How long can a sharpening take ?

[NuggyBuggy 0]

A ref I met highly recommended a sharpener in the outskirts of Toronto, whom he described as an artist with skates. I took mine there, didn't have anything else to do so I sat in the shop while the sharpener worked on a few pairs before mine. One pair, he must have taken 25 minutes, he kept grinding, checking up and down the blades with several levels (not sure if that's the right term), and repeating. he told me that the guy's blades were bent, and that was what was causing him the problem. In the end the owner was in a rush and the sharpener refused to take any money until the owner came back later to let him fix the problem.

When he got to mine, I asked him what sort of condition my blades were in. He said they were pretty good, but he still took 10 minutes to sharpen them, whereas my LHS takes 3 minutes or so usually. He spent a lot of time checking my blades as the sharpening went on. After it was finished the edges felt wickedly sharp.

I sent my brother back there today with my skates, and he said the sharpener said something was wonky with one of my blades, that maybe there was something wrong with the way I was skating. This surprised me since I had been skating on those same skates for a year in exactly the same way before I first saw him, and he told me at that point that they were fine, and since then I had only put in 8 hours. After about 20-25 minutes, he told my brother my skates were now perfect.

So my questions are,

1) how long COULD a good sharpening take ? and

2) Is there something that could happen in 8 hours that could be fixed with a lot of extra sharpening time ?

I guess I'm unclear as to what sort of problem with a blade could be fixed simply with more time on a grinder, and I'm wondering whether this guy is an extra conscientious artist whom I should be thrilled to have working on my skates, or whether he's taking more time than he needs to.

[Gongshow11 1]

me anywhere from 5-10 mins, depending who sharpened them last and how they are looking. in summer i might sharpen my skates once every 3 weeks, so they look like shit when i bring them in

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

I spend about 5-7 min PER SKATE.

[DarkStar50 679]

Hey Jimmy,

Have you ever spent 25 minutes on one pair of skates? I know I haven't. My partner can spend 25 minutes doing a hand finish on a competitive figure skate sharpening but on hockey skates? Something doesn't smell right.........

Roughly 10 / 12 minutes per pair taking my time, no problems to correct, getting a nice clean finish on the blade.

[logan 0]

I've spent at most 15 minutes on a pair. That's usually when there is no lineup and I take my time and get things perfect.

Unfortunately around the Toronto area, sharpening is all about getting traffic into your store, and people have come to expect 5 minute waits per pair of skates.

I'd say most guys take about 4-5 minutes on average. I've learned to ignore the impatient customers and average about 6 min. per pair, and normally run from 5-10 minutes per pair depending on the condition of the skates.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

That sounds about right. I have a system - I do the same amount of passes every time.

[Chadd 916]

If you have to level the edges, it can take longer. If you skate in a way that wears down one edge faster than another it can take longer than "usual" to sharpen them. Rarely does it take me more than 10 minutes.

[ultraman7k 0]

my lhs takes about 10 or 15 minutes, much better than the previous store that i went to...they completely grounded down my LS1 steel on my v12's.

[jimmy 194]

Hey Jimmy,

Have you ever spent 25 minutes on one pair of skates? I know I haven't. My partner can spend 25 minutes doing a hand finish on a competitive figure skate sharpening but on hockey skates? Something doesn't smell right.........

Roughly 10 / 12 minutes per pair taking my time, no problems to correct, getting a nice clean finish on the blade.

I only spend 25 minutes on new steel, or when someone brings a skate in they bought elsewhere and got the "2-minute" free sharpening that didn't even establish a hollow. Other than that there was one time I spent 30 minutes on a pair. Seems the steel width was 2.8 in some areas and 3.1 in others, so it was impossible to get a level edge. I use to measure width in one spot, and because of that, now I do front to back. Bad steel is harder to sharpen.

I would say if a sharpener knows what hollow is in there ( a regular customer who doesn't cheat and go elsewhere), that a good refresh can be done in 4-5 minutes. If the edges are severly damaged, or extremely worn down, or if changing hollow say from 3/8 to 5/8, the sharpening will take longer.

I have no problem with craftsmen taking their time. It sure beats the loosers that do 3 quick passes and don't even look at the skate when done.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

If you skate in a way that wears down one edge faster than another it can take longer than "usual" to sharpen them.

Would most people wear their inside edges down far faster than their outside ones ?

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Hey Jimmy,

Have you ever spent 25 minutes on one pair of skates? I know I haven't. My partner can spend 25 minutes doing a hand finish on a competitive figure skate sharpening but on hockey skates? Something doesn't smell right.........

...

I use to measure width in one spot, and because of that, now I do front to back. Bad steel is harder to sharpen.

I would say if a sharpener knows what hollow is in there ( a regular customer who doesn't cheat and go elsewhere), that a good refresh can be done in 4-5 minutes.

...

I have no problem with craftsmen taking their time. It sure beats the loosers that do 3 quick passes and don't even look at the skate when done.

