Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[Goonsquad 209]

My wife gets to try out 90/75 .. I snagged a used pair of Grafs for her that were done up with already..

Anyone doing FBV in the DC area?

[Chadd 916]

My wife gets to try out 90/75 .. I snagged a used pair of Grafs for her that were done up with already..

Anyone doing FBV in the DC area?

I'll bring my portable to the MSH skate

[Goonsquad 209]

My wife gets to try out 90/75 .. I snagged a used pair of Grafs for her that were done up with already..

Anyone doing FBV in the DC area?

I'll bring my portable to the MSH skate

<bing>

Buy that man a beer! or 6

[Chadd 916]

My wife gets to try out 90/75 .. I snagged a used pair of Grafs for her that were done up with already..

Anyone doing FBV in the DC area?

I'll bring my portable to the MSH skate

<bing>

Buy that man a beer! or 6

I prefer Landshark, I'll bring the limes.

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

Sweet -if I don't get my machine in time I'll bring my spinners.

[Chadd 916]

Sweet -if I don't get my machine in time I'll bring my spinners.

Cool, I only have the 90/75, 90/100 and 1/2". Unfortunately I can't run it off the inverter in the FJ, we may have to locate external power.

[dw91 0]

I need to try this FBV, its too cool not to give a shot. Might have to talk the team into getting FBV on the sharpener this fall if its as amazing as its hyped up to be.

[furlanitalia 1]

Totally worth it. Lasts longer and performs better. I'm upset I don't have time to get it done for my game tonight, and will have to use a shitty ROH sharpening.

What I think is funny though is that no one really knows about it in Vancouver. I ask every hockey shop I go to and most either haven't heard of it, or claim it's un proven yet and not worth the investment. I think they need to get on MSH

[Ivan 1]

Totally worth it. Lasts longer and performs better. I'm upset I don't have time to get it done for my game tonight, and will have to use a shitty ROH sharpening.

What I think is funny though is that no one really knows about it in Vancouver. I ask every hockey shop I go to and most either haven't heard of it, or claim it's un proven yet and not worth the investment. I think they need to get on MSH

Larry's Sports in North Vancouver must have the FBV

[aarondevera 0]

Just my $.02 update on how the FBV is doing for me...

I simply CANNOT go back to regular sharpenings. I tried doing a quick switch back to my old "9/16 ROH last week and it felt like I was skating on what use to feel like a "3/8. I couldn't glide as far, I wasn't as fast on my feet and I wasn't able to lean nearly as hard into turns. I got the girlfriend to take a few ice-level snapshots at my last game, and there's a picture of me in a hard turn and my head was lower than the top of the boards. FBV holds and edge like a dream, especially paired with the Step runners that I've recently put on my One95s.

I work in a LHS pro shop so I have the luxury of experimenting with my steel whenever I want, but it doesn't look like I'll have to be doing any of that for a while. I've been averaging 4 or 5 games/practices/shinnies before I run them through again, as opposed to sharpening them every other skate like I did with the "9/16.

Nothing short of incredible.

[Stafford21 0]

Anyone know of anyone in the Buffalo NY area offering FBV sharpenings?

[dw91 0]

I HAVE to get this, I'm 6'4 225 skating on a 3/8 radius. I can't find anything else that gives me the bite i like, but I want more glide, so this is basically exactly what I need. But for now I'm gonna be trying out a 7/16. Still dont think that will help that much though. How much does it cost to get an existing competitor's machine to the point where it can do FBV sharpenings?

[chippa13 1844]

Anyone know where I can get this done in MA? Don't trust my skates with pure hockey and they don't do it anyways..

The only one I know of in the area is No Icing which is just over the border in Hudson, NH.

[jimmy 194]

I HAVE to get this, I'm 6'4 225 skating on a 3/8 radius. I can't find anything else that gives me the bite i like, but I want more glide, so this is basically exactly what I need. But for now I'm gonna be trying out a 7/16. Still dont think that will help that much though. How much does it cost to get an existing competitor's machine to the point where it can do FBV sharpenings?

I believe Blackstone has a dressing system that works on other machines for $1800 plus spinners, So around $2200.

[dw91 0]

I believe Blackstone has a dressing system that works on other machines for $1800 plus spinners, So around $2200.

That's a pretty good chunk of change, but if its as awesome as its cracked up tp be, it'd def. be worth it. Is there anywhere in Illinois to get FBV sharpenings done? and can you go back to regular hollow sharpenings afterward, on the same steel?

[furlanitalia 1]

Totally worth it. Lasts longer and performs better. I'm upset I don't have time to get it done for my game tonight, and will have to use a shitty ROH sharpening.

What I think is funny though is that no one really knows about it in Vancouver. I ask every hockey shop I go to and most either haven't heard of it, or claim it's un proven yet and not worth the investment. I think they need to get on MSH

Larry's Sports in North Vancouver must have the FBV

Nope. They were the ones that said it was unproven and not worth the investment at this time. They didn't want to affect their current customer base.

[Ivan 1]

Totally worth it. Lasts longer and performs better. I'm upset I don't have time to get it done for my game tonight, and will have to use a shitty ROH sharpening.

What I think is funny though is that no one really knows about it in Vancouver. I ask every hockey shop I go to and most either haven't heard of it, or claim it's un proven yet and not worth the investment. I think they need to get on MSH

Larry's Sports in North Vancouver must have the FBV

Nope. They were the ones that said it was unproven and not worth the investment at this time. They didn't want to affect their current customer base.

