Chadd

Anything that makes it easier for someone to play the game can't be a bad thing. Chances are they aren't going to be going all that fast and if they crash on an FBV, they probably would have crashed with any other hollow.

You mean, other than me?

Or do what Chadd did a few yrs back now, bring two bottles to a session. One with regular water that you hide and your usual bottle with straight Vodka in it. Some dumbarse will come off, have a squeeze and learn their lesson one way or another. Lemon juice in the water is my preferred method of dealing with those people. It's no big deal if you're expecting it but a rude shock otherwise. Even better for those guys that use a bottle instead of a shower.

Other than peeling like hell, it was a nice grip.

Depends on how you skate and how much you let your edges degrade with a traditional sharpening.

I think M-E is overrated, as I have seen horrendous sharpenings come from a M-E shop. It doesn't mean anything if the guy behind the wheel is careless. If the guy behind the wheel is good and cares about his job, chances are he will produce the same quality edge without going through the M-E procedure step by step. It's the final product that is important, not the process that gets you there. Any process that gets you there every time is fine. I have no idea what No Icing is doing for you but I have reservations about doing "remote" profiling. In my experience it's an experimental process that requires feedback and multiple changes to ensure you've optimized the profile for you and your skating style. Until you've gone to far one way or the other, you don't know if there is something better out there for you.

Maximum edge is nothing more than just a procedure to help you put a good edge on a skate. It's essentially a checklist of things to do when you sharpen and will help you do a good job if you follow the steps one by one. It's a good way to train new employees or to correct bad habits of hack sharpeners. However, it doesn't do anything special to your edges or give you an advantage over someone that does a good job by another method. You can use the M-E steps while sharpening skates with an FBV hollow.

If you see a puff of dust when the spinner touches the wheel, it is now dressed. You will not be able to see it with a naked eye. You can dress the wheel for every pair, that would simply ensure that each pair is done correctly. The wheel will hold up for quite a while, even if you dress it for every pair.

Most people I have put into the FBV say the 100/75 has more bite than 1/2", and I would agree. The 90/75 is right around 5/8 or 11/16 in terms of bite.

In an area with heavy competition selling the FBV at regular price does give you a value advantage over the other shops. I can certainly see why someone would do that.

It's all new, you can't go by the old concept that deeper bites more

FBV will not look as deep as a ROH sharpening, but will still be sharp. You may not be able to see the difference unless you have something to compare it to.

A bunch of my guys switched in the middle of a playoff series and not a single one had a problem. If he was used to half inch, 100/75 would probably be the better choice.

Why not go really different Anyone else see these and immediately think of the old Bauers?

What difference does it make to you either way? The items were specific enough that I don't doubt the veracity of his claims, I was just making light of the perceived tone.

Haven't had any problems, and I've put it on LS2, Custom+, E-pro and Pitch.

I love people that have to make sure you know how cool their gear is. Just in case you thought they just found somewhere that got an early shipment, telling everyone that it is unreleased just shows how utterly cool he really is. Actually, it's from work, but close enough :P EDIT: I realize I came off a bit smug in the first post, I'll edit that out. He's just jealous :P Nah, he doesn't have a supply of XN10s for me to drool over.

I've been finding that most of the guys I put into the FBV prefer the 100/75. They're all coming from 1/2 and the ice is pretty hard right now thanks to the extended winter we're getting.

I love people that have to make sure you know how cool their gear is. Just in case you thought they just found somewhere that got an early shipment, telling everyone that it is unreleased just shows how utterly cool he really is.

If you're simply going across the top of the edge you aren't going to feel as much as you would with a 1/2" hollow. One of the guys on my team doubted the sharpening when I did his skates last week, until he got on the ice. As for losing grip, are you talking about during a game or over the lifetime of the sharpening? I have found that the 100/75 needs to be refreshed more frequently that a "standard" sharpening. I believe it's because it's on a razor-thin line trying to give grip and glide in one sharpening. Make sure you are getting the blade centered on the wheel and just live with having to do the skates a bit more often. It's not a big price to pay for the performance.

I'm telling you what the law says, I really don't care if you obey it or not. It's important that advice given here is correct and accurate, especially regarding the law. If you are charging people, it is a business.

I went with X02 just thinking that I would have more and more people wanting the FBV, and thus I would prefer the heavier duty of the 2 portables. I wasn't worried about breakeven or profitability. I do not charge people to try out the FBV, but if they like it, I'll charge $3-5 to sharpen depending on how much I like them. I knew how to sharpen skates, and since moving here I haven't been able to find a place I trust to do a good job. So I wanted to just do them myself for my family of 4 and some of the kids I coach. If sharpening other people's skates makes me enough money to pay for wheels and spinners, then it's all good. My experience so far, if you can do a good job sharpening, word spreads fast. Make sure if you are charging people that you have the proper city, state and federal business licenses, and report your profits to the IRS and your state. If you charge, you are no longer a home sharpener, you are a business. You don't want to get caught doing it under the table or without licenses. As soon as your LHS finds out you are, they'll drop a dime to the IRS, etc. You definitely don't want that. You're LHS is also run by the mob? Seriously yes these are possibly consequences but seriously I think that kind of caution is overkill. In that respect the dude who brings in cases of soda to work and asks a quarter a can is also running a business but I don't think the IRS is ever gonna ask for all the recipes for the transactions, even if someone did call them. If you're running a business, do it legally. He also left out potential zoning issues in some areas.

FBV really has nothing to do with agility.

When I started out in net a few years back, I had the 6.2 series of goalie equipment (Thanks Chadd!). I liked the pads and blocker a lot. For the price point at that time, it was a lot better than the competition. I hated the trapper though. That 6.2 stuff was a great value at regular prices, let alone what you paid. ;)

I'm better than anyone else in the area and I needed a machine as I'm not running a shop anymore. I do skates for people I know and like. I haven't been charging anyone that I've talked into trying the FBV. Don't buy one hoping to get good enough to make money on it. There are way too many hacks out there doing skates and doing it simply for money is the wrong reason to buy a sharpener. Very few people who are only in it for the money are very good at sharpening skates.