I don't know whether I should be worried or not now. On one hand I too have no problem letting a craftsman do his work and take his time. I do know that he goes up and down the blade the whole length checking the level. He told me he views his job as entertainment and that he loves working on skates. He is clearly very conscientious, but is he competent ? Most of the sharpeners here seem to think 25 minutes is inordinately long. He DID do an initial sharpening, 8 hours of skating before he had to take 25 minutes, so he was refreshing his own work. Now granted maybe I did something to my blades after that first sharpening, but I'm left wondering about the "something doesn't smell right here" comment, and the observation that mine were not the only skates I've seen him spend a ton of time on, and I've only seen him do skates 4 times, and twice he was doing mine. Maybe I'll give the guy a few more tries and see what happens.

Now OT quick question here, is jumping over boards bad for your edges ? The rink I play in has very high boards and I am a smaller guy so sometimes I have to land a bit.

[jimmy 194]

Jumping over the boards can damage edges, especially if you have deep holllows, and have heavy weight. Also, if you have older Bauer steel, jumping can break them, or if your steel is loose, jumping can break them.

I wouldn't be concerned about the crafstman, unless he takes 25 minutes for every sharpening. Still, if he does a good job, whats the deal rather than the wait time.

[pldhockey4 0]

the guy at our rink takes about 15 minutes total. he does a really good job.

personally i would rather have a 25 minutes sharpening thats excellent then a 3 minute sharpening thats crappy.

[Jim A 4]

if you like the work he does, stick with it..

I'm just looking for someone that knows the diff between hollows...I ask for 5/8 and wind up with 1/2 or 9/16 most times...

[ktang 34]

If he takes a long time, would you be losing steel / blade life?

For me, as long as the hollow is right I can adjust. They seem to take 10-15 min at my LHS.

[jimmy 194]

If he takes a long time, would you be losing steel / blade life?

For me, as long as the hollow is right I can adjust. They seem to take 10-15 min at my LHS.

Not necessarily. Depending on the condition, many passes may need to be done. I for example do not do them all in a row, rather let the steel cool down after about 4 passes. This way they are not overheated, or burnt.

[chippa13 1844]

Curious how long a radius takes since I'll be having mine done tomorrow. I guess I didn't mention it when I got my sharpening and now I've got pretty flat blades.

[tburk32 0]

Jumping over the boards can damage edges, especially if you have deep holllows, and have heavy weight. Also, if you have older Bauer steel, jumping can break them, or if your steel is loose, jumping can break them.

Do you mean like the motion of jumping like jumping rope for example or like climbing over and hitting them??? im assuming that you mean jumping without hitting a hard foreign surface but im amazed that the steel is damaged that easily

[tuzzifan44 0]

I dont really care how long it takes the guy to sharpen, as long as its not like 30 minutes(thats a little crazy) I like to look around the shop check out the new gear.

[pldhockey4 0]

I dont really care how long it takes the guy to sharpen, as long as its not like 30 minutes(thats a little crazy) I like to look around the shop check out the new gear.

our store here is crap, lol its not even really a store.

and 30 minutes feels like 3 hours.

[jimmy 194]

Jumping over the boards can damage edges, especially if you have deep holllows, and have heavy weight. Also, if you have older Bauer steel, jumping can break them, or if your steel is loose, jumping can break them.

Do you mean like the motion of jumping like jumping rope for example or like climbing over and hitting them??? im assuming that you mean jumping without hitting a hard foreign surface but im amazed that the steel is damaged that easily

I mean jumping off the bench over the 4' boards both onto the ice and back onto the bench. Use the door, that's what it's for. :o

Deep hollows have very thin edges. They are damaged easy.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

I mean jumping off the bench over the 4' boards both onto the ice and back onto the bench. Use the door, that's what it's for.  :o

Depending on the rink, it can be almost impossible to get on the ice in a timely fashion without jumping over. One rink I play in, the space between the bench and the boards is so tight that you are practically crawling over each other to get in or out, when the gate swings open there's no clearance, add two-way traffic and quick changes are nigh impossible. Other rinks have a lot more space.

[XeF4 0]

It must be nice to be able to spend 15 min on a pair of skates. I typically spend about 5 - 7 min a pair and people complain that i'm slow. high volume skate sharpening wears you down.

[sogaduch 0]

i know it takes me about 5mins to sharpen skates that are in good-semi good condition but ones that are in horrible condition like really rusted ones take longer due to cross grinding them just to get to good steel and letting them cool down

[jimmy 194]

It must be nice to be able to spend 15 min on a pair of skates. I typically spend about 5 - 7 min a pair and people complain that i'm slow. high volume skate sharpening wears you down.

I know what you mean by high volume wearing you down. Seems I never get a break and am sharpeneing 6 hrs non-stop. Just as I'm finishing my last pair, someone comes in with three more. :( :) I personally do 15,000 pairs a year.

However, If you are that high a volume where you are cutting corners, then your shop needs to hire more people. Most high volume shops are just mills and they never even look at the skate, before or after, just 3 or four fast passes and bingo, done. You can do a good job in 5-7 minutes on the average skate.