Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[chiefs17 2]

Hi,

I have a x-01 sharpener for over 4 years. I normally use the orange grinding wheels, but recently purchase the ruby wheels. I am having an issue of the grinding wheel not holding its dressing after a few passes of the skate. It seems like the wheel is very soft compared to the orange. I have never had an issue before and have been sharpening skates for over 10 years. is it possible I have a bad batch of ruby wheels (bought 3 and scared to try the other 2)? I am also not able to achieve a proper sharpening with the ruby, and unfortunately I am out of orange wheels. any help would be appreciated

cheers

Hi jaahaa, I am having exactly the same problem as you are with the ruby wheel I'm using now. Same situation, have had the X-01 since it first came out, was it really 4 years ago? Man, time flies, but anyway. I am finding that there seems to be soft spots in these ruby wheels. I'll be going along sharpening and all of the sudden during the middle of a pass you can hear the machine make a much different grinding noise than typical. Sure enough, look at the blade right after and it's ground flat. It's like the steel of the blade is harder than the ruby wheel, and it's actually removing the profile from of the grinding wheel. I'm going to contact Blackstone about it and see what they say.

Anyone else having this issue?

Thanks.

[jazzyjoey 2]

Maybe you got a bad wheel? I've used the ruby wheel to sharpen black edge and the notably harder steel on my Makos with no problem. 95/75 FBV is my current dressing, but I've also used 100/50 with no problems.

[lovejotd 1]

I just recently acquired a Blackstone FC-01-SPIN Professional Portable Sharpener from a buddy of mine who is the equipment manager for a USHL Team. He was able to send me a few extra spinners and the holder, but he wasn't able to send me a skate checker. What skate checker do you recommend? I was looking at the bat cage by Blackstone as it matches the sharpener.

I am new to sharpening and watched a bunch of videos, and the portable X-01 and X-02 from Blackstone. So I have not seen anything in particular about the machine I got. Does anyone know if there is a distinct difference?

Also Does anyone know a good way of collecting the dust on these machines? I plan to set it up in my garage for 90% of the uses and take it on the road only when I need to.

[Nealoc187 10]

Do all you guys have really consistent ice where you skate? I am coming from D1 NCAA newly renovated facility ice which was awesome, to west suburban Chicago ice on which there's been figure skating, open skate, and 3 high school practices in the hours preceeding my late night games, which makes the ice range from mediocre, to bad (most often) to utterly terrible. Makes it hard to decide on a hollow or FBV setting. I always get 100/50 (that's what I settled on when I first started using FBV back years ago) but it (and any other hollows) seem to vary in effectiveness from one ice time to another, depending upon how fat the figure skaters were before my game and how long some facility worker left the Zamboni door open (humidity, temp).

Edited January 3, 2014 by Nealoc187

[Chadd 916]

I just recently acquired a Blackstone FC-01-SPIN Professional Portable Sharpener from a buddy of mine who is the equipment manager for a USHL Team. He was able to send me a few extra spinners and the holder, but he wasn't able to send me a skate checker. What skate checker do you recommend? I was looking at the bat cage by Blackstone as it matches the sharpener.

The Bat Gauge is ok, there are a number of other devices that work as well, or better. Opinions tend to vary on the different devices.

[lovejotd 1]

The Bat Gauge is ok, there are a number of other devices that work as well, or better. Opinions tend to vary on the different devices.

Which you recommend? I know the bat gauge fits on when its in the holder which seems nice, but i heard the Blademaster is more precise

[DigiV 6]

So in a fbv I can get a 1inch glide with like, say a 5/8 bite?

What would be a 3/4th in fbv?

What would be a 1inch?

[n3gkiwi 1]

So in a fbv I can get a 1inch glide with like, say a 5/8 bite?

What would be a 3/4th in fbv?

What would be a 1inch?

You can use this chart to compare 3/4 & 1 inch to FBV equivalents:

http://www.blackstonesport.com/FBV_Comparison_Chart.pdf

In theory you are supposed to get more glide with similar bite with FBV, but there is no comparison of exactly how much glide compared to traditional hollows you will get. No one can say that you get 1 inch glide with 5/8 bite. I have felt more glide on the ice using FBV versus traditional hollows.

