Paluce

You are absolutely right. So you were at the phats show in AZ…. I did all the surface finish analysis that Skatescribe presented. So ya, skatescribe’s Tormach cnc could do any profile. Just need to run a CAM software and send it a custom G-code. No big deal. I do custom profiles that way on a Mazak CNC. But I also use my Blackstone at my shop with tracer bars. Easier to train people on that than training a CNC programmer. Now, The Skatescribes software is stellar! (I’m sure you know). I’m an engineer as well so I appreciate your knowledge. Anyone on your side of the continent reading this should head you way for perfect skates. and ya, design they added a keyence sensor to detect the bottom of the steel and measure the angle. The first prototype had one too, but was a different sensor 😉 And correct you can’t patent a quad or elipse, OMNI. It’s like a coffee mug. Maybe a two handle coffee mug. But You can’t patent a three handle mud, or quad mug. Or infinite number of handles on a mug (elipse or OMNI). Anyways, it’s public knowledge now so not patentable anymore.

You havn't seen Blackstone’s new profiler that is coming out then… it’s superior to the Elite IMO. Measures blades current pitch in degree’s, and you can adjust pitch from there like Skatescribe. It uses keyence sensors to detect steel height for the start of profiling, You can offset the pivot point like on a prosharp. It’s fully automatic. Can do several blades at once. And fast. 4-5 min to profile. Also fast to load. 15sec and you back profiling the next set. The elite is still using tracer bars like Blackstone. And Yes Skatescribe can do anything (except an elipse or an OMNI’s) So there’s a reason Blackstone is in several NHL rooms. Florida, Washington, St.Louis, Islanders, NJ…. They do things very well.

What you felt on the Prosharp Quad is exactly why these were developed. But these OMNI Profile bars are for Blackstone shaper systems and their new profiler that will be hitting the market pretty soon. Shops are buying them and using them quite a bit. They’ve been sold to shops as far west as BC, here in Ontario of course, even out to Sweden. They actually have OMNI Zup bars now too. Those have a 20mm blend area between each transition to make that a smoother more gradual change.

Thanks man! Ya I love the Quad/Hybrid profile. It’s very similar to the profile above, just with a small glide surface in the middle for extra speed 🙂. That’s what I skate on now, as well as my kids and several of their AAA teammates. My boy is going to the Wold selects tourney in Bolzano Italy with Pro Hockey, so something has got to be working. Check ‘em out CompetitiveEdgeHockey.ca

The OMNI quads from Blackstone are an improvement over the Prosharp Quads. I exclusively profile using OMNI bars now at my shop. Below is a picture of a 272 blade on an OMNI 0.5 profile bar. As you can see, the 4 zones from the Quad has been smoothly blended together to create a profile with a radius of curvature that is continuously changing (just like an Elipse) except you know the exact radii all along the blade… unlike an elipse where the shape is bit of a mystery. In this case, the 8-10-12-14’ areas are matched to the Prosharp 0.5, but blended all the way through.

Quad 1 would feel pitch even more pitched forward if profiled on a prosharp, with the same pivot point. Since the 1 is designed for a smaller blade the 6’ toe would extend over a greater length at the toe of the blade, removing more steel and feeling more pitched. If someone happens to have a set of OMNI quad profile bars for a Blackstone you can change that pitch on a Quad 2 without moving the pivot point, and changing the pitch by a certain amount of degree and making the difference steel height between the toe and the heal much less. I think this is what you are looking for. It’s pretty simple to do.

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Quads in general with a 6’ toe naturally take a lot of steel off the toe. That’s the complaint sometimes with those profiles…

This is my favourite profile right now. It’s the competitive edge 0.5/1. The radius is continuously changing like an elipse. Except the the profile is marked with the point where it hits 8.5, 9, 9,5 …..11.5, 12, 12.5. What I like is that you know what you’re getting now. Not like the elipse where it’s mystery. Also don’t loose the toe on this profile like on a quad (they take too much off the toe in my opinion). It’s like an exaggerated 9.5/10.5, but smoothly blended all the way through. Btw, the blade on the profile bar is only a size 3. A size 9 or 10 would extend about 1” more on either end. I do a lot of AAA and Junior players with this and it’s a winner for sure.

That’s not really a fair statement. Those that work in the industry and are keeping up with the latest equipment and technologies are well aware of Skatescribe. They are not in all cities at the moment, especially small towns so many skaters don’t know about them, yet. Skatescribe machines are a CNC profiling and sharpening machine which uses a milling cutter to cut the blade. Since it is CNC based you can send any profile to contour any blade. I profile on a CNC machine sometimes and it’s great. I also use my Blackstone for a lot of profiles as well. I finish sharpening on my Blackstone. Both methods have many positives and both are in NHL rooms. As is Blademaster and Elite. And if anyone is interested, no one finish sharpens on a Sparx… lol. Those are for home convienence, and stores that don’t have the people with knowledge to train their own employees.

