Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[x-track 8]

and just being curious...how much are you being charged for FBV ??

[JSK81 400]

In Finland, FBV sharpening is around 9€

[NoWise 0]

On 29.10.2016 at 7:48 PM, x-track said:

...depending on where in europe I may help you !!!

I live in Finland. And it costs 5 €. 

But in addition to my other posts.. I have been apadting to 85/75 and I really like the bite. I can dig in better and make those tight turns.

Edited October 31, 2016 by NoWise

[marka 526]

Howdy,

So, tried FBV for the first time.  I was kicking around between 1/2" and 3/8" ROH, settling on 7/16" for the last while.  I went with the 95/75 FBV profile.

 

Fairly impressed!  Even with my relative newness to the game, I can feel the difference in glide.  My skate doesn't seem as "sticky" on my non-push foot.  And at the same time, I seem to have as much or perhaps even a touch more edge grip when turning.  Skates don't seem to dig in quite as much when stopping, at least initially, but if I consciously bend my ankle  to dig them in more, that seems to work.  Been out on them for two games now and the other thing that's interesting is that the edge grip doesn't seem to have changed at all over that time.

 

So far at least, I'm a convert.  I've heard that when they get dull its a little more of a "falling off a cliff" kinda thing vs. the gradual dulling I've experienced with standard ROH sharpening.  We'll see how that goes.  Right now I'm planning on trying to get around 5-ish ice-hours on a set of blades before sharpening, but no real clue if that's aggressive, reasonable, or too conservative.

One thing that's interesting is just how flat the blade looks.  All the drawings you see online are so exaggerated that I wasn't really prepared for just how completely flat / featureless the edge is, but it makes sense when you think that the last number of 75 is a height difference of only .00075"!  :-)

 

Mark

[Arch 0]

27 minutes ago, marka said:

Howdy,

So, tried FBV for the first time.  I was kicking around between 1/2" and 3/8" ROH, settling on 7/16" for the last while.  I went with the 95/75 FBV profile.

 

Fairly impressed!  Even with my relative newness to the game, I can feel the difference in glide.  My skate doesn't seem as "sticky" on my non-push foot.  And at the same time, I seem to have as much or perhaps even a touch more edge grip when turning.  Skates don't seem to dig in quite as much when stopping, at least initially, but if I consciously bend my ankle  to dig them in more, that seems to work.  Been out on them for two games now and the other thing that's interesting is that the edge grip doesn't seem to have changed at all over that time.

 

So far at least, I'm a convert.  I've heard that when they get dull its a little more of a "falling off a cliff" kinda thing vs. the gradual dulling I've experienced with standard ROH sharpening.  We'll see how that goes.  Right now I'm planning on trying to get around 5-ish ice-hours on a set of blades before sharpening, but no real clue if that's aggressive, reasonable, or too conservative.

One thing that's interesting is just how flat the blade looks.  All the drawings you see online are so exaggerated that I wasn't really prepared for just how completely flat / featureless the edge is, but it makes sense when you think that the last number of 75 is a height difference of only .00075"!  :-)

 

Mark

I've visually inspected the blade to see if i could tell a difference in the look of a blade cut with FBV vs a normal hollow and i don't believe it can be seen by the naked eye like you describe. I even used a magnifying glass to try and see the difference. Noicing even asks you to tell them if your current blades don't have a FBV cut when ordering a FBV sharpen from them (I assume its because the difference can't be seen by the naked eye)

[jimmy 194]

3 hours ago, Arch said:

I've visually inspected the blade to see if i could tell a difference in the look of a blade cut with FBV vs a normal hollow and i don't believe it can be seen by the naked eye like you describe. I even used a magnifying glass to try and see the difference. Noicing even asks you to tell them if your current blades don't have a FBV cut when ordering a FBV sharpen from them (I assume its because the difference can't be seen by the naked eye)

You can't see the FBV edges with the eye. When looking at the blade you can see it's flat, but that's about it. As for Noicing wanting to know, it's more since there is no measuring tool to ensure the FBV is in a blade, a blade that doesn't have FBV already on it will need more passes to establish the FBV. It just helps if customers lets us know.

[marka 526]

Howdy,

So, I've been searching a bit and not coming up with many (any?) NHL or other "I play hockey at a high level" people using FBV...  Are there some and I'm just not seeing them?

Mark

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

On 12/18/2016 at 1:37 AM, marka said:

Howdy,

So, I've been searching a bit and not coming up with many (any?) NHL or other "I play hockey at a high level" people using FBV...  Are there some and I'm just not seeing them?

Mark

Yes, they're out there.

We have a player here in town who had to come to our store to get it done because he can't get it done in his own locker room.  One of my key holders did it, so I didn't get to talk to him.  I've put some feelers out there trying to get him back in to set him on a steel rotation.

In a lot of cases, it's up to the EQM.   And in some cases, those EQMs are doing a disservice by not giving a player what they want/are used to.

[jimmy 194]

I have a bunch of D1college players on FBV, is that high enough level? I also did Doug Weight (NHLHOF) a couple of years ago ,he just got his machine and wanted me to do the first one for him. His son was using it too. Over the years I've done other former NHL players and Olympic skaters so they're out there for sure.

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

Not to nitpick, but Doug Weight isn't in the HHOF. 