Do all you guys have really consistent ice where you skate? I am coming from D1 NCAA newly renovated facility ice which was awesome, to west suburban Chicago ice on which there's been figure skating, open skate, and 3 high school practices in the hours preceeding my late night games, which makes the ice range from mediocre, to bad (most often) to utterly terrible. Makes it hard to decide on a hollow or FBV setting. I always get 100/50 (that's what I settled on when I first started using FBV back years ago) but it (and any other hollows) seem to vary in effectiveness from one ice time to another, depending upon how fat the figure skaters were before my game and how long some facility worker left the Zamboni door open (humidity, temp).

I have the same problem but it will be the exact same problem using a traditional hollow, BFD, or FBV.... Still it's frustrating playing on soft ice, with a 10:45 ice time, after 5 beer league teams have already played on it with little to no break in between scraping/cleaning. Then another day I'll go play at an arena with harder ice at 7am that no one has skated on. Lately I have just been using a 90/50 FBV setting and just try to adjust.

[n3gkiwi 1]

Which you recommend? I know the bat gauge fits on when its in the holder which seems nice, but i heard the Blademaster is more precise

I have no experience myself but was trying to get a rough budget for a personal sharpener so looked into accessories. People on the forum have mentioned they like the Blademaster BR100/BR200 or the "Edge Checker".

[Chadd 916]

So in a fbv I can get a 1inch glide with like, say a 5/8 bite?

What would be a 3/4th in fbv?

What would be a 1inch?

From what I recall, the X/50 is supposed to be roughly equal to 2.5" glide. the 100/50 is 1/2 to 9/16 and the 95/50 is closer to 7/8 according to the chart.

Which you recommend? I know the bat gauge fits on when its in the holder which seems nice, but i heard the Blademaster is more precise

I haven't used anything other than the bat gauge in years. I can make it work and I'm too cheap to buy a different model.

[AfftonDad 88]

I had the original bat gauge and didn't like it (they have supposedly improved it since). I also had a relatively inexpensive edge checker with a magnet on each piece and holes in it. I also made myself one like that out of angle aluminum and two magnets. Once I got my BR100 I found that the cheap edge checker was way off from what the BR100 says (I believe the BR100). I was able to bend the inexpensive one's T part to "match" the BR100 but I still use the BR100 (I in fact gave the cheap one away to a guy that sharpens at a rink and didn't have an edge checker). I vote for the BR100.

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

Steve's working on something new.

[hockeydad3 51]

Hi,

i´m living in germany and i want to buy a X-01 for my three boys because the next good sharpening service is 40km away. But the german company which has the rights for the import of Blackstone-Sharpening-Machines is not really willing to sell me one. Since weeks they tell me on the phone they would be able for the order the next week. Blackstone does not answer to my questions left on their homepage. Has anyone of you importet a X-01/02 to europe in a 220V version or does anyone of you use a voltage-converter with those machines ?

Thanks for your answers, Martin.

[Chadd 916]

As I understand it, you can only order the X02. I don't think there is a version of the X01 that will run on 220.

[lovejotd 1]

For you guys who have portable machines, [X-01, X-02 or FC-01] from blackstone. Do you leave your portable machine set up in the case when you use it at home? or did you mount it to a table or workbench? If you mounted it, How did you do it. Thanks!

[Chadd 916]

For you guys who have portable machines, [X-01, X-02 or FC-01] from blackstone. Do you leave your portable machine set up in the case when you use it at home? or did you mount it to a table or workbench? If you mounted it, How did you do it. Thanks!

I left my X02 in the case for a while but I ended up collecting too much dirt and dust in the case. Now, it just sits on a bench that I built. It isn't mounted, but if I was going to do it, I would use some carriage bolts through the surface of the bench.

[LupoFiasco 1]

I've been thinking about making the switch to FBV. I've only been skating about a year, experimenting with my hollow from time to time. I'm currently using 5/8 and while I enjoy the increased glide from a 3/8, I feel like I don't have as good of edge control.

I'm a big guy, so I'd like to glide a little more but without the sacrifice of being able to stop and turn well. Which FBV cut would anyone recommend?

[DEATHTRON 19]

100/75 for grip comparable to 3/8, 95/75 for something a little less sharp.

I started on the 100/75 after being on 3/8 my whole life, and then moved to 95/75 because I was curious. Have not went back to 100/75 since 95/75, not really planning to either.

