Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

whats the advisable threshold to make the leap, on a basis of number of skates? like 10/wk?

[Chadd 916]

whats the advisable threshold to make the leap, on a basis of number of skates? like 10/wk?

Anything more than a couple pair at a time. Personally I would want to recoup my investment in 12 months or less, your mileage may vary.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

ok. a guy on my team was considering getting one for the team to throw 5 bucks in, per sharpening and after the thing is paid off, it becomes the beer money jar, lol. So i figure maybe 15 every other week, if that... but i guess it's going to become a question of will we have 5 guys run by the house to get sharpened on the way to the rink...

and at the same time might as well let whomever is sharpening charge other people they know, too.

[mckjim 2]

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

[jimmy 194]

Make sure you guys who are getting your machine to run a home business/charging people, get the appropriate federal, state and local business licenses and also report your income using a Schedule C. In the first year you can claim the machine/supplies as a business expense, which works out pretty good, offsetting what you make. Also check with your town, many do not allow or limit foot traffic to a business at your residence. This can be a show stopper. And if you think you can do it under the table, trust me someone will report you, most likely your local LHS who finds out your stealing their business. If you do it on the up and up, everything will go smooth for you.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

because the rink is literally a mile away. we have it worked out. i need a free hand to carry beer.

and thanks for being my accountant, jimmy. i need tax advice from modsquad like i need a hole in my head.

Edited January 3, 2010 by puck_it

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

Hope you don't get caught, pretty sure a rink will trespass you for that.

[Chadd 916]

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

because the rink is literally a mile away. we have it worked out. i need a free hand to carry beer.

I'm about 2 miles from the rink and guys stop by my place on the way to the rink. If you drag it into the locker room you are going to spend most of the time hunched over the sharpener and be the last one on the ice every night. There is always going to be one guy that shows up at the last minute but still expects you to do his skates.

[jimmy 194]

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

because the rink is literally a mile away. we have it worked out. i need a free hand to carry beer.

and thanks for being my accountant, jimmy. i need tax advice from modsquad like i need a hole in my head.

Nothing to do with accounting, more with legality. So many people think they can buy a sharpener to make a few extra $$$, but fail to realize (or in some cases ignore), the proper legal way to do it. If you do it legally, it can be a nice side business.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

then thanks for being my tax attorney. anything else you do consulting for? I hope you're licensed.

Edited January 6, 2010 by puck_it

[MLSman 22]

Anyone is the DC/VA area doing FBV yet?

Kettler? Ashburn?

[AnthonyJTa 0]

The X02 only weights 45# why not just bring it to the rink on game night and sharpen them right in the locker room for everyone. Turn a garbage can upside down and you have a stand ready made. I have done this many times.

because the rink is literally a mile away. we have it worked out. i need a free hand to carry beer.

I'm about 2 miles from the rink and guys stop by my place on the way to the rink. If you drag it into the locker room you are going to spend most of the time hunched over the sharpener and be the last one on the ice every night. There is always going to be one guy that shows up at the last minute but still expects you to do his skates.

Let alone the night someone forgets the padlock on the locker room door and someone Waltzes out of the place with your X02......I pop a $20 in my pocket and lock the wallet, cellphone, and any spare gear in the car...

[Law Goalie 147]

...And you can't stick a sharpener into your goalie's mask bag and toss it on the bench if you forget to lock it in the glovebox. :)

I finally got to have a proper on-ice session with my goalie skates on 100/50 (coming from 7/16 ROH), and it was stunning; posted about it in the goalies' FBV thread.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

THIS makes me drooooool, The start of our man cave, me and my boys. Received the X02 and decided to take the equipment room to a new level. I added a vacuum system to the Kobalt work bench I got from Lowe's. The bench is great 3 drawers and an over head storage that I use to hold my, "next ups". I bought Dust control fittings from Rockler wood working. I have a suction gate at the wheel dressing exhaust. This controls the amount of suction I get at the wheel or while dressing. The other fitting that catches skate dust is called a big gulp, it is 10" w x 16" wide.