So my boy has broken 4 proto R’s in 3 months. All in the shaft about 6-10” above the blade. He’s only 75lbs and breaking 40flex sticks like spaghetti.

Yes, it’s called flex-fit for the powerfly holder. They have a CCM specific blade if you want CCM. The flex fit blade fits tighter into the Bauer holders now. (Both Edge and Powerfly). I really like them a lot.

You can change the pitch on any profile. Because the toe of these profile is very tight, it naturally removes more steel at the toe. At the toe you will feel pitch forward. In the middle of the profile at the balance point however, it should feel pretty neutral. if you remove some pitch or move the pivot point forward, you will probably feel like you are leaning back a bit when you are skating on the middle of the blade, but you won’t feel like you are falling forward when you are on your toes.. CAD drawings help explain this easier. make small tweaks 5mm forwards or back, or +1, -1 and see if you like it more or less.

Yes Bladetech fit the powerfly holder very well, but you do need to pull the trigger to insert the steel into the holder. Byonic is the same. I’ve fit the new Bladetech steel into every size holder. No issues at all and it is a high quality steel. That is what I skate with , and my kids.

He was on a 92/75 FBV. It’s a year later now and he skates on the 981/Quad Hybrid (CompetitiveEdgeHockey.ca) and a 98/50 FBV. His edge work is top notch so he can skate on a /50cut now. So fast.

My boy also loved the Proto. Came from an FT6 pro. Snapped a blade after 2 weeks. Got 2 more. We’ll see how long they last. I shot it as well and prefer the release compared to the low kick hyperlite I’ve been using. I play in a no clapper over 40 league now so my sticks last forever. I might just get a proto for myself.

I can do that! I draw custom profiles in CAD all the time and cut them for certain players/Teams.

Both my kids were on Quads prior to going to the 981/Quad Hybrid. Never looked back. I skate on this profile myself now for beer league 🙂. We did a blind test with 5 other boys on his AAA team, and 3 tier 1 girls. All 8 kids preferred the 981/Quad Hybrid over the Quad which they were on previously and moved to that profile. The speed is noticeable, but they still have all the agility of the Quad. Some did mail in profiling, others just bought new blades from CompetitiveEdgeHockey.ca It’s a great profile!

That’s strange because the overall rocker on the power cut is less than the Quad 1. The Quad 1 has about 0.030” (0.75mm) more rocker. It’s a rounder profile. You might have felt the rounder heal of the powercut which is 12’, vs 15’ on the Quad 1.

The ME 981/Quad hybrid profile is only available through CompetitiveEdgeHockey.ca at the moment. It will become available through Blackstone once their new profiler launches. It was just displayed at the equipment, managers conference in Arizona a few months ago. The profiler measures the blades current pitch by angle and you can adjust from there. So nice!

Skatescribe does pitch by angle. Prosharp moves the cl back 15mm 17mm 20mm whatever you want in order for the profile to take more steel off the toe and pitch it forward. I prefer Skatescribe’s method much better. That is a true angle 0 deg, 0.1deg, 0.2 deg… I skate with an 0.4deg pitch. That’s about 0.035” less steel on the toe vs the heal on a 272 blade. I can switch profiles and if I keep that same 0.4deg pitch I always feel balanced.

Skatescribe does pitch by angle. Prosharp moves the cl back 15mm 17mm 20mm whatever you want in order for the profile to take more steel off the toe and pitch it forward. I prefer Skatescribe’s method much better. That is a true angle 0 deg, 0.1deg, 0.2 deg… I skate with an 0.4deg pitch. That’s about 0.035” less steel on the toe vs the heal on a 272 blade. I can switch profiles and if I keep that same 0.4deg pitch I always feel balanced.

You can pitch it to whatever you want. Just an angular change.

The Skatescribe Gold Profile is really nice fast and Agile Profile. Probably my favourite from them. (12’ heal, 14’ Center, 8.65’ toe.) My boy tried it out of curiosity and he liked it a lot, but went back to his previous profile which was a ME Quad/981 hybrid. Other boys on his team also tried it and liked it.

I totally hear you and agree with that. I will say that every single player that I do skates for, from 9 year old’s up to Juniors and old Pro’s instantly say the manual job (with perfect even edges) are the best skates they have ever had. I also hone with ceramic stones, 400, 800, 3000. I have experience sharpening knives and chisels… so that will get you to that level of detail when doing skates 😉. Anyone looking for insane sharpening lessons, watch Rob Cosman sharpening videos on YouTube.