Zach

[lovejotd 1]

I just recently acquired a Blackstone FC-01-SPIN Professional Portable Sharpener from a buddy of mine who is the equipment manager for a USHL Team. He was able to send me a few extra spinners and the holder, but he wasn't able to send me a skate checker. What skate checker do you recommend? I was looking at the bat cage by Blackstone as it matches the sharpener.

I am new to sharpening and watched a bunch of videos, and the portable X-01 and X-02 from Blackstone. So I have not seen anything in particular about the machine I got. Does anyone know if there is a distinct difference?

Also Does anyone know a good way of collecting the dust on these machines? I plan to set it up in my garage for 90% of the uses and take it on the road only when I need to.

Has anyone used the BR1000 before? Its the red checker from Blademaster. I went to order the BR100 and they were all out, they said they could send me the BR1000 for the same price. I did this, and now have it, and I cant really figure out how to use it.

[hockeydad3 51]

As I understand it, you can only order the X02. I don't think there is a version of the X01 that will run on 220.

Thank you for the informations.

I´ll buy a X-02. My boys (six and eight years old, two goalies and one player) are all on 1/2ROH. After reading this thread I think that 95/75 compares to 1/2ROH which I will complete with 90/75 and 100/75.

I hope the choice is ok for them. Will tell you in some weeks about my experience.

Martin

[Chadd 916]

As I have said a number of times, a lot of my guys love the 95/75 and they all came from 1/2" ROH.

[tomh7 2]

I currently have an EZ Sharp and I would like to upgrade. What I really need is a way to contour my blades. I was fortunate enough to learn a lot while I was in Montreal about sharpening and profiling and have become quite spoiled with my current skate setup. Since I am no longer in Montreal, I'd like to be able to profile my own skates. I am usually on the ice 3-5 days per week between refing and playing. Ideally I like to find a way to buy a shaping system and adapt the EZ-Sharp to it (re-machine the table) but i am open to buying a new machine. I haven't tried FBV (and quite frankly I am not in a hurry to) however, it would be nice to have the option in case I start doing friends skates also. Also, my son is starting to get really interested in skating and learning to play hockey (he is 4 now) so i can see this as a long term investment. As I said, the EZ-Sharp has worked well over the years (and it is what i learned on while working at an LHS in college) but I think it might be time to upgrade. I'd like some thoughts and input.

Thanks,

T

[Chadd 916]

As far as Blackstone goes, you have to go above the X series to get a machine where a shaping system is available. You could always do the old fashioned method, measuring and marking to get the points for manually profiling. If you aren't doing it commercially, it just makes more sense to send the steel off a couple times a year to be profiled by someone else.

[tomdonbo 0]

Hey Folks,

After much research on this board, I finally picked up an X01 a couple of weeks ago (3 kids in hockey, plus myself). I thought I would post a couple of comments/questions to the board based on my experience so far.

All parts for the sharpener arrived fine, and shipped quickly. I put everything together following the instructions. A couple of things that I found that don't seem quite right, the wheel rubs on the bottom of the opening in the housing unless it is placed just right. As the wheel shrinks I think this will be unavoidable. The good news is that the wheel grinds its own opening, but this doesn't seem right. Also, the wheel does not spin perfectly level, it is off by about 1/16 of an inch from highest to lowest. Because the spinner does not dress the blade in the same place as where the skate is sharpened, this means that the shape will be distorted. Wondering if anyone else has seen either of these issues.

Took me a while to get skates sharpened to something usable. A couple of issues I ran into with the FBV and the X01:

- Adjusting the skate up and down in the holder is not straightforward. For FBV, the bat gage will show a level sharpening for a wide range of heights. I think this is because the 'fangs' on FBV are so small that when one is missing or too small, the gage is still within one mark.

- Best way to tell if you are on track is to use the gage for a gross alignment, and just feeling the blade with your thumb in each direction to make sure there is a good sharp edge that feels the same (still working on getting this right)

- I am constantly dressing the wheel, at least once per skate. This is probably right, but more than I thought would be necessary.

Overall, I am disappointed with the build quality of the machine, and I'm also thinking that starting with a ROH may be best for a beginner.

As for the skates themselves, they don't feel like they have quite the same bit as a 1'2" ROH, but the glide is good (I have a 100/50 FBV).

Don

[Jordan 13]

100/50 FBV is more like a 1" ROH....

1/2" ROH is more like 95/75