pmspaul

The 100/50 mini spinner arrived today from Blackstone. I emailed Steve to see when the 100/50 would become available on Monday, I have it at my house on Friday. That's service. I look forward to trying it this weekend.

I have my son and 3 of his mini-mite team mates skating on the 90/75. I didn't tell any of the kids anything about the sharpening being different. Myself and the other coaches notice them carrying more speed during drills and games. These kids are 4,5 and 6. When I put my 5 yr old on it, he jumped on the ice, wiped out, skated a lap, came back and said his skates felt more slippery. Steve is fantastic to deal with. Oh and FYI, Steve told me the 100/50 mini spinner is shipping now. Mine should be on it's way here now. I expect this to be the bite I'm looking for. Can't wait to try it. -Paul

I don't know where any of us suggested we did or would do this as a business. I specifically said I sharpened for my family and some of the kids I coach. I also help out some friends. Getting a few bucks to recover some of my costs involved does not constitute operating a business. I don't need "permission" from the government (or LHS) to grind steel in my basement and I sure as hell wouldn't invite them into my life over a matter of $100. I went to a friends house for the superbowl. We all chipped in money to cover beer and food for the party. I guess he didn't realize he needed the health department to serve food and a liquor license as well.

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.

I put Denison University's (club) coach on a 90/75 for his monday night practice. He gave me 3 of his players skates to get the FBV for their next home game thursday. He feels there will be more players going to it after these 3 debut it.

Ok, I've got a pair of off brand chinese made skates a mite dad asked me to sharpen up with the FBV. They have a runner with a width of 0.095". This is about 20 thousandths shy of normal width, yes? Well, I sharpened them with a 90/75 FBV, there seems to be a proper edge on it, at least the thumbnail says it's sharp. Edges are even height-wise. Before I give these back, I was looking for opinions as to whether this will be a substantial enough edge. A pair of older tacks I had to do next have a width of 0.110", so a 100/75 would leave 0.010" additional width on the runner to form the V edges, which has proven to work just fine. On a blade that is 0.095" wide, the 90/75 only leaves 0.005" of width on the runner for the v edges. Is this enough? And if it is, wouldn't this actually leave you with an FBV that would feel more like the 100/75 (or possibly even more bite) than the 90/75? Just curious as to anyone's thoughts...

Chadd, Do you know if there are plans to do so? Thanks. Bob I would expect them to be available eventually. As per Steve at Blackstone 2 weeks ago, they are planning on releasing the other FBV's(100/50 & 90/50) in the mini-spinners to fit the X01/X02. The exact timeline is up in the air. Oh, and like Spreedizzle said, Steve is fantastic to deal with. He treated me like I was buying the most expensive unit they sold. First class all the way.

goodguy, I just purchased the X02 to replace my old sharpener at home after trying the FBV. I can tell you the X02 is a fantastic machine that yielded excellent results quickly and easily for me. My experience so far has been that everyone who tries it, loves it. Then they start talking about it and more people want to try it out. The FBV has doubled the amount of skates I used to sharpen in only a few weeks since I got it. So if you do a good job and want to sharpen more skates, there will probably be people wanting you to do theirs. The 100/75 has more bite than the 90/75 (IMO alot more). I've been starting everyone on the 90/75, most of them coming from 1/2" ROH and they all seem happy with the bite. I myself started on the 100/75 and switched to the 90/75 which I like better right now. I'd like to try the 100/50 (which is inbetween the two) when it's available in the mini-spinner. Hope this helps.

At first, Bob didn't tell me that the "1/2" FBV" I requested was a 100/75. Maybe he assumed since it's a new technology he must try to equate it to a ROH people are familiar with. The numbers (100/75, 90/75) don't mean much to most people. When I explained my situation that I was going to get a new sharpener to do the FBV if I liked it, then he told me that his 1/2" FBV is equal to the 100/75. Maybe as the FBV gains popularity it'll be more important to make the customer aware of the numbers. I can say that when I've taken the time to ask him something, he's taken the time to answer me, and quickly too.

Bob just gave me a custom combo radius as well. 8/13 with a minor forward pitch and 100/75 FBV. I had no issues adjusting. I am a decent skater who already skated with the proper knee bend and posture. Does this mean it's wrong for me then, my answer is no. It just made my knee bend and stride require less effort and feel more natural, plus I got better turning without giving up stability. So maybe this is also a good setup for skaters who don't have good knee bend and posture. It says custom combination radius, not one of a kind combination radius. I am extremely happy with my profile. If the same profile works for you, and other people as well, then I'd say be happy and tell Bob job well done. Oh, and the FBV is fantastic. Good enough I bought the X02 so I could keep using it.

