Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

X01 isn't out yet, so everyone who has a portable has an X02.

I think if you are doing 4 pr of skates a week, you're better suited for the X01. However, the FBV could catch on and you may be finding yourself doing more, so that's something to consider.

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

Got my X02 today - took a bit to get used to because I am coming from full machines - called Blackstone a couple of times at the risk of sounding like an idiot LOL...

But I just did a few sets of spare holders I had in the garage and I'm starting to dial it in really good. Sharpens with ease and once I harness it and get some supplies, the finish is going to be amazing.

[Ivan 1]

Got my X02 today - took a bit to get used to because I am coming from full machines - called Blackstone a couple of times at the risk of sounding like an idiot LOL...

But I just did a few sets of spare holders I had in the garage and I'm starting to dial it in really good. Sharpens with ease and once I harness it and get some supplies, the finish is going to be amazing.

JR, I noticed that you clamp the holder the opposite way vs. Blackstone video. Any reason for that?

Thanks

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

Personal preference.

[Ivan 1]

Personal preference.

You mind my asking based on what in your case?

[Stephen11 0]

Not sure if it's necessary to pile on at this point, but I just skated tonight on the FBV 1/2" equivalent, and the difference is definitely not subtle. I play defense, and the extra glide was really noticeable when skating backwards defending a breakout. In fact, I had to adjust a little because I was giving up too much gap at first due to the extra speed. There were also a number of times where I got to loose pucks in the corner that I wasn't expecting to be able reach in time - the glide just keeps carrying you. Again, I didn't think it was a subtle difference at all. I was getting pleasantly surprised all night.

As far as edges are concerned, lately I've been skating in a 9/16", so I was right between the 1/2" and 5/8" equivalents. I decided to go down because I figured why not get a little more bite and I'd been skating on 1/2" last year anyway. The bite is definitely there. For me, maybe too much as I got a little chatter on my stops - felt almost more like a 3/8". I might go with less bite next time, but by then I might have adjusted to it anyway. The amazing thing is that when you look at the blade, it barely looks and feels like there's any hollow on there at all. Yet the edges are definitely there when you skate.

The kicker was that I busted out my first breakaway in years tonight (maybe ever). And no, I didn't score since my hands still suck. Heck, maybe it's just coincidence or confidence, but either way, I felt like I was flying tonight. I'm definitely going to be sticking with it.

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

Personal preference.

You mind my asking based on what in your case?

I like to have more control over the toe and I can ease off the heel.

There is only ONE skate that I sharpen toe in, and that is any CCM or RBK LEFT skate. The holder design hits the base of the yoke on the holder and tilts it.

[monoclub 5]

Doesn't seem to have been much said about the rpms - 6,500 is almost double standard machines. Thats got to have an impact on the finish you get, perhaps even the number of passes required and the intervals between cleaning the wheel? Is the increase in rpms all down to the smaller wheel size? How many "standard" sharpenings do you get on the smaller wheel? how does it compare with the 8" wheels? Does this factor in the additional life you get with the spinner system?

Switching between radiai for the FBV, it doesn't appear to me like it would take off so much of the wheel as with a standard single point wheel shaper, is that what you guys have found? Someone directed my question yesterday about figure skaters using it as being 4 posts previous, I can't find it, went through the whole 30 pages looking for it, would appreciate a more accurate instruction on that, as well as some feedback on how goalies have fared on the FBV. All questions that need to be answered before/if I ditch my current machine...

[Ivan 1]

Personal preference.

You mind my asking based on what in your case?

I like to have more control over the toe and I can ease off the heel.

There is only ONE skate that I sharpen toe in, and that is any CCM or RBK LEFT skate. The holder design hits the base of the yoke on the holder and tilts it.

Appreciate it, JR. Sure useful for me to know.

[Ivan 1]

Tried the 100/75 on my new One95s. Unbelievable glide, turns. Except for stoping:) Will try 90/75 next skate (new rink, softer ice).

One thing I've noticed is that for some reason it's sorta hard to polish the blade either with Lube Tube or Fine Shine as well as when I use the regular spinner dresser. The finish before the final pass s just a little bit on the rogh side. I wonder if the lower speed of my Turbo Spinner (4100 rpm) (I don't own an XO1 or X02) or the kind of grinding wheel (Blactone Black Walnut) is the cause. Don't have that problem with regular spinner dressers with the above grinding wheel. I tend to think it's the grinding wheel. Will try a different wheel and a 90/75 FBV

Any comments reg. the above will be appreciated

Skated on FBV 100/75 for the first time today...........unbelievable glide.....they did not dissapoint as I was gliding MUCH faster than usual.....got to alot more pucks and I felt less fatigue as you can coast more......skated for a hour so havent really experimented yet but I can confirm the glide is unreal.........very smooth

How was your stopping?

