Asking for a free sharpening

[ktang 34]

I occasionally get the wrong hollow put on my blades from a particular LHS. I don't have a way to measure the hollow, so I don't know about it until I first step on the ice, and then I'm worried more about adjusting to the hollow than playing my game.

Is is OK to ask the LHS to re-sharpen my skates with the hollow I requested originally? What do the LHS workers / owners think?

[DarkStar50 679]

This happens now and then in our shop. We will re-sharpen the skates at no charge. Just ask the sharpener to check the hollow. Tell him it feels too deep or too shallow and could you please check. I would never be offended if you asked me this question in our shop.

[hockey315 0]

Find the depth you like and then ask him what he sharpened it at. Always ask for that depth when you get them sharpened. You can even write it on the bottom of the skate

[AnthonyJTa 0]

my local sharpener suggested a particular hollow with my size/weight and factored in that I'm a beginner... he told me if I didn't like it, he'd let my try something else- no charge.

[Gummer12 134]

The way you put it, no, I would be more than Glad to fix you up with the hollow you feel most comfortable with. But just coming up and asking for a Freebie, cuz "I've been a Very Loyal Customer" or whatever lame excuse that can be made, that'll piss me off more than a hairlip trying to order biggie fries.

[mackallica 0]

I could care less if somone asked me this at my store. The hollow could be right off, and that could be a problem. Were you having trouble skating or did it just feel awkward?

Because, you will still be able to skate with a different grind. But, to check if the hollow is on, you can take a quarter and rest is on the blade. If the quarter is tilted to one side then the hollow is off meaning the hollow isnt right in the middle of the blade. If the hollw is a little tilted, that is ok but, a very noticable tilt is not ok and would give you difficulty skating.

[ktang 34]

I could care less if somone asked me this at my store. The hollow could be right off, and that could be a problem. Were you having trouble skating or did it just feel awkward?

Because, you will still be able to skate with a different grind. But, to check if the hollow is on, you can take a quarter and rest is on the blade. If the quarter is tilted to one side then the hollow is off meaning the hollow isnt right in the middle of the blade. If the hollw is a little tilted, that is ok but, a very noticable tilt is not ok and would give you difficulty skating.

It wasn't the even-ness that was off (the quarter test), it was the radius of hollow. I asked for a 1" radius of hollow, and got something quite a bit less (maybe 1/2"). Sometimes they give me the 1", other times they give me something deeper, and I can't tell until I'm on the ice.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Wow, you still use quarters?

[jimmy 194]

It wasn't the even-ness that was off (the quarter test), it was the radius of hollow. I asked for a 1" radius of hollow, and got something quite a bit less (maybe 1/2"). Sometimes they give me the 1", other times they give me something deeper, and I can't tell until I'm on the ice.

I think those shops that offer you choices in hollows would certainly just redo the skates no charge. Other shops, probably would not. At our shop the front desk people tag the skates for the sharpener, so when we pull the skates they have the hollow tag right on it. Like robots, we just sharpen to what the tag says unless of course we spot the customer and recognize that something is wrong. For example we may have 20 or so SMITH's as customers. Sometimes the front desk tags them wrong. In that case we would always resharpen at no charge. Mistakes can happen. Are sharpeners refusing to redo for free if it was their mistake? That's just not right.

I will say however, that folks have come in and mentioned that their skates didin't feel right after last sharpening. After measuring that the hollow was correct, and after some questioning we discover that they changed rinks and were skating on a different temperature ice than normal. They just didn't understand that the same hollow would feel different on soft ice vs. hard ice.

[ktang 34]

I had been going to a chain store for sharpenings, and they were giving me a consistent 1" hollow. I was happy in all of the rinks I was playing in.

Then I discovered the LHS (I just moved here and I'm still finding my way around), and the 1st sharpening was definitely deep, and so was the 4th. The guys at work told me that this LHS only likes to give a "proper" cut.

So I went back to the chain store, and they gave me my favourite 1" sharpening again today. It felt normal again on the ice.

JR, I use quarters to eyeball the squareness. Is there another way?

Jimmy, the weather here in Calgary fluctuates a lot, so sometimes the ice goes from hard to soft almost overnight. However, when I was sharpening my skates at the chain store I didn't have any "feel" problems.

[Chadd 916]

Then I discovered the LHS (I just moved here and I'm still finding my way around), and the 1st sharpening was definitely deep, and so was the 4th. The guys at work told me that this LHS only likes to give a "proper" cut.

Ohh, I love experts who know what I should be using. By the way you wouldn;t be asking for a free sharpening as long as you took it back as soon as you realized there was a problem. You're just asking them to fix their mistake.

[hockeyismylife 0]

I had been going to a chain store for sharpenings, and they were giving me a consistent 1" hollow. I was happy in all of the rinks I was playing in.

Then I discovered the LHS (I just moved here and I'm still finding my way around), and the 1st sharpening was definitely deep, and so was the 4th. The guys at work told me that this LHS only likes to give a "proper" cut.

So I went back to the chain store, and they gave me my favourite 1" sharpening again today. It felt normal again on the ice.

JR, I use quarters to eyeball the squareness. Is there another way?

Jimmy, the weather here in Calgary fluctuates a lot, so sometimes the ice goes from hard to soft almost overnight. However, when I was sharpening my skates at the chain store I didn't have any "feel" problems.

Which LHS were you talking about?

[ktang 34]

I don't want to say which one it was, because they give good advice, service, and products, and this might make them look bad.

If it weren't for my growing up with flatter hollows I would sharpen there, too, because other than the hollow radius, the sharpenings I have gotten there have been very good (levelness, not changing the profile, no striping).