colins

I sharpen Step Blacksteel with 1/2" on my Sparx and there's zero issues. Also it measures the same both ways on my Sparx Edgechecker. I have regular Step Steel as well, and it's the same both ways. Polished CCM Hyperglide runners I found had an issue with uneven sidewalls, leading to different readings front to back than back to front. Sparx has a note about steel with treated sidewalls in their manual for the Edgechecker, so it's a not uncommon thing to run into. No experience with LS5 personally. colins

Yes - please send me the details. I saw the greatsaves one, only thing I noted was that they seem to be made to use at the top 3 eyelets, and if I was making my own I think I'd want to go one lower and use a curved or 'L' shaped design so that they can be used on eyelets 3/4/5. My son never laces eyelet 1 and I don't think there's any issue with bite up at eyelet 2, the pressure is around eyelets 4 and 5 on his Tacks. colins

Anyone have a list of the best sources for option 6, Eyelet extenders? colins

How's the pencil test look on the boot you are in now? I imagine the power skating with Laura had you in positions you were not used to during your previous times on the ice. The amount of time where you had your knees out over your toes putting pressure on that position of your foot likely triggered the tendon stress/damage. The usual advice is ice it, use pads, lace outside in, don't use waxed laces, wide soft laces (Howie's are great) to disperse the pressure. But if you're failing the pencil test - your arch is probably too high in the boot you're wearing, and the best advice might be to find a pair of skates that gets your foot deeper to avoid the pressure you're running into when lacing that area. colins

Update - July offseason and my son just participated in an intense 5 day camp that had multiple on ice sessions per day. One of the replacement Blademaster eyelets failed - but luckily, the front washer broke loose, but the barrel and inside washer held up. So it did not pull through the facing to cause a rip. I inspected the eyelets - corrosion of the brass Blademaster eyelets has set in pretty good and I'm going to do a complete replacement. So from a timeline POV - the replacements lasted from January 3rd 2019 until July 10th. 7 months vs. the 3 months that the stock CCM eyelets lasted. And in those 7 months he was on the ice about twice the frequency of the original 3 months when the CCM eyelets failed. Based on my experience then, I would say that the Blademaster brass eyelets hold up about 3X longer under the same use conditions compared to the stamped CCM eyelets. I think he's a good candidate for injected eyelets! But he fits in CCM better than Bauer, so that's a problem until CCM releases a skate that uses injected eyelets like Bauer's. colins

Where are you skating? Have you factored in whether any change in temperature has caused the ice you're skating on to be noticeably softer this time of year than when you last skated? If the ice could be softer than before, try going up to 9/16 or 5/8 and see how it feels. colins

There's no adjustment called tension, but moving the skate blade up or down in the clamping mechanism or adjusting the wheel height up or down both affect the tension on the wheel when it contacts the blade (Hooke's Law - the amount of stretch on the spring which applies force on the wheel/blade changes). That said, on the Sparx you don't really want to apply more pressure than necessary as you'll cause the wheel to chatter or drag on the blade and you won't get a perfectly smooth mirror finish pass. As I've stated before, for very tall new LS3/4 or Step I prefer to use the goalie risers so I don't have to lower the wheel too much and I find that allows both a high contact point on the toe and a nice light pressure on the blade for a perfectly smooth pass. The Sparx seems to be dialed in from the factory for "standard" height steel, and is easily adjustable to handle well worn steel. But I find new "tall" steel to work best with the goalie risers installed. YMMV colins

Yes, I could use the height adjustment knob, but the spring tension and the sacrifice you make for toe/heel coverage - I find tall steel is easier to dial in with the risers in place. Using the risers vs. using the height adjustment knob are not equivalent, because of the spring tension. I only have StepSteel Black, CCM +2mm and LS3 in my house at the moment so I just keep the risers in all the time unless I'm sharpening someone else's skates that have worn or "not tall" steel. colins

They are heavy but also sturdy, the plastic casing is strictly for cosmetics as explained in one of Sparx's videos that covered the development of the unit. The glass viewing door is probably the main weak spot in terms of something that may get busted if you toss the unit around. In the travel case it is nice and secure. Sparx published this video of them testing the cases when they first got them: colins

I use the risers for tall steel. The machine was designed and calibrated for the large majority of steel that existed before the recent LS4, CCM +2mm, StepSteel taller steel trend. I just leave the risers in and find I have no issues with heel/toe or getting that sweet spot for pressure on the blade that way. colins

I don't recall seeing the promotional material that claimed pro shop professionals suck. The Sparx advantage is consistency, and for a very large portion of the average consumer base in need of skate sharpening service, consistency is hard to achieve. As is convenience. That was the Sparx value proposition. I can see how that could be seen as a threat to the traditional established pro shop model, with heavy investments in equipment, processes and skills developed over decades. But I still don't see then how Sparx would have gained any traction in the pro shop market during the initial launch of the product. For the first year or two, even when I first had my machine, most established pro shop commentary was skeptical trending towards negative towards the company and the product. It took a mountain of evidence and happy customers to overcome that. It's taken 3 years to establish the credibility they have now, and from my perspective at least - I don't buy into the idea that pro shops would have jumped on board and helped shape the product had Sparx just approached them early in the cycle to get them on board. Just my personal opinion oldtrainerguy28, and I'm strictly speaking to their business model, not the value that pros like yourself can or could have added to the product. But better late than never - and I'm just glad the path they chose was successful in bringing this to market, with a healthy business model that allows them to continue to support and grow the product. colins

