Leif

Beaten to the post!

I think the Sparx case is a Pelican 1650 with custom foam. They look identical.

I agree, I was giving an example that showed that different blades burr differently. And I happened to do one pass today. Black steel has brittle edges due to high carbon content. Four passes doesn’t create huge burring on my blades. Of course if the edges are dinged, you’ll need four or more passes. Luckily mine weren’t. As an aside, a sharpener I know deburrs by pulling blades across a piece of soft wood. I tried that and it removed a bit of the sharpness or bite, definitely not something I will try again.

I have Bauer LS5 which is a black steel. I’ve just done one pass, with a 7/16” wheel, and the burrs were very fine, and easily brushed off with a finger. Proper black steel has very hard edges, which probably create fine burrs as the black coating is brittle. I might try one pass per two hours. I marked the edges with a sharpie before the cut, and all of the ink was removed.

Out on the ice today at 8:15am for and hour and a half of hockey with newly sharpened skates, apprehensive at first, but straight away it felt good, as good a sharpening as I’ve ever had, and I love freshly sharpened blades. The BAT gauge showed zero error. I’ll try two passes every 6-7 hours on ice, and see how it goes. I wonder what other people do in terms of number of passes, and how often. I used to get them sharpened every 16 hours or so.

I believe you’d get the same reading from your BAT gauge on both sides of the blade, but reversed of course, if the blade sides were parallel and flat.

This might be of interest: https://blogs.sparxhockey.com/uneven-edge-checker-reading

Speedplates don’t break in, they’re rigid once cooled. Removing the arch supports defeats the purpose. Presumably you have unusual arches. Do you know if they are very low or very high?

There is an earlier post from Russ Layton CEO of Sparx in which he claims that the Sparx BAT gauges are each tested prior to shipping to ensure accuracy. I’m sure a LHS would allow a side by side check with their gauge if in doubt.

The first sharpen I did was accurate to about 1/1000” but not quite as accurate as my LHS. I threw in a couple more clicks of the adjustment knob today, and the edges are now absolutely perfect. When I bought new skates last year, I was shocked to see that the old blades were nearly flat, repeated hand sharpening had changed the profile, causing issues with my skating. The fact that Sparx preserves the profile is yet one more plus for this machine. It’s expensive for us Brits and Europeans though! As an aside, how do I hone black steel ie Bauer LS5? I know not to use a honing stone on the sides.

I had exactly the same issue with Step Steel. I don’t have problems with my new Bauer LS5. What you have is tapered blades, I don’t see how an edge checker could otherwise be out on one side. Step Steel gets rave reviews, but this suggests poor QC, and even though everyone says Step Black beats LS5, I might stick with LS5 when time to get new blades. I wonder if tapered blades would be sufficient cause to demand a refund or replacement? Pity as I prefer the less curved heel of Step.

For public skating I wear pads with d3o inserts. These absorb shock much more effectively than traditional foam of the same thickness. There are similar foams such as POC and G-Form though I think the latter is not so good. For elbows and knees G-Form is ideal, being light and cheap and good enough to soften impacts. I wear Xion d3o boxer shorts which are superb, but Demon d3o shorts offer as good protection for less money. Falls still hurt, but you are likely to be injured.

Mine arrived at work today, sent Monday evening from Sweden via Denmark, Germany and Belgium to England. What struck me is the sheer weight and size of the box. It’s very heavy. Back home it took me 30 minutes to unpack it, align the wheel, and sharpen my skates. A slight adjustment was needed, and my BAT gauge shows the edges are near perfect. I skated on them this evening, no complaints at all. They are good. I am impressed with the weight of the unit, and the quality feel. Yes it’s partly made out of plastic, but the quality is very high. Alignment is easy. Sharpening is very easy. I left it to take three cuts and prepared dinner. They appear to have ‘ripped off’the ProSharp unit, but in so doing they’ve made huge improvements to the ease of use. And massively reduced the price. The official travel case is a Pelican 1510. Does anyone know if the foam in the packing box can be used in a stock 1510 case?

Ah, I guess you have to be up to date with modern communications methods then. I hate Fakebook, loathe it even though I have to use it for my hockey team and other hockey doo dahs. Fortunately I found their page: https://m.facebook.com/GrupoSparx/

I’m rather surprised Sparx haven’t mentioned this given that I’ve been gnawing at their ankles over the last year, but the Sparx machines and accessories are now available in Europe from Monkey Sports in Sweden, about £1200 including shipping and VAT. The price is not unreasonable. Mine is in transit as I write. Last time I checked they still had stock.

I have pads with d3o for public skating, and I wear Xion d3o boxer shorts beneath my hockey shorts. It’s fantastic stuff. There are other similar products, though I think d3o was the first to use a non Newtonian fluid. POC is similar, as good I think, and G-Form is an American copy, but my G-form elbow pads are not as good as d3o. Bauer use G-form in their ‘flex-orb’ padding. Where would you place it in skates and why? It is too thick for the toes and forefoot. So that really leaves the ankle region, and I guess it would provide protection from side impact and cushion the ankle. When I’ve taken shots to the boot, it’s been the toe and side of the forefoot that took the shock. I guess you could line the tongue, though it might be too soft, and create lace pressure so you’d need a hard over layer. I often wonder why felt is so widely used since it wears, but it is cheap and easy to work, so maybe that is the answer.

Thanks both. I already have an edge checker, one of the cheap Canadian eBay ones, it works well. I had a ProSharp one but it was out by two thou.

Does the consumer grade machine come with the optical alignment tool, or do you need to buy that as well? Aha, just checked the manual, and it does.

Yes but he is the President of the country, and quite old, so what did you expect?

I somehow doubt anyone would dare fire a slap shot at lovable old Vlad ...

Sniper9: I'm discovering with my Bauer customs that I shouldn't tighten the laces as much as I used to. Maybe this is a feature of high end skates. Interesting about your Trues, a friend tightens his as much as he can and gets numb feet. Says he lacks control if he does not do that.l

It just occurred to me that a better option is for smu to start a new thread, using his second from last post, and people can comment if they wish, rather than use this thread for one issue. That way everyone is happy. Just a suggestion folks.

I know smu has been annoying in the past by repeating himself in numerous long winded posts, but this time I think he has given a very succinct summary of his issues, with an update on the third pair - 😲 - , and the fact that he still does not have a skate that fits - the heel is far too wide - is shocking. Perhaps people here who fit skates can comment. In his position I would be looking for a full refund and moving to a custom skate from Bauer or CCM. Assuming they can fit skates to his feet. I suppose it is possible that he had such strange feet that they are unfittable. Or perhaps only True can not accommodate him.

I stay away from expensive/performance cars, the depreciation is silly. And the price of new tyres and servicing is enough to give me nightmares. I have top end gear and custom skates, for protection and comfort. I recently took a slap shot to the head and felt nothing, not because I’m thick, but due to the helmet design. I can’t see any reason to get new gear. In future my money is going on hockey training at a local sports centre.

I noticed that the base of each of my Custom Bauer skates is molded to my instep, so I don't really need the speed plates. However the standard insole they also supply is so thin that I get pain from the rivet heads if I skate with them in. Are there some thin alternatives to the speed plates that protect my feet from the rivet heads, and provide slight cushioning?