Houston, we have a problem... didn't want to sharpen at 3/4"

[tbintexas 0]

So I took my skates into the pro-shop at the rink today (in Houston - the hotbed of hockey...) and selected 3/4" for the ROH. I've been on this for probably 1 year now? At least 9 months and working up to 3/4 for a long time...

Anyways, the guy at the counter and a player from my team (beer leagues) saw the 3/4" and said 'you can't skate on that - it's wrong'. What are you doing? You want 1/2 - 3/4 is WAY too dull.

I looked at them while my blood started to boil a bit and said 'pardon' - but 3/4 is fine for me. They repeatedly said that it's too dull and that I can't pick it and it's wrong. The guy at the desk proceeded to flip over the back of the card and started trying to explain the difference between hollows by drawing them out (I cut him off). That a lower number was 'sharper' and that a higher one was 'duller'. That 3/4" is too dull etc. You don't want to skate on a 3/4". Jesus H. C*****, I know what I'm talking about I was thinking.

God damn I was getting pissed. After explaining that it was what I normally got (and the guy behind the counter said, well it's personal preference blah blah blah), he tried to tell me that one was sharper and the other duller etc. I had to discuss the fact that NEITHER was more dull or sharp (you dumbass, although I didn't say that), and that you can glide better on a shallower hollower. I asked if I chose the wrong and shallower hollow what would happen, and he said that I wouldn't be able to start as fast - that's it.

Anyways, who knows what I'll actually get when I pick up my skates and if they'll adjust their numbers because I, a beer leaguer, obviously doesn't have the expertise that they, the pro shop has.

Just ranting. Do many of you here have issues with your LHS like this, or is this because I live in football country?

[DarkStar50 679]

Ok, you're in Texas, you own a gun. Just sterotyping but stay with me. Next time in that shop bring your gun with you and drop this great Clint Eastwood line on the idiot behind the counter, "I haven't killed anyone all day-help me keep it that way."

[tbintexas 0]

I'm a friggen Canadian - no gun yet...

[mack 44]

I've had people question my hollow request (used to be 3/4" as you are, now it's onto 7/8") but no one ever outright refused to do it or attempt to actually turn me onto a different hollow. If it was someone they'd never seen getting brand new skates sharpened, I could understand some damn lesson but that's a little too far.

[DarkStar50 679]

Jeez,Tex behind the counter doesn't want to believe the guy from Canada might know just a bit more about ROH!

[jimmy 194]

I'm not sure what the big issue is, just tell them to put 3/4 on them, if they can't or won't, tell them to pack sand and go somewhere else. Don't let them decide, tell them what you want. If they won't do it, don't give them your business. Sharpeners who don't understand how hollows work should be confronted by the customer. Embarass them, tell them they don't know WTF they are doing, and take your skates and walk out.

[Law Goalie 147]

Used to be you could release a beaver into their wood stick stocks -- not any more, damn those composites.

[sdcopp 1]

Used to be you could release a beaver into their wood stick stocks -- not any more, damn those composites.

termites now, those things will eat through concrete, CF is like a spongecake for em :lol:

Seriously though, Jimmy's on the right track here. If they won't do it, take your skates and leave. Make sure they understand it's their lack of customer service that is making you not want to spend YOUR money to support THEIR shop. If you put emphasis on the fact that they are losing out and not you, it tends to change attitudes.

[tbintexas 0]

Well I actually have been getting my blades done by Jimmy but I was in a rush this time and had to go back to the rink. Anyone else that I know (since none of them are gear-whores or are here on MSH) would have caved-in and just accepted what they said as being 'fact'.

These are the same guys that take a broken, found in the garbage, 100-flex stick and cut them off even more, then give it to their 9 year old, and wonder why little Johnny can't shoot the puck.

Well, at least I have MSH so I can learn things gooder :)

[johnpace2 0]

That's why I have 2 sets of blade and send them to no icing sports in NH. Never a problem. Always a great sharpening.

[krwwc6 0]

People give me funny looks and question me when I ask for 5/8ths around my parts. I can't imagine what they would say if I said i wanted 7/8ths.

They've always sharpened no questions asked though. I think they get irritated everytime it is something other than 1/2 though, since that seems to be what everyone around my area skates on.