The vacuum is a 5.5 hp, 5 gallon Shop vac. I reworked the tubing to 2.5" from the standard 1.5". I have an electrician coming to work on some electrical then I will be done. Pretty sweet set up for the house.....PIMP my X02. The boys are going to use the table as a place to put all the hockey decals they get.

mnpucker - Old post, but still nice setup. I just got an X01, and I'm going to try and set up something similar - hope you're still following the thread.

In another post you mention you were able to thread 2.5" hose onto your Shop-vac. Is that a feature ? The Shop-vacs I see online all feature thinner intake hoses and I'm wondering how the Shop-vac can handle two diameters of hose. Also, did you go up to 2.5" simply to be able to mate to available fittings, or is there another reason ?

Also - do you need that "Big gulp" to the left of the sharpener ? Naively I'd expect that the dust collection port at the back should suffice, but is that not completely adequate ?

Do you wear a mask with that setup ?

What's the white thing (looks like a bag of flower) under the sharpener ?

I noticed yours isn't bolted down. I've only started mine up, but it seems to vibrate a bit on my tabletop - just an annoyance, really, and nothing that a rubber mat didn't fix. Can I assume the light weight of the X isn't a big enough problem to require bolting ?

Last question - did you need to ground your collection setup ?

[mnpucker 33]

I sent you a pm.

[dsedin 0]

My first post!! I`ve read thru every page of this thread, and for those in Vancouver, Sportchek at Pacific Centre has the FBV machine now....$4 per sharpening or $3 per sharpening if u buy the 10 sharpening card.

I tried the 100-50, as recommended by the tech there, but found it was waaaaaaaaay too much bite. I normally skate on half inch, and am gonna move down to 90-75.

One question I have for people, is....has anyone used the 90-50, how did they find it....THANKS.

[LkptTiger 1]

I'm on the 90/50. Took me a little getting used to coming from 3/4"...Bite feels pretty close to a 9/16", but obviously there is quite a bit more glide. I usually rub the edges down a little bit after sharpening.

[Chadd 916]

I'm on the 90/50. Took me a little getting used to coming from 3/4"...Bite feels pretty close to a 9/16", but obviously there is quite a bit more glide. I usually rub the edges down a little bit after sharpening.

I thought the 90/75 was pretty similar to 5/8 and the 90/50 is supposed to have less bite, is it not? Everyone here that is used to 1/2" says the 90-75 doesn't have enough bit for them.

[flyers10 57]

I went from 1/2" to 100/50 and it works well for me. I haven't noticed too much bite at all at 100/50.

[LkptTiger 1]

I'm on the 90/50. Took me a little getting used to coming from 3/4"...Bite feels pretty close to a 9/16", but obviously there is quite a bit more glide. I usually rub the edges down a little bit after sharpening.

I thought the 90/75 was pretty similar to 5/8 and the 90/50 is supposed to have less bite, is it not? Everyone here that is used to 1/2" says the 90-75 doesn't have enough bit for them.

Supposed to, yes - though I'm not convinced that these conversions are all that accurate. I think the FBV is a bit more suspect to personal feel than ROH; I think it can be difficult to make a direct translation for a lot of people. I actually found that the bite on both those offerings is pretty close, but I feel like the 90/50 just offers me a bit more glide and a tad more "release" coming out of tighter, high-speed turns, which I like.

[Jordan 13]

I have tried 90/75 and 90/50..and found the 90/50 a little too slippery, while the 90/75 about perfect..used to skate on 3/4

My son has been on 100/75, 90/75 and 90/50...he strongly prefers 90/50. I keep asking him if he wants to get a little more edge bite and try the 90/75 again and he won't. I guess that he likes the feel and he is the strongest skater on his team, so I guess that he will stay with 90/50, to each his own.

