Tricks to dull your skate blades...

[booyaagrandma 4]

Does anyone have any useful methods to dull your skate blades ? Ideally a new sharpening would be the fix but I'm in a bit of a bind and need some hints to take the sharpness off the edges slightly,any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)

[McDougalfaschnitzer 32]

Rub them on wood? or the plastic parts that are under the ice rink board doors?

[xaero604 0]

just go for a free skate. that's the only safe way to dull edges

[Guitarmy 0]

I use one of those skatemate hand sharpeners. They do absolutely nothing to sharpen your skates, but they work good to tone down the edges a bit.

[The Fresh Young MikeyD 0]

As far as I know there's no such thing as a blade that's too sharp. What I'm guess happened is you got a sharpening that was a deeper hollow than what you get normally so it only seems like it's too sharp. I'm not sure on the particulars of your situation but I'd ask for a shallower hollow next time.

As for getting it duller now, as xaero604 said there's no real safe way to dull the edges other than ice time. You could try the rubbing/walking on wood or plastic (as has been mentioned) or even the rubber surface (the dirt is responsible for a surprising amount of wear) that covers most arenas but there's no way to ensure that wear will be even and consistent.

[Chadd 916]

Before I learned to go with a more shallow hollow, I used to rub them on the plastic at the bottom of the bench door. It may take a little effort, but it will work.

[Ngo_35 1]

ask your proshop for a butt end of a stick. Usually their kicking around from people cutting sticks. Use that and by hand take a few strokes up and down your blade. Even pressure and use a "fresh" part of the butt end each time.

[TBLfan 25]

Before I learned to go with a more shallow hollow, I used to rub them on the plastic at the bottom of the bench door. It may take a little effort, but it will work.

Same here but I used the bench itself. It's made out of the same material but you can push a little harder, it only took about 3 passes. Now I just adjust the hollow.

[Hockeydog 8]

I heard there is a way for your LHS to use steel wool to dull the blades down a bit right after sharpening, but I don't know the exact procedure.

[wetwilly17 6]

like the others said, maybe you need larger radius. but if you don't want to try that, use a very fine grit sandpaper. extremely cheap, quick and safe.

[Hipster 5]

Does anyone have any useful methods to dull your skate blades ? Ideally a new sharpening would be the fix but I'm in a bit of a bind and need some hints to take the sharpness off the edges slightly,any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)

No No No...you don't want to take any sharpness off the edges. It just seems like that. What you want to do is experiment with the depth of your hollow. I won't go into all the details as its available by search function, but the hollow is a quantifiable, cvontrollable and repeatable factor. Rubbing your blades on wood or something else is a very risky plan.

Try a a more shallow hollow and keep a good burr stone in your bag.

A burr stone is one of those rectangular sharpening devices used in knives and speed skates. You press them against the sidewall of the blades and take off any m,etalic imperfections that are sticking out from your edges.

There are some examples here listed halfway down the page under sharpening, polishing and de-burring. http://theskateshop.home.att.net/icegear.html

BTW, if you think us hockey players are picky about our gear, speedskaters are like a cross between a superstitious goalie with a mechanical engineering

professor. Ha Ha. I have some friends in speedskating and they are totally anal about their edges. They also drop 2k-3k on a new set-up of boots and blades. Crazy, but cool.

[lb33knight 0]

Does anyone have any useful methods to dull your skate blades ? Ideally a new sharpening would be the fix but I'm in a bit of a bind and need some hints to take the sharpness off the edges slightly,any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)

No No No...you don't want to take any sharpness off the edges. It just seems like that. What you want to do is experiment with the depth of your hollow. I won't go into all the details as its available by search function, but the hollow is a quantifiable, cvontrollable and repeatable factor. Rubbing your blades on wood or something else is a very risky plan.

Try a a more shallow hollow and keep a good burr stone in your bag.

A burr stone is one of those rectangular sharpening devices used in knives and speed skates. You press them against the sidewall of the blades and take off any m,etalic imperfections that are sticking out from your edges.

There are some examples here listed halfway down the page under sharpening, polishing and de-burring. http://theskateshop.home.att.net/icegear.html

BTW, if you think us hockey players are picky about our gear, speedskaters are like a cross between a superstitious goalie with a mechanical engineering

professor. Ha Ha. I have some friends in speedskating and they are totally anal about their edges. They also drop 2k-3k on a new set-up of boots and blades. Crazy, but cool.