[JR Boucicaut 3793]

Vlad -

We have to work at it because we are used to the standard machines - it will take a bit.

[frankie56 0]

Doesn't seem to have been much said about the rpms - 6,500 is almost double standard machines. Thats got to have an impact on the finish you get, perhaps even the number of passes required and the intervals between cleaning the wheel? Is the increase in rpms all down to the smaller wheel size? How many "standard" sharpenings do you get on the smaller wheel? how does it compare with the 8" wheels? Does this factor in the additional life you get with the spinner system?

Switching between radiai for the FBV, it doesn't appear to me like it would take off so much of the wheel as with a standard single point wheel shaper, is that what you guys have found? Someone directed my question yesterday about figure skaters using it as being 4 posts previous, I can't find it, went through the whole 30 pages looking for it, would appreciate a more accurate instruction on that, as well as some feedback on how goalies have fared on the FBV. All questions that need to be answered before/if I ditch my current machine...

I don't sharpen skates, but I do use grinders. The faster RPM will generate more heat.

[goblue9280 33]

Doesn't seem to have been much said about the rpms - 6,500 is almost double standard machines. Thats got to have an impact on the finish you get, perhaps even the number of passes required and the intervals between cleaning the wheel? Is the increase in rpms all down to the smaller wheel size?

Not sure if this is the reasoning, but for an object in circular motion, the velocity of the object is equal to the angular rate of rotation multiplied by the radius of the circle. So in this case if you want to maintain the same velocity of the outer edge of the grinding wheel when stepping down from an 8" to 4" wheel, you'd have to double the rpm's (rate of angular motion).

[mnpucker 33]

What was that stuff you said about the junk regarding the thing?????? You do know you are on a hockey website right? haha Ok I think I have a valid response but will curl up into a ball if you challenge me by any sort of a reply that requires me to develop an educated response.....

Here it is.

Wouldn't any discussion involving rpm's depend on where the rpm's are measured? Probably a better question, are rpm's the same if they are measured at the edge of the wheel or at the axle of the grinder? I know more about boat motors and over the years the Horse power rating has change from measuring at the power head to measuring at the propeller.

Again probably a worthless question because I own a X02 and my conclusion is it has all the rpm's you would need. It does a great job.

[Jordan 13]

Probably a better question, are rpm's the same if they are measured at the edge of the wheel or at the axle of the grinder?

Ummm, well...when the axle spins around one time, so does the disk. It doesn't matter what size the disk is.

The previous poster made sense when talking about the speed of the grinding surface at the edge of the wheel.

[rebel96 0]

What was that stuff you said about the junk regarding the thing?????? You do know you are on a hockey website right? haha Ok I think I have a valid response but will curl up into a ball if you challenge me by any sort of a reply that requires me to develop an educated response.....

Here it is.

Wouldn't any discussion involving rpm's depend on where the rpm's are measured? Probably a better question, are rpm's the same if they are measured at the edge of the wheel or at the axle of the grinder? I know more about boat motors and over the years the Horse power rating has change from measuring at the power head to measuring at the propeller.

Again probably a worthless question because I own a X02 and my conclusion is it has all the rpm's you would need. It does a great job.

Yes RPM's would be the same. However the length of the arc that passes in a given amount of time would be alot less on a smaller diameter wheel.

Say for example you have a wheel that turns at 60RPMs there fore it goes at 1 RPS(econd) so in a 1/4 of a second the wheel goes from point A to point B. Same for a big wheel or a small wheel. Nevertheless, it's clear to see that the distance travelled on the big wheel is much greater than that on a small one.

Hope that makes sense

[RadioGaGa 162]

Well...after 9 skates on my MSH Skate FBV...looks like I'm due for a sharpen. I suppose it could be worse...I only have to drive half an hour for the closest location that does it.

[Race4LastPlace 31]

finally got to skate in the fbv tonight. went with 90/75 on my v08's. all i can say is WOW. Only fell once B) . only took a few minutes to adjust, and everything was just so smooth. Turns, stops, everything. I noticed i was weaving through defenders like ive never been able to before. Cant wait to skate again! Will be mailing out my spare set of rocket runners for the fbv treatment asap!

[epstud74 24]

The FBV seems to have more "bite" than I'm used to. I usually sharpen my skates at 7/8 up to 1", but opted for the FBV and it is nice, you get a lot of glide, but it does take some adjusting.

