colins

I tried my best but couldn't get a clean shot from my iphone with the lighting to show the hollow like that. My finish is similar, but you seem to have some distinct lines running the length of the runner there that I don't see on mine. Is it a new ring? colins

There is no adjustment labelled pressure. But since the ring deflects on the blade via a spring, the amount of deflection and force on the spring determines the pressure of the ring on the blade. So if you move the ring up to hit very high on the toe of the steel, the spring is forced to stretch more on the way down the radius of the toe and that creates more pressure (drag) on the steel down the length of the runner. If you adjust the ring too high, the amount of drag will actually cause the machine to cut off. There's a point where you aren't so high that it cuts out, but you're still too high in that a smooth continuous pass doesn't occur, instead the ring chatters and changes pitch (sound) along the length of the runner. Almost like it's skipping or dragging. You have two ways to influence the ring contact point on the toe of the runner and therefore the amount of spring deflection - move the runner/boot up vertically in the clamp (manually or via the risers), or adjust the ring up or down via the ring height adjustment. colins

The one thing I'd say about burrs and the finish - if you adjust the height for less pressure of the ring on the blade you get better results from the Sparx, based on my experience. If you try to start too high on the toe/heel it can end up riding the blade with too much pressure and dragging/struggling a little (you can tell by the pitch of the sound). Then you end up with more burrs and less clean of a finish. The machine won't cut out on you, and you'll still get an acceptable sharpen, just not as clean. colins

Amazon, any sports store with gym gear, Walmart even... what you're looking for are 'resistance training bands' or 'resistance loop bands'. Good luck! The exercises really seemed to work miracles in our case. colins

I do have Blademaster eyelets but the ones I have are too long for this purpose. For the extenders I used eyelets (#0 I believe?) that came with the press I bought (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07FSFWL67?ref=em_1p_1_im&ref_=pe_8564860_421518460), they are classified as grommets and come with washers and look like these: http://www.siska.com/grommets.html I think I found the source for long Blademaster eyelets as well - Industrial Eyelets from Siska seems to be the original source - the '64' and '65' etc lengths appear to come from this chart: http://www.siska.com/ind_eye.html Bad news is they only sell to companies, and the only resellers I have found other than Blademaster sell in batches of 1000 which is a bit pricey for the DIY folks. I'd love to find a small batch (couple hundred) source for various length stainless steel eyelets the same diameter as these, along with stainless washers. If anyone can provide a URL please do! I didn't try calling Siska to ask for suggestions but that might be another avenue to explore. colins

The CCM eyelets are thin aluminum - putting the visor hardware in them and cranking them down will definitely take some paint off them and maybe dent/deform them a little if you make it tight. I wouldn't worry about it too much - especially if your skates aren't CCM. colins

I find the CCM Super Tacks and 7092 run almost a full size smaller than the equivalent Bauer Nexus pants (for comparison). E.G. Someone who's comfortable in a Medium Nexus pant will probably need a Large in the CCM girdle. That's been my experience - I can comfortably wear the nexus Medium (I'm about a 32" waist) but the Medium in a SuperTacks girdle is a bit too snug around the waist, and despite the adjustments available, the girdle doesn't "close over" enough in the middle to provide proper protection. Move up to the Large in the girdle, and everything is fine. colins

After just a few days doing the exercises in the video posted a few posts back, my son's pain is gone. He can't believe it went from intense pain to feeling normal in such a short time. To be on the safe side, he's still off the ice for a couple of more days. So I went to work on verion 2.0 of the eyelet extenders. Going with Vet88's advice, this version uses belt leather (literally cut up an old belt to make these). And instead of using hardware, which was going to deform his eyelets, again to Vet88's instructions and I'm just tying them off with some skate laces. I cut up and used the thin wax laces that started us down this path in the first place. I think these are going to work great. They raise the lace pressure point by a few mm at least - he won't get the pressure across his tendon with this setup. Find out this week when he tests out the setup. colins

It's leather I cut from a purse my wife donated to the cause. It's doubled over to add thickness. When I pull on the eyelets it has a bit of stretch to it but it feels sturdy. My guess is it's going to be OK for testing, but I'll need some thicker material like Vet88 recommended - belt leather which is 4 or 5mm in thickness. The eyelets are grommets that came with the press I bought off Amazon for about $80 CDN. Very handy to be able to set your own eyelets. I also have Blademaster eyelets and washers but they have long barrels and wouldn't work for this thickness of material. Haven't tried them yet - he's staying off the ice until the problem is 100% healed. He started doing these exercises which another modsquad user posted before - has anyone else had success with this healing their lacebite soreness sooner? colins

Based on Vet88's advice and the comments on this thread, I mocked up some test eyelets extenders for my son's Tacks. Going to give them a try tomorrow. If they work I may get some thicker belt leather and make a more permanent solution. colins

That's all the pencil test is. And I think you've found the crux of your issue. Your boot is not deep enough for the height of your arches or volume of your foot. Lace extenders are a work around, if you really love how your skate fits (other than the depth issue) and they take the pressure off, you could consider them permanent. If you can't find a retail skate that solves the depth problem while still fitting your foot everywhere else, the next option is to go for a full custom, with extended facing if necessary to add the volume you need. Gets expensive! 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