mckjim

Original Six??? Is that you Charlie?Chuck? How is the weather back there in Woburn, Mass., is it "wicked awesome"?

I like the 100/50 for my X02 machine. I have been using it for over two years to sharpen skates for a High School Varsity and 2 J.V. Teams. I also use it for 2 Bantam teams. It is a great machine for team skate sharpening. I picked up a little luggage dolly and bungee strap it and a Craftsman portable table to take to the rinks for out of town games. It is light enough to move around, but the luggage dolly makes it a snap to move in and out of the rinks. I also suggest an extension cord be brought with you. You never know from one rink to another where the power will be.

That is one fine set up you have there.

The design of that type of gauge depends on certain absolutes: 1. The gauges parts have not been bent and are true, especially where contacting the blade. Both the top piece on the edges of the blade and the magnetic pickup reference portion. 2. That the blade you are testing is not bent on any axis being referenced. 3. There is no debris of any kind on the gauge parts or the blade. This would mean burrs, imperfections, steel grit, or dirt of any kind. Have you checked any other skates to see if this problem is unique to your skate blade only? The theory of this type of gauge is that it should not matter what direction the gauge is mounted, it should read the same, unless one of the absolutes for its effectiveness are changed. The only other possibility I can think of is, the bottom of the gauge hitting the plastic holder, or a defect, scrape, gouge or imperfection of the plastic on one side of the skate and not the other. Anything that cause the gauge to contact the steel differently could cause it to be ineffective. If there is no defects in the plastic holder, then please check other skate blades and see if you get the same result. If the result repeats on other skate blades then the gauge must be defective.

Is there a burr on the blade on either side, causing the reference part of guage to be off verticle? Is the blade itself bent and not truly giving a right angle reading?

JR, The resaon I used a 90 degree elbow on the tubing near the wheel was to get as large and opening as possible to collect as much dust. Also, I have found that putting "Fine Shine" or whatever cutting oil you want on the blade from the beginning makes the dust heavier and there is less missing the suction. It makes the dust heavier and easier for the vacuum to pick it up. A little more oil gets used, but a lot less dust accumulates. Safe sharpening!! and safer breathing now!

Perfect! Great job. You might try to put in a small slit in the front tube to allow the blade to pass though as the wheel wears and it will give you more clearance. It will not affect the suction. Jr, How did you get the picture to post directly on the message?

True North Have you adjusted the clamp of the holder to clamp the blade tighter for the bigger heavier skate? My guess is that if the boot is heavier, the skate will pull down more causing the grinding wheel to contact unevenly on the bottom edge and might not hit the top edge squarely. There is also the possibility that your blade or blades are bent. A bent blade is the first thing I look for when all of a sudden I have one skate not sharpening like the rest. After a while you can see a consistent "spark pattern" while sharpening skates that will tell you the edges are even. I like to see a solid gold spark pattern to the left of the grinding wheel, very little sparks on the wheel to the right of the the blade being sharpened and little sparks seemingly dancing over the top edge of the blade usually indicate a good even grinding. Also, after a while you can "hear" the sound of a good even grinding. This however, is too hard for me to discribe. It is one of those things, that you' ll know it when you hear it. Also, I have found when you don't re-dress the wheel after doing several pairs of skates it will cause the blades to be uneven. But this is usually consistently uneven along the entire length of the steel. Last guess, is your hand pressure applied to the holder consistent? Putting too much force down on the holder inconsistently can cause your edges to be uneven from one skate to the next. Chiefs17 Thanks! The dust collection works good for about $100.00 per machine. The reason I went to the smaller diameter pvc is for the extra suction. I notched out the 90 degree elbow by putting it into the grinding wheel. This gives me clearance and allows me to put the vacuum system as close to the grinding dust as possible. I am still trying to find a "quieter" way of dust collecting on the cheap. I keep looking for new ideas, any thoughts anyone?

Yes. It is negligible.