[Guitarmy 0]

Received my new blades today from No Icing (ordered the right size this time!), put them on and went to my evening drop-in session. I got there early and the public skate was still going on, so I decided to try them out there before the game. Initial impression was that the glide was amazing! Coming from a 7/16 hollow, the 100/75 had a teeny bit more bite to it, which took me only a couple minutes to adjust to. I skated from the goal line to the blue line, and was able to glide more than one and a half times around the rink before getting too slow. And this was near the end of public skate, when the ice was at it's worst. I also get the feeling of the blades "ironing" out the bumps.

Since there was almost none of the regular crowd at tonight's session, I couldn't really compare the gains in speed to before. But I did notice that my acceleration and top speed has improved. The adjustments I had to make was minimal, I almost forgot I had them on at times. Really, that 10 minutes of public skate was enough for me to make the switch.

There is another drop-in session on Monday and Wednesday with the regular crowd. I will find out then if I can out skate some of these guys that was as fast or faster than me before.

For now, I am sold on the FBV. Thank you MSH and this most informative thread. :)

Edited January 18, 2009 by Guitarmy

[Ivan 1]

Vlad -

We have to work at it because we are used to the standard machines - it will take a bit.

Ummm, I 'm still a novice in sharpening. :D Yet, the Turbo Spinner portable that I have has been very easy to figure things out (with the regular spinner dresser) - sharp even edges and neat smooth finish

Today I tried the 90/75 FBV. The spinner dressers (even the regular non -FBV ones (on my machine) seem to be a hair off in terms of alignment to the wheel (that's what I think judging by the wear line on the dresser). I didn't spend much time trying to play with one of the edges by adjusting the holder. I just clamped the skate the other way around and was done. Sharp even edges and smooth finish. I haven't skated on them yet, though. But looks very good so far.

[canoebears 0]

The FBV really is incredable. SAK can confirm how dissapointed I was with

the original spinner system to the point that I ordered the diamond dresser

system to replace the spinner on our stealth. Steve talked me into trying

the FBV before switching, thank god. We do on average 300 pr a week and

our serious hockey customers just love the FBV. We have the number 1 rated

cjahl team in the country, salmon arm silverbacks, and they love this sharpening.

Thank you Blackstone for making my job so much more enjoyable.

[pmspaul 0]

I was able to try out new runners in my One90's from No-Icing today. I used them for coaching, and then an adult league game a few hours later.

First, No-Icing's service was fantastic. I filled out the skater questionnaire on Tuesday evening, got my response from Bob Wednesday morning, placed my order that day and he had them here in Ohio on Saturday.

I went with all of Bob's recommendations for the combination radius and pitch and had them sharpened with the 1/2" FBV. He set me up with an 8'/13' radius and minor forward pitch. I assumed there would be an adjustment period, but honestly, I hopped on the ice and everything just felt perfect for me. I really needed no adjustment for anything. I thought the pitch adjustment would throw me a little, but it just made the knee bend more natural.

Now, for the FBV. I picked the 1/2", which I understand to be the 100/75, correct? It pretty much felt like my regular 1/2" in terms of bite. I definitely noticed more glide, but I can't really quantify it, other than to say I just kept going when I stopped striding. I was hoping I'd be able to say that it required less energy for the game, but we only had 7 guys show up, so I can't say for sure how much the FBV helped with fatigue tonight.

What I can say I noticed the most is that I felt on top of the ice instead of digging into it when doing tight turns and crossovers. I'm not as light as I used to be, so I'm accustomed to that feeling of really digging in when I cut hard or turn tight. With the FBV, I have plenty of bite to hold the turn, but I had more speed and felt lighter on my skates when driving out of the turn.

Now it looks like I'll have to replace my old (read: borderline antique) sharpener with one from Blackstone so I can keep skating on the FBV. Looks like it's X02 time. Oh darn.

Thanks for reading,

-Paul

[Ivan 1]

The FBV really is incredable. SAK can confirm how dissapointed I was with

the original spinner system to the point that I ordered the diamond dresser

system to replace the spinner on our stealth. Steve talked me into trying

the FBV before switching, thank god. We do on average 300 pr a week and

our serious hockey customers just love the FBV. We have the number 1 rated

cjahl team in the country, salmon arm silverbacks, and they love this sharpening.

Thank you Blackstone for making my job so much more enjoyable.

What hollow FBVs did you get and and which ones you use most?

Thanks

[dalebert 8]

My steel cracked last night in my game and since I'm off now for a little while and I have some extra steel laying around my room so I finally got around to sending an e-mail to no icing sports. I can't wait to try out the FBV. :)