chiefs17

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Awesome job kr580! How do your spinners stay in the lid when you close it? I can't tell by the pics.

I ended up buying 8 wheels to get free shipping. If anyone wants to buy a wheel for the list price plus shipping let me know. I'm thinking it should only cost a few bucks to ship 1 or 2 wheels in the US. List price for the wheels is $19, plus shipping. I have 4 inch Orange wheels, and I'll probably sell 4 of them. Send me a PM with your zip code and how many you want, I'll take paypal as a gift or buyer pays the fee. Not trying to make money on this, just passing along the savings.

Is there another source (US based?) to buy the 4 inch grinding wheels? Buying 4 wheels ends up costing $27 per wheel with shipping.

Maybe you are dressing the wheel too long. When I dress the wheel I only let the spinner touch the wheel for a second, then I back it off. Do that once or twice at the most for a single dressing. I dress once per pair of blades. I used to dress before every blade, but I think that's overkill. You definitely don't have to get a bright new-wheel look when you dress. You will still see some black from the Fine Shine. Grinding wheels are porous and the oil will soak in, causing a slight discoloration. I am on my original 3 spinners from when the XO1 was first released (I've gone through about 10 grinding wheels), and I really only use the 1/2" ROH now, which has seen many, many dressings. Granted, I probably need a new drag cap because my spinner can really spin, but I think that my spinner may have lasted longer because of that.

So 15 clicks of adjustment is not uncommon, but you didn't say for which knob. Or are you saying all 3 knobs add up to 15 clicks? The Pitch knob doesn't have nearly as much effect in moving the blade as the L and R knobs do. That's why, once you set the Pitch knob initially, you never have to touch it again.

In regards to question 2 - Are you turning the Pitch knob to adjust the level of the blade? You should not have to touch that knob once the machine is set up. You should only be touching the left and right knobs.

You need to adjust the wheel arbor, which is what the grinding wheel sits on. There is a small socket set screw, two screws actually, one is behind the first one you will need to remove. In your picture you can see the hole where these two screws are. Remove the first screw so that you can loosen the second screw. Then adjust your wheel height, tighten up the first screw and install the 2nd screw, done! Don't worry too much about it being perfect, just eyeing it up is fine. You will need to adjust your holder after all of this. *I forgot to mention - you must remove your wheel first.

The reason I asked is because you seem to really be into the fine tuning of blades, like being able to tell the difference in glide between 85/75 and 90/50. But there are some contradicting descriptions in your original post. Such as having chatter after a fresh sharpening at 90/50, but then saying you didn't have enough bite with that same sharpening. Is your local sharpener very good at what he does? Do you check your edges for level after a sharpening? It sounds like you may have a bad sharpening if you have chatter, and no bite, all on the same skates. My suggestion - Just get a regular ROH sharpening and see how it feels. There are hundreds of NHL players still using ROH, and they are doing just fine. Don't get caught up by the hype of FBV, and make things more complicated for yourself. After all, it's just fun hockey with your buddies, right? Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I couldn't even tell you the last time I used an FBV spinner.

May I ask what your skating ability is, and what level hockey you are playing?

New blades just take more passes. Use a Sharpie marker and cover the bottom of the blade with ink. When you think you have made enough passes, take a look at the bottom of the blade. There should be no marker left on the bottom surface. Take a measurement with whatever gauge you're using, just to make sure you are level, then make a couple more passes and then a final pass with Fine Shine.

A new diamond every 2 wheels mickz? I'm on my original 3 spinners from when I got my X01, right after it was first released. I've probably been through 12-15 wheels. The waves in the last pass before oiling are pretty normal. They vary depending on the dress of the wheel and position of the wheel on the arbor. It's not something I've been able to control with any consistency. The last pass with Fine Shine usually makes it better. You can try resetting your grinding wheel. Just loosen the nut and try rotating the wheel a little. There's no science to it, it just changes the relationship between the wheel center hole and arbor, and basically balances the wheel. It might get worse or it might get better. Don't forget to dress the wheel after each time you try this. Good luck and let us know if it helps.

The machine doesn't come with the calibration block, but you don't need to buy it. Some info here on the calibration process without the block.

I'm not sure if I've ever done a sharpening on LS4 steel. I never bother to look at the model number of the blades. In my opinion, if the blade is stainless steel, or carbon steel of any kind, then yes the orange wheel will work just fine.

That's too bad lpg, Blackstone knows there is a problem with the ruby wheels. I called them and they sent me new orange wheels in exchange. I didn't think the ruby was anything special when they did work, so I'm fine with orange. Give them a call.