So far, so good. It appears to work as advertised. The only thing I notice is it leaves a small witness scuff on the side of the blade.

http://img43.imageshack.us/i/img00005201005211453.gif/ This last photo is of the Square Edge Tool (S.E.T.) I had a patent made for but have not as yet begun producing. http://img684.imageshack.us/i/page1of11.gif/ Sorry these are all so disjointed, I am trying to figure out how to post photos as I go here.

Just thought I would try to post some photos of my little work shop. I have two portable Blademaster machines an SPB-851 and a BRC2005 as well as an X02 Blackstone portable and a Blackstone Mag-75 for dressing the portables with the FBV. I also picked up the Edge Again portable blade maintenance tool. All of this was accumulated over the years of sharpening skates for my three boys. Currently I have all of this set up in the locker room of my son's high school team. I take the X02 on away games and use the Blademaster machines daily. http://img228.imageshack.us/i/89695671.gif http://img3.imageshack.us/i/40241185.gif/ http://img268.imageshack.us/i/58856143.gif/ http://img171.imageshack.us/i/12457163.gif/ http://img412.imageshack.us/i/31865597.gif/

I have on occasion done passes only in the "profile" area. But only on skates that have been butchered by someone who has ground away the toe and heel of the blades into the plastic holder. I call it the "banana hook" look. I try to take off the steel only in this area on these types of skates. I finish with a pass along the entire length of the blade. I was taught that the steel and the grinding wheel should only contact in one spot when sharpening and that if any part of the blade remains in contact with the grinding wheel longer than another part, it will take off more metal. I try to always introduce the skate blade to the grinding wheel at the apex of the wheel facing the holder and turn the holder to maintain blade contact at the same location on the grinding wheel for the entire blade length. If you bring the blade into the grinding wheel to the right of the apex and continue accross the grinding wheel then the first part of the blade to contact the grinding wheel will have a longer duration contact with the grinding wheel than the rest of the blade and result in more metal over time being removed from this spot than from the rest of the blade. Also, I have witnesses people sharpening, whether the toe or heel is introduced to the grinding wheel first, that at the end of their pass, they allow the blade to contact the grinding wheel to the right of the apex and results in the "banana hook" phenomenon on the other end of the skate blade. The grinding wheel rotates clockwise, and the grinding of the blades should always be done from right to left regardless of your preference of toe or heel first in the holder. I have a brother that did professional grinding here in Detroit for a specialty grinding machine shop, and he explained that a back and forth grinding from right to left and back again will produce heat on the edges and the edges will not be as strong and become brittle and will wear faster. If that is the way machinists grind, I figured it must work equally as well for doing skate blades, and over time, it has for me.

True North I use the HDI as well, but only to check against the Quick Square, from Blademaster. After repeated use, the Quick Square aluminiun right angle piece can get wear marks. I use the HDI to make sure the aluminium piece is still accurate. Also, Home Depot and Lowes sell aluminium angle for relatively cheap prices and you can cut your own replacement pieces and simple super glue or hot glue a magnet in the middle and you have a new fresh angle piece. I find the HDI takes too much time when doing a lot of skates. But my routine is to check the blade at the front and back after sharpening, with the Quick Square. Usually if the edges are square at the front and the back of the blade, they are square in the middle. I have seen where only checking for square edges in the middle of the blade will not reveal "unsquare edges" at the front and even the back of a sharpened blade. Generally when I sharpen and try for perfect "squareness", when the blade at the front is being sharpened and the edge is lower at the bottom edge in the holder, I lower the holder on that side and bring the blade down relative to the grinding wheel and "square" it up. I hope this helps. Technical writing to solve problems is difficult, especially when trying not to confuse people even more.

I have found that the Blackstone holders adjust up/down about one thousandth of an inch for every 6 clicks you turn the adjustment dial. Generally, if I find that a skate I am sharpening is hitting too low on the right side of the blade by one thousandth of an inch I simply adjust the holder on the right front dial by turning it 6 clicks down, to lower the blade as against the grinding wheel. The adjustment dial in the front right of the holder in this example is what I would adjust, not the pitch dial.

