psulion22

3. You don't sharpen my skates, and the guy that does can't do that.

The height of the wheel is set by the user to touch at the point where the curve of the heel begins, and will match that height on the toe end. But the system has a pressure regulating mechanism that keeps it from shaving off more of the toe and heel (like most pro shop employees will do) and altering the curve. The Sparx sharpens the curve, but doesn't alter it.

So does anyone know if Tydan blends the toe when they put a Quad on at the factory?

This was one of the big reasons I got one. What's the point of paying $50+ to have a profile put on when the kid at the proshop is going to ruin it after two sharpenings? Consistently sharp and profiled skates was the main draw for me.

The most recent profile I had was 9' with a 60/35 CAG on it to get a little forward pitch and some speed from the flat. I like the shorter 9' radius, but feel I'm losing a lot of speed and acceleration, and have to keep my edges super sharp to get good performance (not even the depth of hollow, but rather they always have to be fresh or I don't get good bite). What's the best for that? Quad 1? I'm a defenseman that skates more in straight lines up the ice than weaving through guys, so speed and stability are important. On No Icing's website, I'd probably be classified under their Quad 1. But I don't know if thers is the same as the ProSharp ones.

Sorry, man. Lung cancer is tough. But we were able to fight metastatic lung cancer well for 6 months. CCNU actually showed good progress until we had to discontinue it because it was affecting his liver. It may be worth a shot. It was a pretty mild treatment with no real side effects and only once every three weeks administration The cancer is likely not “treatable” but you may be able to manage it for a little while. Just a thought. Keep him happy and importantly eating as well as he can (that was always an issue for mine, he was picky) and you may still have some time. No, definitely not a good animal week. I feel for you. I lost my dog and then my parent’s dog (who I lived at home with for about a year when she was a puppy, I was her favorite person) 6 days later. That wasn’t a good week either. It sucks. But try to spend as much time as you can and take as many pictures and videos too. Some of the best pictures and video I have we took after we found out he was sick. The offer is still there. I know what you’re going through. Hit me up if you need advice or just to talk.

I'm sorry, man. We lost ours to cancer in June. It's a terrible thing. But with a tremendous amount of care from his oncologist, we were able to keep him alive for over a year and a half with a pretty good quality of life for most of it. So don't give up hope. They can treat canine cancer very well nowadays, and can prescribe a lot of drugs, even ones like Marinol, to keep him happy and comfortable for a while. Feel free to reach out if you need advice or support.

What is the point of having supplemental insurance through USA Hockey if they won't cover anything? I've progressed to the point in my knee injury that I'm ready to begin physical therapy. I've also accumulated about the $1000 deductible for the USA Hockey insurance that we're mandated to have to kick in. So from here out, I thought my treatment would be covered. My PT is having billing issues, so I just called the insurance company to figure out the best way to proceed. They informed me that they only cover PT after a surgery. The doctor said he didn't want to do surgery if he didn't have to, so we immobilized the knee to see if it would heal without the surgery. it did. So this insurance company would rather pay for surgery costs, plus 25-30 PT sessions rather than the 10 or so PTs I'll need. And I'm going to end up paying double to NOT have surgery than I would have if I did. What a load of horse shit.

I assume that if I had received the ring with the unit that I would have just centered it with that and not known any difference. So the only reason I know it's not perfect is because I had to reverse engineer a solution. The nice thing is that I can fine tune the machine, like a manual sharpener. But then leave it right there and it should be perfect as long as the machine isn't moved, unlike a manual sharpener. Either way, I'm sure that the near perfect alignment from the tool is still better than what many would receive with a sharpening from their LHS.

Just for clarification, it's not way out. I'd say it's off by maybe 2 clicks. Using a square on the actual steel is more accurate than using a visual line on the carriage. I don't know that the small variance would make any difference. So the tool may be good in a "close enough" sense to get a very near area for fine tuning. But an edge checker is still going to be more accurate and may not be in line with dead center on the tool. If the tool was perfect every time, then why the need for an edge checker? I'm not actually suggesting people throw the tool away, it's hyperbole. But I wouldn't rely completely on it either, and you could still get very (or even more) accurate edges without it, albeit with a lot more work.

2 passes will work. When I first got mine, I didn't have the alignment ring. So I had to use a carpenter's square on the counter to check the edges. Running 2 passes after each adjustment was enough to see how it was changed. After I got them square, I ran the machine to do the sharpening. So what I would suggest is running a few passes to check and adjust the level before running the full cycle. The alignment tool sucks. Throw it in the garbage. When I finally got the ring, it didn't line up to what I knew as square.

I seriously can't take it anymore. It's not the 80's. Stop posting input and advice based on what happened in the 80s. Just stop. You have absolutely no idea what the hell you're talking about. The game has changed. And it is painfully clear that you have not changed with it. I don't think I've seen you post one piece of information that is relevant in today's game. I can't tell if you're serious or just being a troll. I suspect the latter. Because of the ability to slide laterally on the pad, goaltending has become about getting wide and creating depth as soon as possible. The width of the stance covers the bottom of the net and allows lateral movement, the depth eliminates the aerial angle. There's no moving a leg out or bringing it in anymore. Now the pads stay in place because of the wide stance and the knees drive to the ice, That's faster than anything because the length of travel is short, and the stick covers some of the vulnerable area. If anything, Chris isn't wide enough. Don't reply or argue. Just learn.