[GekigangarIII 0]

I'll tell you why they refused. Because they're hacks that can't sharpen worth a damn. I'm pretty sure the reason they don't want to do it is because they'd have to change the die, and they probably don't know how....

[Chadd 916]

I've had to explain it to shops before. In fact the last shop I had to use was a maximum edge shop but they couldn't grasp why I wanted 3/4".

[bbruins8 0]

T Blades solve this problem :lol:

[tbintexas 0]

T'blades? well, yeah - I actually did have them a few years ago. This was the same shop that I asked to have heel lifts put on my original t'blade skates (Salming), and they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. This is the pro shop at the local rink.

As a result, I switched back to regular steel and had them profiled.

[JJStripes 1]

I'm pretty sure the reason they don't want to do it is because they'd have to change the die, and they probably don't know how....

I agree, but that's not legit at all. They should be redressing the wheel every few sharpens whether they need to changes the radius or not.

[TBLfan 25]

I'm on 3/4 myself. My sharpener knows what I want when I walk in with the skates. If another guys gets up he just lets them know he'll get it. We shoot the breeze for a few and he gets to work... You HAVE to find someone that actually knows something and gives a damn.

Find another shop, if he doesn't know what personal preference is then he probably doesn't know how to sharpen a skate properly.

Of course you could find someone and mail them to the shop and alternate runners. Tblades are an option(eek!). Good luck man!!!! Keep searching, hopefully you'll get lucky.

[Taoism 0]

Someone previously mentioned no-icing in NH. They have a good service going for mail in sharpening it seems. I want to do T-Blades, but that failing i will probably send my business their way. They will cut some loot( $10 I think)off the price of a profile if you purchase the steel from them.

[Jason16 0]

.

[ramensandwich 1]

i get funny looks for even specifying a hollow :o

i love me some 5/8 right now, but back when i skated on the "standard" 1/2 hollow i still specified 1/2, because you have no idea when the last time they dressed the wheel was (pro shop is inside a rink, north carolina, woman with PMS behind the counter, go figure)

oh well

[MLSman 22]

i get funny looks for even specifying a hollow :o

i love me some 5/8 right now, but back when i skated on the "standard" 1/2 hollow i still specified 1/2, because you have no idea when the last time they dressed the wheel was (pro shop is inside a rink, north carolina, woman with PMS behind the counter, go figure)

oh well

Concord? Lived in Mount Pleasant for a year...moved back to NY because the only real place to skate out there was the rink in the Mall...forget the name of the place but assumed that was the pro shop you were referring to because I remember a cranky PMS lady there.

[Law Goalie 147]

It should be said that I usually get the same crap here in Canada about my hollow on goalie skates. I say I want 3/8 -- they say, "No, a goalie cut is 1" or 1.5 or, my favourite, "There's only one goalie cut." Still, it's been at least a year since I was last asked whether I wanted my skates cross-cut, so there's hope yet.

[Hockeydog 8]

From what I have read on the internet most pro players skate on something shallower than 1/2". Depending on their size some skate on as shallow as an

11/16th. I think Coffey and or Messier were close to or over 1 inch.

[Jake 0]

I know how you feel. I took my skates into a local pro shop to get them profiled. The guy at the counter asked what level I played at, I said "adult", and he threw my skates back to me and said "don't bother."

I told him I wanted a forward pitch with a lot of blade touching the ice, similar to a Cobra. He said I couldn't have it both ways. Either a forward pitch with a deep rocker, or a flat blade that pushed me way back on my heels. I left and haven't gone back to that pro shop.

[Jim A 4]

For those of you who say "just find a new shop" its not as if LHS's are popping up on every corner.

In Dallas, even if I went to a rink that normally sharpened them, if the normal person wasn't there I wasn't willing to be a test dummy, i had walked into a couple DPSC asked for 3/4 and rec'd 1/2 or 3/8 only to have to skate a lap in warmup take the skates off and go back in and physically watch them dress the wheel ..so my options would be to drive 30min+ to Euless and get them done @ Perani's not how I want to spend a Sat AM

In NY I was lucky because there was a little shop nearby that did a little of everything and even though the guy didn't play hockey, he was great