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

squashguy, or anyone else that understands the mechanics of these things, I realize that the pitch knob or dial must be adjusted to have the holder "close" to being square, but as I mentioned, once the holder is dialed in, the front two knobs or dials on the "Tri-Lie" or three way adjustable holder is much more easily adjustable in small increments than a Wissota or E-Z Sharp type holder. I have used the single knob adjustable holders you are referring to, and they offer no adjustment to correct a change in height of a skate from left to right along the entire length of the blade. In other words, if I sharpen a skate and find the left or right end of the skate blade is off, not square to the other end, they offer no adjustment. But I am still curious if I was taught correctly, that once the skate holder is dialed in, the adjustment of the front two knobs or dials are actually adjusting pitch and height relative to the grinding wheel. At first I thought that the holder should be adjusted to hit the center of the grinding wheel. If it hit the center of the grinding wheel, then the edges must be even, I thought. However, I learned when I bought my first BladeMaster machine that the height of the grinding wheel relative to the center of the cam/diamond dresser were not always going to be in the center of the grinding wheel. BladeMaster explained to me that there are variances in the relative heights of one grinding wheel to another, shims can be used etc, but that I should be centering my skate holder to the center of the dressing put on the wheel, not just to the center of the wheel itself. It was my understanding that the BS FBV worked the same way. That what is important is finding the center of the FBV dressing on the wheel, which might not be exactly on the center of the grinding wheel, and therefore it was necessary to make adjustments with the front two knobs or dials until you find the center of the FBV on your grinding wheel, and then you make adjustments to the left and right front knobs or dials until the edges were square to each other along the entire length of the blade. I hope this is not confusing anyone, but after reading your earlier post I am just curious if I am missing something in how these machines and their holders are supposed to be set up. I have now done well over 1000 skates with FBV on an X02 using the method I described above and I have only had to make slight adjustments from skate to skate, usually because of the steel being from different manufacturers. The adjustments I have had to make were slight, i.e., only about one to two thousandths of an inch variance, but I like to try for perfect alignment on every skate. Thanks for your reply in advance.

GSH13, Please post the pictures, I got lost trying to follow the number of dials and what they do. Thanks in advance for the pictures, I am sure it will clear up my curiosity. Also, squashguy, I am curious how you understand there to be even edges when checked for square and that the FBV is uneven. As I understood it, if the edges are even, square to one another, then the FBV is perfectly centered. I have done skates for a number of years on other machines and have done many pairs of BS FBV and I cannot seem to grasp the concept of even or square edges and an uneven or "unsquare" FBV. Because of the nature and design of the three way angle adjustment on the holder, I had it explained to me many posts ago by SAK and others, that if the edges were square to one another, then the FBV was centered. Even with the standard ROH, you can adjust the holder to square the edges by adjusting pitch with the two front dials. After getting the holder dialed in, if the edges are uneven, I can raise or lower the holder by adjusting the two front dials, thereby correcting any difference in "pitch". I have found in my experiance with the BS X02 holder and the Tri-lie holder that making adjustments to the front two dials will correct unveven edges. For example, when using a skate square guage, if the grinding wheel is hitting the edges too low across the length of the blade, i.e., the holder is adjusted too high to the face of the grinding wheel, by one thousandths of an inch, I can adjust the holder by dialing "down" the front two dials 6 clicks each. With my holders, it is approximately 6 clicks for every one thousnadth of an inch adjustment. I maybe doing this wrong if square edges does not mean a square FBV, please elaborate more. Thanks.

Jimmy, the following web page for Blackstone shows a competitor(BM) machine can do FBV for $1700.00 including the spinners for all currently available spinners. http://www.blackstonesport.com/product_det...?product_id=186

Have you checked to make sure the spinner is seated properly and is not resting on any debris, such as carbon or wheel grit? Also, if you are basing the square edges exclusively on the bat guage, are you sure it is sitting properly on the skates and is not tilted improperly? Finally, which edge while you are sharpening with the skate in the holder is the one that appears "off", the top edge or the bottom edge as the skate sits in the holder?