Yay for tearing the MCL in my other knee last night. That's both knees in just over 3 months.

I'll agree with that. Fire 1/2 has similar glide, but far less bite than FBV 95/75 or 100/50. The FBV may have more bite than the typical 1/2 ROH, so it may not be an exact comparison. I think I'll need Fire 3/8" to get the bite I'm used to.

I won a Sparx sharpener on EBay at the beginning of November. It took the seller almost a week to ship, and another 5 days to get. Totaling 11 days from purchase to receipt. That’s not horrible, but not great either. When I opened the box, I found that they hadn’t installed the travel support, nor included the alignment ring. That made the machine pretty much useless. I contacted the seller about the alignment ring the day I got the machine. They said they found it and would send it the next day. I waited another 10 days and no ring. I contacted them again, they said they sent it earlier in the week. Another week and the envelope finally shows up today. I say envelope because it was empty. There had been an alignment ring in it, you can see marks on it. But since the seller only used a plain regular envelope (also meaning they didn’t send it until earlier this week), the ring had torn through the paper and is since long gone. So now I have to order one from a Sparx, which is fine. But my skates need a cut and I’ll either have to pay $10 for a sharpening while I have a machine sitting here, or wing it the best I can to get it aligned.

Awesome. Thanks. I slid the carrier all the way over to the adjustment tool (it won’t let you run the alignment function with a grinding ring in) and the indicator on the tool lines up pretty much exactly at the crease between the stone and hub. I also used the alignment tool to magnify the hollow of the steel and it looked pretty even. The grinding marks went all the way to both edges. But after sharpening, I stood the steel up on the granite counter and put a speed square against it. The steel is definitely off by maybe 1/32” or less. It has a slight gap at the top. I tried adjusting the carriage as much as 4 clicks on the knob and it didn’t seem to make much difference. I gave up after that because it’s a waste of steel and ring at 4 passes each test. ill just have to wait for the alignment ring to be sure.

Ya, I know I can. But the seller had it and said they would send it, so why spend $40 on a ring? That was on 11/16. I do have the tool. So if you could give me the measurement I actually have a spare grinding ring I can use this time in a pinch. Hopefully it will come tomorrow and it won't matter as I don't need to skate until Sunday. The seller said they sent it last Wednesday (6 days after they said they would) and the unit took 8 days to get to me because the seller used the awful UPS Mail Innovations service which doubles the time because of the handoff. So with Thanksgiving, and BF/CM volume, it could take longer to get to me this time.

Is there any way to test the alignment of these machines without the alignment ring/tool? (or without an edge checker for that matter) I bought one of these used for a great price, but the seller forgot to include the alignment ring. It's supposed to be on its way, but it's been 8 days and still no show. Plus they didn't install the travel brace when they shipped it. I ran it on old steel and the edges seemed even and level. I lost an edge in my last game, and it's really going to suck to have to pay $10 to have a sharpening when I have this machine sitting there.

I won a roller championship (5v5) one season playing only 2 D the entire season. Not the same, and it was a long time ago. But if you have forwards that can help the D out and keep them from running around too much, it can work.

3 D is a different mindset. You're typically on the ice for 4 or 5 minutes straight at least, so you get more engaged in the game. Plus, since the pairings just rotate, it's more fluid and consistent when the same defenders are playing with all of the forwards, rather than switching as a unit of 5 as often happens at a stoppage in beer league. I find that a feel more like I'm "rolling" when we have 3 D. But at the same time, if the D is doing what they are supposed to be doing, 3 D can get tiring and lead to too much passive play.

It does require a long list of subs and only a few available spots on a regular basis. That team in particular has maybe 8-10 guys we can call, but maybe only one or two needed a game. So if they want the opportunity to play at some point, they'll have to come when we want them to not only when they want to.

One team I'm on remedies this by charging those who wanted to be "subs" $100 up front. That guarantees them 4 games during the season, and priority on the list. But if we call for a sub, and you turn it down, that counts as a game (with one freebie). This way you're really only charging that money to a couple guys and will get coverage for most games. If for some reason those guys still don't fill the roster, we'll go to individuals, but those guys probably aren't going to get many games, if any at all. We find that guys will show up if they have skin in the game. (just like how guys who are good enough to not pay to play won't show up if they find literally anything better to do). Another team goes by the 3 strike rule. If we call and you don't play 3 times, you don't get called again until everyone else does the same and list comes back around to the top.

I'm a little concerned about this myself. I just got an awesome deal on a used Sparx and I'm hoping I'll be ok with the Fire cut. I think I'm going to drop down in sharpness to 1/2F from 95/75 FBV (5/16 eq.) to try and maintain the glide. I figure the ability to keep the edges consistently sharp will offset the slight loss in bite. A fresh 1/2F *should* have the same bite as a 95/75 after 3 or 4 skates.

Awesome, thanks! It's not perfect yet, because a lot of the content still requires a tv provider. But I'm sure it will get there sooner or later.

It does? I asked the people at the Apple Store and they said not yet.