It's a logical place to take it to the next level. But if they had started with that business model, where's the money coming from to create yet-another-skate-sharpener to compete with the Blademasters and Blackstones of the world? It was the folks that put money up for the kickstarter that believed in the concept enough to bring a consumer level skate sharpener to the market. I don't disagree with your points, but it's a chicken vs. egg thing - the Sparx wouldn't exist today had it not been a consumer focused model that got funded by home users. colins

I've never seen a PS100, but other than the extra filtration that allows Sparx to sell/support the cross grind rings on it (and not on the consumer ES100), there's also two other key differences listed on Sparx's website: Consumer Grade Safety Features (ES100) Unlimited Cycle Warranty & Service Plans (PS100) So if you want warranty on the machine to cover >1000 sharpenings per year you'd want to go with the PS100. Then again, if you'll have kids and parents potentially using the machine themselves, it sounds like he safety features on the ES100 would be a safer choice. Again, not having seen the PS100 I don't know what specific differences in safety features it has, but it may have modified firmware that has less lockout situations to make it more efficient to use in a commercial setup. If Russ doesn't chime in you would probably want to contact their sales and verify exactly what those differences are just to be sure you're making the best choice. colins

Also in on the Kickstarter - at $549 USD. Mine shipped May 26th 2016. Been using it multiple times a week since then with no issues. colins

2-3 clicks on a 1/2" Ring will adjust the edge height by .001" which is about half a line on the Sparx edge checker. 6 clicks would be a full line difference. You should make adjustments in 2-3 click increments, then do at least 4-6 passes to ensure a full new hollow is created before measuring and making further adjustment. Or, use a sharpie, and mark the entire hollow and do enough cycles to completely remove the marker before measuring and readjusting. colins

I've thought about this a bit. We know CCM has some excellent resources in their skate department, so it's not a case of them not recognizing the issue. They could correct it easily if they wanted to and avoid the warranty and customer complaints that come from customers like me. But we must be low percentage enough that it's not a business decision they've cared to make. The reason for them continuing to use the stamped, less durable eyelets must be one or a combination of: 1. Marketing guys wanting the CCM logo on the eyelet. Sounds lame, but branding is obviously a big deal in this industry. 2. Cost (both material cost of the eyelets and the tooling to install them?) & weight savings. Probably a few pennies and a couple grams per boot, but it's a factor in a profit driven business. 3. Planned obsolescence. The days of a pair of skates lasting a player (who plays frequently) 5+ years are behind us. They make new models every year, and they'd like for players to have a reason to buy the new models every year. Pay the premium for a custom build and you can spend your way around this and request all brass eyelets from the factory. But not for the retail price point. colins

My son got home from the end of his Jr. A season tonight. Unpacked all the gear and had a look at the skates. For some more context, he played 24 games during Jan/Feb/Mar, plus practicing nearly every day. So spitballing, I'd estimate 80+ hours of use in the 3 months since my last update. The eyelets are holding up great - here's the pics: Overall, I'm extremely pleased with how this has worked out. While there's a bit of structural damage from pucks and bangs, none of the eyelets have moved or appear to be at any risk of pulling out. And now that I've replaced them once, I can easily drill a damaged one out to replace it with a new one. It seems the material in the Blademaster eyelets are much more immune to his sweat, but there is still an element of corrosion at play as you can see in this closeup: But... it's more just on the surface and not affecting the strength of the material yet. I was able to scrape the salty like corrosion/tarnish off with a screwdriver. I bought him a new pair of FT385's as backup - they haven't been used yet, but before they are, I'm going to drill out all the stamped CCM black eyelets and put in the brass Blademaster ones. I've seen pictures of custom FT1's with all brass eyelets (same as they use on the retail skates in the top 2 eyelets and the bottom most eyelet). If we ever spring for a full custom pair, I'd definitely go with that option from the factory. Overall these skates (Jetspeed Control - a SMU based on the FT380 with FT390 and FT1 upgrades) are still in excellent shape. Boot, tendon guards and holders are holding up very well. The rivets are starting to rust a bit , but that's expected with near daily use. colins

He doesn't even mention eyelets options, yet his skates have all brass eyelets not the stamped logo ones. colins

Sorry, my mistake - the case you need is the Pelican 1650. I didn't lookup the model number that the previous poster quoted, but I just double checked mine and it's a 1650. I had previously seen this confirmed as the exact model Sparx sells, but theirs has the custom foam inserts so you don't have to make your own. colins

Certification? The VR24 is HECC certified for players at the Junior and above level. colins

I have a 1510 1650 for mine but I didn't try using the shipping foam. Pelican makes pick-and-pluck foam for the 1510 1650 and other models - making it very easy to customize a perfect fix for your Sparx. colins

They did happen to announce it on Feb. 7th on their Facebook page. Glad to see them finally make it overseas. colins

Yeah the S190 shell is very similar to the CCM Super Tacks shell - velcro and extra beltline protection. The classic Supreme / Nexus shell that you can buy stand-alone is a more simple design, and the couple of team shells I have based on it are the type I was referring. No extra protection and no velcro. Very simple and very good at the same time, great shape/contour and fit and very comfortable. colins

It's the reverse actually, the CCM shell that comes with the Super Tacks girdle has velcro. It also has additional padding around the hip/kidney area. The Bauer has no extra padding and no velcro and the belt is right at the top of the shell, tightening just below the kidney/hip pads on the girdle (or pants if you put it over regular pants). You could stitch some velcro to the Bauer's without a lot of work though. The Bauers just seem to disappear when wearing them - once the belt is tightened you just forget they are there. Which I think is why I prefer them to any other shell I've worn. colins

The Bauer (Currently Nexus) shells are very well made and well shaped, I've found. A lot of other shells don't follow the contours of a girdle or pair of pants very well, and the zipped legs are great if you want a bit more space around the thigh.