Then Danny L screwed up.

[mckjim 2]

Jimmy, the following web page for Blackstone shows a competitor(BM) machine can do FBV for $1700.00 including the spinners for all currently available spinners.

http://www.blackstonesport.com/product_det...?product_id=186

[goodguy 7]

Ok, I had a traditional sharpener guy tell me what he thought the major problem with FBV was. Tell me if he has a point (or not).

He claims that FBV could be problematic as compared to a regular sharpening due to the the difficulty (operator error or machine setup incorrectly) of getting the "flat" in the FBV to be exactly in the center of the blade. Since the resultant edges of FBV have to be equal in size (talking millimeters here), if the sharpener dosent hit dead nuts center along the length of the blade, the one side/edge would be taller/shorter than the opposing edge and would be unnacceptable.

Does this seem to be BS and how does one ensure the FBV is exactly equal on both edges of the skate? Is it possible that the centering of the blade has to be more exact than in a conventional sharpening? It would seem to me you would have the same issue with a ROH so I am not sure this is exclusively a potential problem with FBV.

Also, when you look at a pair of skates tried on - do you look for a boot that allows the skater to stand fairly straight (drawing a line down the back of the leg along the spine of the skate) -or- would you be looking for the player being almost on an inside edge. Obviously standing in a shop and standing on ice are different but what kind of skate to leg angle are you looking for. Figure skaters call it something " ________" when you are standing on the flat of the blade and not on an edge which is where you get a wiggle when skating because you are not on an edge. Do you want the spine of the skate to be perfectly aligned with the leg or do you want slight bend when you get to the ankle (putting the skate on a slight inside edge)? What is the right answer. I have always had skates line up with the leg and and naturally standing with your legs apart, puts you on the inside edge.

It would seem to me, if you setup a skate to be on an inside edge as a default, the skater would always be turning inward and would have to compensate and not have good outside edge control as they would have to really lean over to get the outside edge. I think bauer did this with some goal skates a few years ago which didn't work out too well - I can understand with goal skates but What are your thoughts on this?

Edited August 2, 2009 by goodguy

[jimmy 194]

Yes, true, your alignment has to be very accurate with the FBV. It is not as forgiving as a regular hollow cut. It is very hard to "eyeball". I use a special rubber compound to make a mold. I make a mold of a sharpened blade then examine the mold thru a microscope to ensure edges are perfect and centered. Since there are no measuring tools available yet to verify, for me this seems to be the best method to test alignment of machine and accuracy of the cut.

[shooter27 116]

Yes, true, your alignment has to be very accurate with the FBV. It is not as forgiving as a regular hollow cut. It is very hard to "eyeball". I use a special rubber compound to make a mold. I make a mold of a sharpened blade then examine the mold thru a microscope to ensure edges are perfect and centered. Since there are no measuring tools available yet to verify, for me this seems to be the best method to test alignment of machine and accuracy of the cut.

Are you serious or being facetious? Don't mean to be argumentative, I just can't tell over the internet. If you are being serious thats fantastic, I wish all shops provided their customers with that kind of attention to detail.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

Yes, true, your alignment has to be very accurate with the FBV. It is not as forgiving as a regular hollow cut. It is very hard to "eyeball". I use a special rubber compound to make a mold. I make a mold of a sharpened blade then examine the mold thru a microscope to ensure edges are perfect and centered. Since there are no measuring tools available yet to verify, for me this seems to be the best method to test alignment of machine and accuracy of the cut.

Are you serious or being facetious? Don't mean to be argumentative, I just can't tell over the internet. If you are being serious thats fantastic, I wish all shops provided their customers with that kind of attention to detail.

Jimmy lets be real here.....if the holder isnt set up to be level and centered it would be off on edges if it was a Regular holllow or FBV?

I have heard the same argument but its simple common sense if its off its if if you can line it up its lined up.

Of course you can try and make better holders and such to keep the average blade straight in the holder however we all know that blade thickness can vary and blades can be bent.

[jimmy 194]

What I meant was with a hollow the holder can be tilted and you can still get level edges, can't do that with FBV. Of course if one doesn't know how to set up a holder, it doesn't matter what cut, it will still be off.

[freestyla 0]

Totally worth it. Lasts longer and performs better. I'm upset I don't have time to get it done for my game tonight, and will have to use a shitty ROH sharpening.

What I think is funny though is that no one really knows about it in Vancouver. I ask every hockey shop I go to and most either haven't heard of it, or claim it's un proven yet and not worth the investment. I think they need to get on MSH

I was at The Hockey Shop yesterday and saw a couple of signs hanging from their ceiling about FBV. I didn't read the sign or ask them about it though so not sure if it said it's coming, already have it or what. It was more of just a glance and I recognized it. Way too busy there yesterday to really look around, you pretty much had to know what you want and get it, too busy to look around and shop. Hopefully they do have it, I want to give it a try.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

What I meant was with a hollow the holder can be tilted and you can still get level edges, can't do that with FBV. Of course if one doesn't know how to set up a holder, it doesn't matter what cut, it will still be off.

With either a Tri-lite holder or a Blademaster holder with the Tri feature the original Max Edge Holder it can be done.