Well going at the speeds they do with very little, if any, padding I'd be anal about my edges too. If one were to give out...

[Edge 0]

A Penny.

[Gixxer 0]

At your next game be the first guy out after the zomboni cleans the ice and just do one foot stops during the warmup time.

[chippa13 1844]

Buy a metal file at your local Home Depot. That'll dull the edges right quick.

[ktang 34]

In addition to the honing along the outsides of the blades that the sharpener gives me, I also hone along the inside of the hollow to break any remaining raised burrs and clean up the edges a bit more.

[booyaagrandma 4]

Before I learned to go with a more shallow hollow, I used to rub them on the plastic at the bottom of the bench door. It may take a little effort, but it will work.

The problem is I usually go 5/8'' and this feels more like 3/8'' or so.Unfortunately the guy who usually does my skates was'nt around so I'm skating later and needed a stop gap solution till I got back to my usual hollow.Thanks for all the helpful hints though. :)

[Hipster 5]

Buy a metal file at your local Home Depot. That'll dull the edges right quick.

Jack Daniels works too. Just enough to take the edge off, though. Too much will make you fall down. :D

[booyaagrandma 4]

Buy a metal file at your local Home Depot. That'll dull the edges right quick.

Jack Daniels works too. Just enough to take the edge off, though. Too much will make you fall down. :D

:P Now THATS funny.

[chippa13 1844]

Brings up a flashback to one of my favorite exchanges between Fred and Derek, that's Cusick and Sanderson for those unfamiliar.

They were doing a Bruins playoff game at the old Garden and the fog arose once again.

Cusick: "You had your share of games skating around in the Garden fog as a player." (paraphrased)

Sanderson: "That was a different kind of fog back then."

Freakin' classic.

[supa 3]

I stand in front of the bench and drag my feet from side to side

[JoeyJ0506 192]

So, I want to revive this to try to get a temporary fix for my skates. I had them sharpened Saturday, I use a 5/8 ROH, but I am almost positive the guy running the machine put a 1/2 ROH on them because my skates have way too much bite. So much so that when stopping I am almost getting thrown off my feet because of the lack of glide.

I remember watching a Penguins broadcast sometime within the last couple seasons Bob Errey was in between the benches and held up a butt-end and was commenting how the players used it to dull their skates when they had a little too much bit. I understand the concept, but am wondering whether I need to rub the butt-end with the steel lengthwise or across the steel from side to side? I would appreciate any help, if not, I am getting them resharpened Saturday.

[Chadd 916]

So, I want to revive this to try to get a temporary fix for my skates. I had them sharpened Saturday, I use a 5/8 ROH, but I am almost positive the guy running the machine put a 3/4 ROH on them because my skates have way too much bite. So much so that when stopping I am almost getting thrown off my feet because of the lack of glide.

I remember watching a Penguins broadcast sometime within the last couple seasons Bob Errey was in between the benches and held up a butt-end and was commenting how the players used it to dull their skates when they had a little too much bit. I understand the concept, but am wondering whether I need to rub the butt-end with the steel lengthwise or across the steel from side to side? I would appreciate any help, if not, I am getting them resharpened Saturday.

First of all, 5/8 has more bite than 3/4 (6/8), so it's more likely that you got a 1/2" or less. Second, take them back and get them done properly or take them somewhere else since you now have the time. As for using a butt end, it's amazing how bad/stubborn some equipment guys can be, even at the pro level. I've heard that a lot of Pens players have not been happy over the years.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

You should never have to dull out blades; that just means the hollow isn't optimal for you and you have to go shallower.

[JoeyJ0506 192]

First of all, 5/8 has more bite than 3/4 (6/8), so it's more likely that you got a 1/2" or less. Second, take them back and get them done properly or take them somewhere else since you now have the time. As for using a butt end, it's amazing how bad/stubborn some equipment guys can be, even at the pro level. I've heard that a lot of Pens players have not been happy over the years.

Thanks for the clarification Chadd. Meant 1/2 wrote 3/4, oh well.

I will take them back to get resharpened. I was looking for a fix for short notice.