colins

Do you have a good edge checker? The alignment tool is decent, but most users have found that even after using the alignment tool, a good edge checker is required to exactly dial the alignment in such that you get perfectly level edges. Once you get steel sharpened on the Sparx to a particular ring/hollow, it shouldn't take more than 2 or 3 cycles for a maintenance sharpening, I do that all the time. However if one of my kids brings home a teammates skates that were sharpened somewhere else are are very damaged, it takes 4 or more cycles before I'm satisfied to send them out the door. In either case, I always use my edge checker to verify I'm cutting perfectly level edges, and if I'm concerned about the hollow I'll use the marker test. colins

Its comments like that which leaves me scratching my head... again what kind of crazy conspiracy theory is that? I was on the Kickstarter with many others here, go re-read the Campaign and FAQ and updates from Russ and hopefully you'll see what kind of foolishness this looks like to those who got involved early. colins

The Sparx page has a table comparing the capabilities of the ES100 vs. PS100: https://www.sparxhockey.com/pages/commercial-homepage The units are essentially the same, with the PS100 having added external filtration, which Sparx determined was necessary for high volume use and for Cross Grinding. The rings are the same but the consumer rings are coded for the ES100 and the commercial rings (which are discounted) are coded for the PS100. I don't think any of this is news to you as you've figured that out from web sources and questions here already. The rest was about how to possibly use the cheaper ES100 unit with the discounted PS rings - this would obviously not be supported by Sparx and would requiring altering the ring or the unit. I was just suggesting that conversation be taken to a different thread specific to hacking the Sparx. Others including myself are no doubt interested in this, but it may be confusing for the average Joe coming here reading this thread who just wants to know if he should buy a Sparx to sharpen his kids' skates. Bottom line is if you want support from Sparx, Cross Grinding and discounted rings, do the math and see if the extra expense of the PS100 makes sense or not.

Or keep it and use it the same as you would a cross grind ring (ie: taking steel down to eliminate sidewall nicks or badly damaged edges). Or for cutting new steel which requires 8-10 passes. It'll help save the lifespan of your usual ring. colins

If lfc26 wants to continue to look at ways to hack the ES100 and/or PS100 or ES100 rings, perhaps that discussion belongs in a new thread? The theme so far seems to be "I've bought the cheaper unit but want all the advantages of the more expensive one" which is going to be a bit confusing for the average Joe looking for Sparx info in this thread.

Russ, the creator of the Sparx, is a member of the modsquad community here. The conspiracy theory you propose above seems like a bit of a stretch knowing how Sparx has approached their customers so far I would say? The X-Grind ring was not part of the initial launch of the product nor do I recall it being part of any contractual breach to the original Kickstarter participants. The X-Grind ring debuted on/around Nov. 13th 2016 (My Sparx shipped in July 2016) and the warning about the swarf issue and the need to change the air filter was emailed out to owners on Jan 29th 2017.

If you search this thread you'll find some previous comments from Sparx employees confirming RFID is being used to track the cycle counts on the ring itself by overwriting the serial number field. I'm not sure anyone has talked about or figured out how a PS grinding ring is detected vs. an ES ring.

The rings do 320 passes. Conversion of passes to 'sharpened pairs' is arbitrary and has been stated different ways on occasion since the Sparx first shipped. I keep my steel well maintained and 'sharpen' my skates every 3 or 4 hours of use with a couple passes per skate, which I judge mostly by the absence of nicks in the steel sidewalls, and by a uniformly smooth pitch/sound for the full pass back and forth the runner. Unless my blades have suffered trauma from hitting a post or stepping on debris or metal around the dressing rooms/benches, I find two passes every 3-4 hours of icetime means perfect edges all the time. It's quite liberating to play like that, and I think most new Sparx users quickly realize constant 'touch up' maintenance like this trumps letting your blades get bad enough to require 4 or 6 or more passes. So based on my metrics of two passes per skate I can "sharpen 80 pairs" of my own skates per ring. But on the flip side, I do sharpen way more frequently now that I would if I still had to drive to a shop and pay $8-$10 per sharpening. colins

It's no doubt a marketing decision. Two different markets with different volumes and base requirements, so they are segmenting down those lines. Has pretty much zero to do with the technology itself. The thing that's interesting in your situation is that Monkey Sports in europe is exposing this via their online store. For N.A. customers who deal with Sparx directly, you don't get to see the Commercial / PS100 side for Grinding Rings unless you first buy a PS100 unit. The PS rings and pricing are not viewable on sparxhockey.com as far as I can see. It probably wouldn't be "too hard" for someone to figure out how to hack/modify an ES100 to use PS100 rings. But of course doing so would throw out any chance of having support or warranty. Bottom line is if you want support and you want to use PS rings, you need to buy a PS unit.

I don't think Sparx sells any Cross Grind rings for the consumer ES100 model in North America. They pulled that product from the market early in it's life after issues reported from the amount of swarf it created and the resulting fire hazard I believe.

100% agree with everything darkhors wrote here, my experience has been pretty much identical. colins

The ring should not be dragging, stuttering or stalling at any point across the length of the profile. If it is, there's too much pressure/drag being encountered. Use the risers and adjust the height until you get a nice smooth consistent sound (pitch) from the ring the entire length of the profile. I've been sharpening that way with my Sparx for three years now, my profiles are perfect and so are my Step and LS3/LS5 steel.