[Kgbeast 195]

FBV was a thing in NHL back about 8 years ago. Half of the league was trying this on. It looks like it was a club decision not individual players. I think at the end, they forego on it and went back to ROH. NHLers have their blades sharpened every time before they step on ice. At that rate it is probably prety tideous to keep track of spinners and stones. EQMs have their hands full as os.  Perhaps also the benefits of FBV vs ROH was not enough to continue. Other things like getting used to skating on that could have been obstacle as well. 

[Monty22 832]

My apologies if I missed it already in this thread, but are there any other options besides the Mag-75 to dress non- Blackstone machines for FBV?  Looking for a less expensive option for a friend with a Blademaster portable. Thanks.  

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

Since Blackstone has been a great partner on MSH for a very long time, I believe it's best to support them in any way we can.  

[Monty22 832]

36 minutes ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Since Blackstone has been a great partner on MSH for a very long time, I believe it's best to support them in any way we can.  

Agreed, but was there a model prior to this one that was less elaborate? 

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

Not by then.  The MAG-75 is the Spinner dressing mechanism from the standard machine placed on a magnetic base.

[Monty22 832]

Ah, that makes sense. 

Just a heads up, per customer service at Blackstone, the X01 has been discontinued. 

[AfftonDad 88]

I've only ever sharpened on an X-01 until this past weekend. In a pinch a teammate asked me to sharpen his skates on a full size Blademaster at the rink before a game. We have all seen the sparks that fly on the B-roll footage they use in between periods of NHL games and the sparks that fly on the machines in an LHS. I have always wondered why my X-01 produces so much less sparks than the full size machines (it's not even in the same ballpark). Does anyone have a good explanation of why this is so?

[Kgbeast 195]

1 hour ago, AfftonDad said:

I've only ever sharpened on an X-01 until this past weekend. In a pinch a teammate asked me to sharpen his skates on a full size Blademaster at the rink before a game. We have all seen the sparks that fly on the B-roll footage they use in between periods of NHL games and the sparks that fly on the machines in an LHS. I have always wondered why my X-01 produces so much less sparks than the full size machines (it's not even in the same ballpark). Does anyone have a good explanation of why this is so?

The surface speed of full-size machine is about 25% faster, so it removes more material faster... probably doubles the spark output. 

[AfftonDad 88]

3 hours ago, Kgbeast said:

The surface speed of full-size machine is about 25% faster, so it removes more material faster... probably doubles the spark output. 

It's way more than doubled. The sparks on the X-01 are virtually non-existent whereas on the full size blademaster they are like a large solid plume of sparks. I have seen that older/cheaper blades can make more sparks but these weren't older/cheaper blades. Could it be due to the fact that the blademaster had a pink wheel on it and my x-01 has a ruby wheel on it?

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

On 12/19/2016 at 10:14 PM, Kgbeast said:

FBV was a thing in NHL back about 8 years ago. Half of the league was trying this on. It looks like it was a club decision not individual players. I think at the end, they forego on it and went back to ROH. NHLers have their blades sharpened every time before they step on ice. At that rate it is probably prety tideous to keep track of spinners and stones. EQMs have their hands full as os.  Perhaps also the benefits of FBV vs ROH was not enough to continue. Other things like getting used to skating on that could have been obstacle as well. 

 

Just curious where you are getting your information. St Loius and Nashville both use Blackstone Portables. NYI most of the players there are using FBV. I have to get Tavares a new wheel every time he comes home in the summer because he is always trying something new. Strome stays the same. Last summer I would say it was 60/40 ROH vs FBV in the dressing room. And with guys like Tavares and Storme on FBV it wasn't hard for other guys to ask to try it.  You can google BTNL for some of the pics of the guys there. 

I do know Pappy on the leafs has everything in both the practice and main dressing room. He can do any cut on any machine. He is a guy for sure that is prepared for any request.

[Kgbeast 195]

1 hour ago, AfftonDad said:

It's way more than doubled. The sparks on the X-01 are virtually non-existent whereas on the full size blademaster they are like a large solid plume of sparks. I have seen that older/cheaper blades can make more sparks but these weren't older/cheaper blades. Could it be due to the fact that the blademaster had a pink wheel on it and my x-01 has a ruby wheel on it?

Yes, wheel plays quite a bit into sparks. Pink is a figure skating stone which is probably designed for high carbon steels.

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

You've also never sharpened on a full machine before. The pressure required is different.

 

15 hours ago, AfftonDad said:

It's way more than doubled. The sparks on the X-01 are virtually non-existent whereas on the full size blademaster they are like a large solid plume of sparks. I have seen that older/cheaper blades can make more sparks but these weren't older/cheaper blades. Could it be due to the fact that the blademaster had a pink wheel on it and my x-01 has a ruby wheel on it?

 

[Skoda10 14]

I didn't want start a whole new topic and this is tangentially related;

I'm about to pull the trigger on an X-02, but after reading all the threads I'm still not sure what holder to get, normal or tall, I have youth, goalie and senior size skates in my house to sharpen right now, so I should order the tall holder, correct?

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

What model, brand and size are the youth skates?

Same for goal skates.

 

 

[Skoda10 14]

I've currently got these skates to sharpen: 

Easton S17 Youth 10 

Bauer Supreme Accel SMU with light speed edge holder Junior 1.5

Bauer Reactor 5000 youth 13.5

I may be done with youth skates by next fall as feet in the household grow, but I think having to deal with goal skates makes the tall holder necessary?

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Skoda10
Grammar