Skate Sharpening

[Prhockey2607 0]

I play inline hockey and was looking to start playing some ice. I'm getting some skates and was wondering what the sharpness should be. I've skated before but don't know what it was. 3/8, 1/2 or anything else. I have no knowledge of this.

[TCsnipes9 0]

well, as a start, most places will default to a 1/2. meaning that if you dont specify what you want, chances are youll end up with a 1/2er.

we had a really good and informative topic but i dont have time to find it right now. maybe someone else can dig it up.

[sharks_bazooka_joe_19 0]

www.noicingsports.com has a section on sharpening that will blow your mind. I used to skate with a 3/8 hollow for 5 years. I went to these guys for a customized blade and they recommended, after filling out a profile, that I go back to 1/2 along with other things like radius and toe lean. I was reluctant but found that 1/2 gives you much more flexibility in your stopping, you really don't loose edge control, you're a little faster (more glide) and overall more agile. If you've been on wheels all this time, I'd go with 1/2. The MOST IMPORTANT element is that they do a decent job.

Basically, the deeper the hollow, the more the edges dig into the ice, which is not always a good thing.

[chk hrd 164]

glad to hear that about noicing...I am in the process of getting custom blades from them. The questionare they send out was impressive.

[Hkydog 0]

Here is the link to no icing probably more info than you asked for also one more that maybe of help:

http://noicingsports.com/skate_radius_profiling.html

http://www.mts.net/~ghymers/

[jere26 5]

Asside from the rules of the game, the hard part of transitioning your game to the ice is learning and mastering the "hockey stop" on ice. If you haven't spent any time on ice yet you should learn to hockey stop proficiently before deciding on what hollow you will ultimately use when you start playing.

It is definitely easier to first learn the hockey stop with a shallow hollow on your blades. Get a sharpening at 5/8 and go do a public skate session and practice hockey stopping in both directions (left foot leading, right foot leading) and at different speeds. It might take 10 minutes to learn or it might take an hour, but well worth the cost of just one sharpening. Once you've got it down, try progressively deeper cuts that will give you the agility that matches your level of play.

The information the other guys mentioned is very good and definitely applies once you've taken some time to learn the ice hockey stop and apply it correctly and feel you can stop in a safe manner.

Also, be sure to read the No Icing webpage on sharpening. The information on the radius and profiling page is informative, but a different subject than what you are asking. Here's the link to that page:

http://noicingsports.com/skate_sharpening_radius.html

[Prhockey2607 0]

I've gone to stick times with my friends and can skate well and I can hockey stop. I just need some skates and didn't know how to get them sharpened.

Thanks for the info. It was a big help.

[srv2miker 0]

One thing to consider is your body weight. A heavier person will dig further into the ice, so they may want a more shallow cut on their skates. Its a bit of a generalization to say that "everyone" should start at 1/2". Moreover, the shops around me do the house cut at 3/8ths, so you may have to ask them to give you the cut you want.

[pantherfan 0]

lol im almost posotive my rink shop used to give me a 1/20 or somthing like that cus it was impossible to stop for about 3 weeks!

Now i skate on a 3/8

[srv2miker 0]

here is a great thread on sharpening

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/index.php?showtopic=15286&hl=

[sharks_bazooka_joe_19 0]

glad to hear that about noicing...I am in the process of getting custom blades from them. The questionare they send out was impressive.

I hope you will be as stoked with the new blades as I have been with mine :D . I've got 2 pairs of blades now that I swap out and send the dull ones in. It's about once a week lately, given I'm skating 5 times a week for a total of about 7 hours. Fortunately, my Vapor XXX's just have the one bolt at the heel and swapping the blades has been a cinch - once I got an extension for my socket wrench and a metric set

The response time from them has been exceptional and I won't "take" my blades anywhere else. My teammates and fellow hockey buds think I'm crazy, but hey, they might be right LOL! (I'm in NM, they're in NH, as you probably already know)

[CHIEF22 0]

glad to hear that about noicing...I am in the process of getting custom blades from them. The questionare they send out was impressive.

Keep me posted. I have been on his site several times and am thinking about going that route, espically since going to the TUUKS. I would like to get back to a CCM type feel. Heck it's only New Hampshire, might be worth a road trip some weekend..