel) lasted about 6 months. I currently have Bauer LS5 runners. I have been doing one pass before each session, and noticed a slight tilt to the edges at the rear which was cured by an extra pass, so an occasional two passes may be needed. I still think this device is phenomenal.

I had the basic Bauer bag with two handles, lasted two years. Corners split, fabric split. I have a higher end Bauer bag with wheels, after six months the corners show noticeable wear. Not a fan.

I certainly would not transport mine on a regular basis without a solid case and the Pelican with foam is ideal. The original box is okay for rare use such as moving home. However the Sparx is heavy, easy to drop, so the ProSharp Home might be a better choice as a mobile machine. But the made in Sweden aspect makes it very expensive, and it lacks automation.

The UK and European price is unreasonable IMO. The Sparx is also much more expensive here, but still worth it.

The EU price is about £600 whereas a new or nearly new 1650 (no foam) can be had for ~£200. I could take mine to training sessions and charge for sharpens, but it’s a heavy machine, and all too easy to drop and/or bang against something.

Is there any advantage to black steels if you do a one pass sharpen before every session? From what I have read, the key advantage is keeping an edge longer. Also does anyone know if any particular blades are more or less prone to being tapered? My previous Step Steel blades were tapered so usng a BAT gauge was a bit tough. My Bauer LS5 blades are not tapered. However a sample of one set of each does not tell me much.

6 clicks is quite a bit, I found the optical alignment tool got close (good enough to be honest) and 2 more clicks got it perfect according to my gauge. One pass is perhaps not enough as suggested.

I find the responses to smu odd. Self inflicted wounds? How so? Yes his posts could be very repetitive and they became boring, and uninformative, but he seems to have had an appalling time.

I used to sharpen one pair of skates every two weeks with a 50 mile round trip. It will pay back in 3-4 years. Throw in that I get sharp blades EVERY session, with perfect edges EVERY time, and no wasted mornings, and IMO it’s good value even at the sky high European price that we pay.

He certainly does sound like a good candidate. The issue of longevity is an interesting question. The Wissota and other manual sharpeners have AFAIK only one component that can go wrong in normal use namely the motor. The Sparx has I assume two motors (one to rotate the cutting wheel, one to drive the wheel horizontally) and an electronic module. I have electronic goods that have lasted decades without issue, and electric motors can last yonks, so in principle a unit that is not abused could last decades. It also has some electronic switches to detect when the door and latches are closed, and some lights which I assume are LEDs. An LED should out last the owner and switches should be durable. That said, my well cared for Nikon D200 failed after 8 years due to an electronic module blowing.

Seriously? That’s pretty much the default hollow for hockey skates in this country. Go to a LHS and ask for a sharpening, and you’ll get that or 5/8”, unless they are knowledgeable then they might match it to your weight. I know plenty of people on 3/8”, a few on 7/16” including me, lots on 1/2” and some on 5/8”. I’ve never met someone on shallower than 5/8”.

1/2” is not deep, but 3/8” is deep in my view. Curious about the edges. One person I know does a manual sharpen that grips more than sharpens of the same depth from elsewhere. Quite why I know not. The 7/16” on my Sparx is similar to that from my LHS. Is there perhaps a difference in technique between sharpeners, assuming correct alignment of the blade relative to the wheel?

I’m surprised people go from 1/2” to 3/8”, that’s a big change. Good point about the ice, a few months back I tried 7/16” as a 1/2” grind meant my blades were slipping sideways on the hard winter ice, and I much prefer it. A year back I accidentally tried 7/16” and couldn’t handle it, I think my skating technique was not up to using it then. It might be that you are not getting a true 1/2” but a bit deeper when you get them done by hand, perhaps due to the way they dress the stone. In my case the Sparx 7/16” compares with a manual sharpen, in fact the last manual sharpen felt a bit dull so maybe it was actually 1/2”.