mckjim, That was all very helpful, thankyou. I want to try the 90/75, just for comparison, next time my skates need sharpening. Other than dings from other skates or objects, the 100/75 edges are holding up well after about 10 sessions of playing and coaching. The only reason I could see to going back to a ROH is if you can't find the right "bite" in the available FBV's. I love mine. Thanks again, -Paul

mckjim I like the idea of keeping a spinner and stone paired together for longevity. I've been skating on the 100/75 for a couple weeks now and love it. I will most likely be using the 2 fbv spinners the most. Which FBV do your teams like the most? All of the bantams I coach that had me do their skates wanted 1/2". To me the 100/75 is a little sharper than 1/2". I spent about a 1/2 hour setting up the holder as well. When mine came the pitch knob was loose, as in spinning freely w/o clicking. I wound up setting the pitch by placing a square on the tabletop and squaring against the front of the anvil plate. I don't know if this is correct, but it yielded good results on my first sharpening on 1/2" ROH. It sounds like I'm worrying about nothing. I've never used a holder with the pitch adjust before and was concerned since I had to set it up. Basically, you leave it alone unless you need to move the entire blade up or down on the wheel, then you would turn all 3 knobs the same, is this correct? Thanks, -Paul

Well I received my X02 today. It is quite a slick little machine. I only sharpen at home for family and friends (the FBV just might expand that), but the machine I've been using is probably 15-20 years old, so it was nice to use the new X02 that was easy to setup and sharpen with. I only setup and played with the standard 1/2" ROH, but I've got the 100/75 and 90/75 ready to go. I have a FBV question though: When you sharpen with the FBV, is the pitch of the holder more critical than with a standard ROH? I have this picture in my head of an angled bottom v instead of flat because the holder is pitched front or back and not perfectly square. I may be over-thinking this, it is getting late. Any input from those of you who have sharpened with the FBV will be greatly appreciated. And no, I'm not using the pitch knob to move the holder up and down instead of the 2 front adjusters. -Paul

I too just got runners from No-Icing. I asked for their '1/2" FBV' which Bob confirmed for me is the 100/75. I normally skated on 1/2" ROH, and I found the 100/75 to have a little extra bite over my old 1/2". I got some chatter from my left outside edge when stopping hard, but that's always been my weaker side. I plan to try the 90/75 in the near future and see which I like better. IMHO, at this point everyone is trying to assign an equivalent ROH "feel" to the new FBV's, but it is just a feel and a starting point. My feel was that the 100/75 felt more like a 7/16" - 3/8" than a 1/2" ROH. Except the glide was much better. Hope this helps, -Paul

I was able to try out new runners in my One90's from No-Icing today. I used them for coaching, and then an adult league game a few hours later. First, No-Icing's service was fantastic. I filled out the skater questionnaire on Tuesday evening, got my response from Bob Wednesday morning, placed my order that day and he had them here in Ohio on Saturday. I went with all of Bob's recommendations for the combination radius and pitch and had them sharpened with the 1/2" FBV. He set me up with an 8'/13' radius and minor forward pitch. I assumed there would be an adjustment period, but honestly, I hopped on the ice and everything just felt perfect for me. I really needed no adjustment for anything. I thought the pitch adjustment would throw me a little, but it just made the knee bend more natural. Now, for the FBV. I picked the 1/2", which I understand to be the 100/75, correct? It pretty much felt like my regular 1/2" in terms of bite. I definitely noticed more glide, but I can't really quantify it, other than to say I just kept going when I stopped striding. I was hoping I'd be able to say that it required less energy for the game, but we only had 7 guys show up, so I can't say for sure how much the FBV helped with fatigue tonight. What I can say I noticed the most is that I felt on top of the ice instead of digging into it when doing tight turns and crossovers. I'm not as light as I used to be, so I'm accustomed to that feeling of really digging in when I cut hard or turn tight. With the FBV, I have plenty of bite to hold the turn, but I had more speed and felt lighter on my skates when driving out of the turn. Now it looks like I'll have to replace my old (read: borderline antique) sharpener with one from Blackstone so I can keep skating on the FBV. Looks like it's X02 time. Oh darn. Thanks for reading, -Paul

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum. I was researching the FBV, and this is the best place to go for info on that. I needed to replace a badly bent and twisted runner on my One90's so I ordered a set of steel from Bob at No Icing. He's actually already finished and shipped the set with a custom combination radius and the 1/2" FBV, which I look forward to skating on this weekend. Assuming I like the new FBV as much as everyone else here, I was going to order a new sharpener from Blackstone, either the X-01 or X-02, so I could sharpen the FBV's. I've talked to Steve at Blackstone, and already have his advice, but now I'd like some feedback from those of you already using one of these machines. I have been sharpening with an old Fleming Gray sharpener for my family of four hockey players, and some players from the teams I coach and play on. Right now maybe 10 or so players total, I try to keep it quiet and limited to good friends, as I only do it because I know how and it's more convenient than traveling for sharpening. The point is, it's not that many pairs of skates per week, maybe 2-4. How are the portables (either model) performing for you guys? And more importantly, are you having more people want you to sharpen their skates because you can offer the FBV? I am leaning towards the X-02, but my wife (and wallet) lean towards the X-01. Thanks for the input, -Paul