I do get a funny look when I get them sharpened...they always ask, "are you sure?".

[chiefs17 2]

For those X-01 owners out there (and possibly X-02?) that sharpen small childrens skates and want to squeeze a little more life out of your grinding wheels (you'll need to have the juevos to take a saw to your holder though)... cut off the front corners of the holder. This allows there to be less interference when going around the heel and toe of small skates. I did this with my upgraded X-01 holder but I suppose it would be applicable to the standard one as well. The tip came to me from someone else but I don't remember who so I can't credit them here.

The front corners of the base plate that is.

AfftonDad, that might have been me that gave you the suggestion on trimming the corners of the holder baseplate. I've done mine the same way, did it on the old consumer holder and also on the improved Tri Lie holder. Gives you a lot more life out of the wheels. In addition, I never use the guard on the machine, it hides too much of the wheel and it's quicker to change spinners without it. There is a little dust accumulation near the spinner knob mechanism, but I just give it a quick vacuum when I'm changing spinners.

[hcipractitioner 0]

I've been doing a lot of forum reading and research about the Blackstone X-01 / X-02 sharpeners and the FBV technology and I have a few questions I haven't seen specifically addressed in this forum yet.

In discussion with an employee about the X-01, they rated the motor's capacity at about 10 sharpenings a week (and assuming a 1 year warranty, we should get at least 520 sharpenings out of the motor). This kind of troubles me though, because saying the motor can only handle a certain number of sharpenings per week makes me worry about how the motor will wear down.

Has anyone been using a X-01 for personal use only (10 or less sharpenings a week) for an extended period and noticed any motor degradation?

Similarly, I'm wondering if anyone has a picture of the motor with a serial or ID to look into finding a replacement for it should it die.

Or even better, if someone has a picture / information on the professional series motor and would have the know how to replace the X-01 smaller motor with the more durable, beefier professional one (although I'm not sure if the case would allow for variation in wheel size, if there is between models).

[chiefs17 2]

I've been doing a lot of forum reading and research about the Blackstone X-01 / X-02 sharpeners and the FBV technology and I have a few questions I haven't seen specifically addressed in this forum yet.

In discussion with an employee about the X-01, they rated the motor's capacity at about 10 sharpenings a week (and assuming a 1 year warranty, we should get at least 520 sharpenings out of the motor). This kind of troubles me though, because saying the motor can only handle a certain number of sharpenings per week makes me worry about how the motor will wear down.

Has anyone been using a X-01 for personal use only (10 or less sharpenings a week) for an extended period and noticed any motor degradation?

Similarly, I'm wondering if anyone has a picture of the motor with a serial or ID to look into finding a replacement for it should it die.

Or even better, if someone has a picture / information on the professional series motor and would have the know how to replace the X-01 smaller motor with the more durable, beefier professional one (although I'm not sure if the case would allow for variation in wheel size, if there is between models).

hci, I have had my X-01 since Feb. 09 and I only do personal sharpenings, about 1 or 2 a week on average, with some weeks being a lot more. I would guess I have at least 100 sharpenings on the machine, probably more, with no sign of motor degradation. I have not opened the case to see what kind of motor is in there. I don't think the X-02 motor will fit, the housing seems way bigger than an X-01 housing. Sounds like a good question for Blackstone.

[coldshoulder 0]

My first post!! I`ve read thru every page of this thread, and for those in Vancouver, Sportchek at Pacific Centre has the FBV machine now....$4 per sharpening or $3 per sharpening if u buy the 10 sharpening card.

I tried the 100-50, as recommended by the tech there, but found it was waaaaaaaaay too much bite. I normally skate on half inch, and am gonna move down to 90-75.

One question I have for people, is....has anyone used the 90-50, how did they find it....THANKS.

Went from 1/2" hollow to 100/50 FBV & will never change back

The increased glide along with the bite is great

More speed and better turning

woooohoooo