I've owned EZ-Sharp, Blademaster and now The X02 and I have had to re-dress the wheel each time it was changed. There is no reasonable way to create an arbor and grinding wheel and have them be 100% true "out of the box". As to the holder, you need to understand that you paid $900.00 or $1500.00 for the X01 or X02 and they tried to keep the cost down and affordable. If there are issues with the machine, I have always been able to get help and questions/issues resolved talking to Steve W. I happen to think the Blademaster holder that comes standard is crap, and I use a slightly modified ICON holder ($600.00) with the Blademaster portable. I welcomed the fact that Blackstone is making a Tri-Lie holder available as an option for the X02. Yes it costs more $, no you don't have to have it, BUT, I don't sharpen skates because I have to, and I have always sought to do the best job possible on any skates I sharpen. By the way, I sharpen skates for my kids teams, friends, etc., and have done over 500 pair on the X02 since December 2008. I am sure the machine was never intended to do that much work so quickly, but I have had no problems. The only problem is there are not enough other sources around here doing FBV and I keep getting new friends of friends who know somebody who said I had the FBV, and could I please do there skates. You see, I don't charge any of the people I sharpen skates for, because they have to play for one of the kids three teams, or be a good friend. I bought this machine not to make money on it, but to do the best sharpening. I have tried the rest and the X02 is simply the best for the price and the reasonable expectations of a team sharpener, as is the X01 for a family sharpener. If you want a much better fit and finish, the price starts much higher for all other machines. I have had to change the grinding wheel on my machine several times, and have had to dress the wheel each time to true it up. Same for the other manufactures though.

Budro, There were a few posts earlier about this. Experience is a big help. Make sure that you are consistent each time with the holder, hand pressure, clamping position, etc, and make sure that there is nothing dirt, etc on the bottom of the felt on the holder. It is best to get the holder "dialed in" by using the two front dials. My experience using a square edge tool is that the front dials can be clicked 6 times to make up a one thousanths of an inch change in height of the edges. good luck. It gets much easier with more experience.

Heard today that Blackstone is going to have a NEW TRI-LIE holder for the X02. They will be selling a holder similar to the TRI-LIE but set for the height of the X02 machine. This should give a more refined finish to the edge on the final pass.

PMSPAUL Most of the kids like the FBV 90/75 and a few liked the "bite" of the FBV 100/75. Some of the coaches have gone back and forth between std. ROH 5/8 and FBV 90/75. But none of the kids have asked to go back from FBV to std ROH. With respect to the holder, I have a Maximum Edge Tri-lie holder that I use for another machine and I almost never use the front "pitch" knob. On the Blackstone tri-lie holder, I set up the holder and only make changes with the front two knobs. I think it works good for me to keep track of the number of clicks up/down necessary to make the change to the squareness of the blade, i.e. if the guage shows an edge high or low by .001 then keep track of the number of clicks up or down to correct for that deviation in edge height. Your final question, no I do not move all three knobs even to move the entire blade up or down. I simply adjust the front two knobs equally up or down to correct the deviation from being square. Hope this helps.

PMSPAUL I too have a similar background sharpening skates, different machines, holders etc. I have used my X02 to do several hundred pairs of skates for 2 PeeWee teams and a High School team. I had originally used 5/8",1/2" ROH, and FBV 90/75 and 100/75. I was changing the spinners from one to the other and redressing the wheel alot. I now have a seperate wheel for each spinner(the wheels last longer now). I have never experienced a problem with the "pitch" switching from one ROH Spinner to FBV Spinner etc. When I first received the machine, I spent about a half hour setting up the holder. Once set up, I only check for changes to the edge for squareness. If the edge's are square with the FBV 90/75 or 100/75 then you are good to go. Occassionaly when I find the edge of a pair of skates not square, I redress the wheel and it is usually good to go. I have no complaints from any players, and I aim for perfection and will settle for being with in .001 of an inch on the squareness of the edges. I hope this helps answer your questions.