Sweet stick

[fastmiele 59]

I was watching the Leafs vs. Rangers game and after the Jagr line scored I see him on the bench and a trainer doing something to his skates. The camera goes close up and I can't believe my eyes, the trainer is using a sweet stick and sharpening both skates :o

After reading all the negative stories I wouldn't think any pro's would use it.

[wickedwrister 0]

It's a great tool for emergency nicks and getting "one last skate" out of a sharpening. That being said, you should get a "proper" sharpening after using this. It has a knack for making your edges less than square.

[jimmy 194]

It's a great tool for emergency nicks and getting "one last skate" out of a sharpening. That being said, you should get a "proper" sharpening after using this. It has a knack for making your edges less than square.

I've sold probably 300 plus of these over the years. Absolutely zero complaints from customers, except of course that one of their teamates stole theirs from them. :D

[cause4alarm 7]

I paid $20 for mine and felt like an idiot for doing so. (I bought it so that I could qualify for free shipping.) I also couldn't tell if it worked or not either.

Then one day after I used it, I got on the ice and realized that my skates were too sharp.

[jimmy 194]

I paid $20 for mine and felt like an idiot for doing so. (I bought it so that I could qualify for free shipping.) I also couldn't tell if it worked or not either.

Then one day after I used it, I got on the ice and realized that my skates were too sharp.

Yup, number 1 error is overusing the Sweet stick. All you need is one light, and I mean light, drag. Any more and you make things worse.

[cause4alarm 7]

I paid $20 for mine and felt like an idiot for doing so.  (I bought it so that I could qualify for free shipping.)  I also couldn't tell if it worked or not either. 

Then one day after I used it, I got on the ice and realized that my skates were too sharp.

Yup, number 1 error is overusing the Sweet stick. All you need is one light, and I mean light, drag. Any more and you make things worse.

I do two swipes. And I put quite a bit more pressure than just a light drag. But then I've only had the problem of oversharpening once.

What is your actual machine sharpening/sweet stick sharpening schedule like?

Mine is generally:

machine sharpening

two sessions

sweet stick sharpening

two sessions

sweet stick sharpening

two sessions

and then repeat (back to machine sharpening)

Do you know what the official recommendation is if there is one?

[ambro 0]

I think they recommend doing a light pass after every skate until you need them machine sharpened again.

[cobrAA 0]

Doesn't passing this sweet-stick change the profile/counturing, i think it was JR who said that no??

I always wanted to use this stuff, but didn't want to f*ck my profile...

EDIT: Do you think this kit will help?? My sharpener always but a oil on my blade after the job done, but like this site say, it only last about 1 and a half skate...

[ambro 0]

No, it doesn't do anything to the Profile. JR claims it effs up the hollow, and after using it for a year or so throughout the season, I kinda sorta agree. The first 2-3 times you use it it helps a lot and works as it says it will. But after that the edges get rolled over too much and the edges are not square enough to be able to stay on your feet while cornering. So it is a good short-term use product, but not meant to replace sharpenings completely.

[cause4alarm 7]

As I understand it, the Sweet Stick does not do any actual sharpening. It's a honing tool (like your standard stone).

It shouldn't do anything to the radius. It also doesn't do anything to the hollow either, which I believe is why you still need to eventually get a real sharpening.

There's probably a decent illustration on the product's website.

[Gongshow11 1]

you can't stop properly, feels like 1/8" sharpening lol

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

It turns your edges inward.

I have one. I sharpen my kitchen knives with it.

I still say the best way to use is is sideways like a honing stone.

[Chadd 916]

As I understand it, the Sweet Stick does not do any actual sharpening. It's a honing tool (like your standard stone).

It shouldn't do anything to the radius. It also doesn't do anything to the hollow either, which I believe is why you still need to eventually get a real sharpening.

There's probably a decent illustration on the product's website.

It does affect the hollow. It bevels the edges in and reduces the hollow, hence the "sharper" feeling. The edges are just as dull as before, they're just at a smaller effective hollow.

[cobrAA 0]

oh okay i didn't get this part then! But, like the site claim. sometime i go play a game on a harder ice and i would have apreciate this extra bite, this seem to be good.

So when i get my skate re-sharpening my hollow will go back to normal right?

[cause4alarm 7]

It does affect the hollow. It bevels the edges in and reduces the hollow, hence the "sharper" feeling. The edges are just as dull as before, they're just at a smaller effective hollow.

I'm not sure if I'm understanding you here. Yes, you're working with a smaller effective hollow, but technically, isn't that smaller hollow caused by regular skating, not by the tool. The tool simply allows you to make better use of your reduced hollow by realigning the edges (or "giving it back some bite").

