hockeyrules

Has anyone had any experience with the new commercial Sparx sharpener the PS 100? I have owned the original one for a couple of years now and there's a few issues that the commercial one may solve. I don't do a ton of skates or operate a shop or anything, I estimate I do around 175 pairs per year mostly of people I skate with and kids' teammates. Biggest issues I have with it is the number of passes it takes to sharpen a pair skates, the company states that it should be an average of 4 cycles per pair but I'm finding an average of 8 is more like it. For my skates and my kids skates who get them done regularly, 4 is fine but most of the skates I do are more beat up than that and it's not uncommon to have to run 10 - 15 cycles. Since I only sharpen for people I know, I'm only charging a modest $5 which is cheap for our area but at the cost of those grinding rings, I'm sure at times it's costing me money to do a pair skates. The new machine offers a cross grind ring that may help in this regard so I guess I'm looking for feedback on anyone experiencing the same a me and if they tried the new machine. Another issue that recently popped up is that the carriage is sticking during the cycle and leaving a pit in the blade. I have to stand by the machine ready to cancel when it occurs or else it could ruin a blade. Error codes suggest that there is an obstruction and when I give it a good cleaning with a shop vac it seems to solve the problem but recently it's happening more frequently to the point where I may need to clean it in the middle of sharpening a pair of skates. I've always maintained it well and changed the filter so I'm not sure why it's acting that way. With the new machine, there is a vacuum attachment which I think would help in that regard because there would be less dust, so again just looking for feedback. I will say though that I like the machine, I think it does a great job sharpening skates and have no complaints in that regard.