The Sparx was calibrated for the majority of steel in the wild when it was created a few years ago. And not just for new steel either, for the average partially worn cheap short steel in 90% of skates out there. It's pretty adjustable to any situation with the height adjustments it provides. That said, the answer for tall (LS3/4/Step/etc) brand new steel is simple - use the risers. I don't know why some folks seem to have an aversion for using the risers. Use the risers, or move the skates up higher in the clamp (don't bottom them out on the holders) and you make tall steel look just like 'average' steel to the machine and your problems go away. colins

Both work. Choose which one suits you best. colins

The P40 is short. And the P14 is short. But I didn't notice any difference in length between the P88 and P30. I would put all of P88/P30/P92/P19/P90T in the "medium" length category as far as overall blade length goes.

Can we make this a weekly game on modsquadhockey? Someone posts 3 curves and it's left to the viewer to correctly guess which is which? lol colins

I would have guessed the same as boo10 to be honest. To my eye the P28 retail is on the right. So switch the other two, P90T on the Left and P28 pro stock middle? Hard to see in the 3 pic because of the shadows cast on each other. If that's right then he bottom pic is missing the P28 retail. I'm more convinced than ever that a bunch of sticks in the wild have no P90T label from the factory but are being sold and referred to as P90T, therefore anytime some is talking about a P90T it could be one of a variety of similar but not identical curves. Is the P28 pro stock labelled as a P28? Or was it just sold as that?

1) Daoust 501 2) Bauer Supreme 100 3) CCM Jetspeed

To summarize: I know the P30 is very much like a P88 until you get to the toe, then the toe kinks and is open, unlike the P88. I *think* the P90T is also very much like a P88 until you get to the toe, it also kinks and is open, like the P30 and unlike the P88. If anyone has both a P30 and a P90T in their hands and can compare and provide pics side by side I'd be interested particularly in any lie difference and the square or roundness of the toe between the two. colins

@Ryan91330 Here’s a pic of a P90T ordered from hockeystickman that my son is using. It’s a CCM pro stock from the WHL. Coming from a P88, he says he loves this curve.

No but I based it on this document from CCM, which again is somewhat contradictory (they describe the P90T as inbetween P28 and P29) but the pic they use from hockeystickman is identical to what I see as the P30, flat rocker, mid curve just like a P88, toe kink. This document was written a couple years ago before CCM launched the P30 at retail, so I'm just putting 2+2 together. I have seen and compared a retail P30 in store to a P88 and P92 so I know what the P30 is like 100%, but I haven't yet got my hands on a P90T. The P30's I've seen look just like the pic below (always hard to tell with only one angle shown).

P30 is the retail version. P90T the pro stock. It's a CCM thing - P29 is retail, P90 is a pro stock P92 clone. P88 is retail, P80 is pro stock. Makes no sense to me, but that's how they do it. Big problem as well with the pro stock P90T - if you search sideline swap for P90T curves, and have a look at the pics, it seems to me a lot of sellers are selling pro stock sticks that have no curve labelled on the stick as "P90T" , I assume because it looks similar to them. There's a wide variety of "P90T" curves for sale there that don't look the same in the pics to me, a lot of them not labelled on the shaft as P90T. Buyer beware. The most complete CCM chart I've seen is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g0UwtZ8BHbBI10cG9z4YMXvS0UmP28u4/view Notice there is no P90T listed - I'm not sure if CCM actually labels any sticks as P90T, maybe it's just Bauer using that code on pro stock. The P30 is described as "Very close to P88 but different toe (kink and toe)". colins

On hockeystickman.com the P90TM is described as the Max Height version of the P90T pro-Benn aka P30 curve. Which makes perfect sense. The P90T Benn is like a P88 in lie and closed nature from the heel to the mid curve. Then it adds an open toe kink, which is where it can somewhat be compared to a P29/P92/P28, which have more toe than the P88 does. If you love stickhandling/backhands and passes with a P88 but wish you had an open toe/pocket to work with for toe drags and shots where you pull the pull towards your body and snap it, the P30/P90T might be for you. But - if you like the high lie and curved rocker of the P29/P92, it's probably not for you. The real confusion comes in when you add the P90 and P90M to the mix. These are CCM specific pro-stock P92 and P92M max height clones. Real clones, not P29 "almost the same" curves. Like I said, curve names have really gone to shit. Having different pro stock curve names vs. retail curve names of the same pattern serves what purpose? It just makes everything more confusing. Burn it all to the ground and start over CCM/Bauer/Warrior/True/etc. colins

I haven't seen a P90TM but I assume it's the Max height version of the P90T. Not to be confused with the P90, which is a CCM P92 clone, sometimes referred to as the pro stock version of the P29. Curve names were bad enough when people referred to them by player names (which kept switching between vendors), but I'm not sure but it's getting worse now - I mean I guess the rationale behind the P90T name was 'T' meant 'Toe', BUT the P90T/P30 is more based on a P88 with a toe kink (in terms of lie and closed-ness) than a P90/P29. Good grief CCM! colins

This is where the numbers are pretty much meaningless. Bauer's P88 is a lie 6 but so is the default P92 but their lies are not even close to being the same. For comparison, in my experience, the P90T and P30 have a lie very similar if not identical to the P88. If you line up their rockers the shafts will be almost directly on top of each other. A P92 (the default 'lie 6' P92, not the pro stock P92 Lie 5) compared to the P88/P90T/P30 will be higher/taller. colins