As for the other question, yes, a regular sharpening should retore your hollow.

The stick does not substitute for a traditional sharpening as it isn't an actual sharpening. But by realigining the edges, it can bring some of the sharpness back, even though your hollow is reduced. Eventually your hollow will be worn down so much that you'll need to restore it with a regular machine sharpening.

I saw something about knife sharpening once on "Good Eats" on the Food Network.

[Chadd 916]

It does affect the hollow. It bevels the edges in and reduces the hollow, hence the "sharper" feeling. The edges are just as dull as before, they're just at a smaller effective hollow.

I'm not sure if I'm understanding you here. Yes, you're working with a smaller effective hollow, but technically, isn't that smaller hollow caused by regular skating, not by the tool. The tool simply allows you to make better use of your reduced hollow by realigning the edges (or "giving it back some bite").

As for the other question, yes, a regular sharpening should retore your hollow.

The stick does not substitute for a traditional sharpening as it isn't an actual sharpening. But by realigining the edges, it can bring some of the sharpness back, even though your hollow is reduced. Eventually your hollow will be worn down so much that you'll need to restore it with a regular machine sharpening.

I saw something about knife sharpening once on "Good Eats" on the Food Network.

Your edges before using a sweet stick: l l

Your edges after using a sweet stick: \ /

It's not that drastic, but that's what happens. You need to make sure that you get to a point where the edges are even again when sharpening.

Knives don't have a hollow so that analogy doesn't apply.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

I don't know about you, but I don't want to skate on a reduced hollow that is no longer square.

[Gongshow11 1]

how owuld u use it as a honing stone?

[Chadd 916]

how owuld u use it as a honing stone?

Instead of inserting the balde into the "v" just rub them down the outside of the hollow? It still does nothing to repair the inner edges but it may help a little that way.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Yeah, turn the skate on the side and use the sides of the Sweet-Stick just like you would use a regular honing stone.

[cause4alarm 7]

I don't know about you, but I don't want to skate on a reduced hollow that is no longer square.

I'm not the hugest proponent of this product, but I don't think the stick is any less safe to use than a honing stone since the thing doesn't do any actual sharpening, nor does it even touch the hollow.

Regarding the other post, even though kitchen knives don't have hollows, the analogy does still apply since in this case the analogy is referring to the edges rather than the hollow.

When you continually use a knife edge (this is an illustration of a single edge, like a kitchen knife, or either just your outside edge or inside edge), the edge will go from

..|____|

...|___|

....|__|

.....|_|

......V

to something like this

..|____|

....|___|

.....|__|

.......|_|

You'll see that it's dulled a bit and now it's bent a bit off center. What "honing" will do to a blade is push the edge back so that it's more centered like so:

..|____|

...|___|

....|__|

.....|_|

You can only keep honing so far until you need to take your knife back into the shop to get resharpened.

edit: The post didn't preserve the correct spacing in my illustrations.

[Chadd 916]

What you're missing is that the sweet stick is taking your outside edges and pushing them so they are no longer square. your two outside edges should be vertical, not pinched at the bottom. With a knife you have one point with two sides. With a skate you have two points with two sides each. Think of it this way, there are essentially two knives on the bottom of your skate and they are normally positioned like this; l l Each of those knives has an two edges, an inside edge and an outside edge.

Once you use a sweet stick, those two knives are now like this; \ / All you did was pinch the outer edges of each so they come together and hone the outer edges slightly. You did nothing to make the inner edges better, in fact you made those inner edges far less effective.

Sweet sticks make your edges feel sharper by changing the effective hollow of your edges. That's what makes it feel sharper and that's why the knife analogy is inapplicable. You're essentially swapping a dull 1/2" hollow for a dull 3/8" hollow, that's why it feels sharper.

[Chadd 916]

ok, look at it this way with a skate, you have two points like this on each skate, and that's how they should look.

..|____|

...|___|

....|__|

.....|_|

......V

Using a sweet stick will bend the edges so they're pointing in to the middle of the steel. That effectively makes it feel like a deeper hollow.

..|____|

...|___|

....|__|

......\_l

........\l

Keep in mind this is only one edge and there is another one on the same piece of steel that is being bent at the same time.

[Eazy_b97 1]

They were using it as a Honing stone, not a sharening aid during the game.

[cause4alarm 7]

Here's the graphic from the Sweet Stick site. I should have just referred that instead of spending all that time drawing lines.

I got one because I thought it would help me fix an edge in the middle of a game in case that ever happened.

Supposedly the thing is more versatile than a regular stone, but I'm not convinced it should cost 3 times more.