Blackstone Flat-Bottom V Thread

[Chadd 916]

I put two guys on it for our playoff game tonight and two more asked me to do their skates for next week.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Put one kid from University of Central Florida in them - his linemates are next. Might have the whole team in it soon enough.

[pmspaul 0]

I put Denison University's (club) coach on a 90/75 for his monday night practice. He gave me 3 of his players skates to get the FBV for their next home game thursday. He feels there will be more players going to it after these 3 debut it.

[goodguy 7]

Arctic Pond in Plymouth Michigan has a Blackstone and got him interested in FBV - Get him the spinners PLEASE....

Edited February 25, 2009 by goodguy

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Arctic Pond in Plymouth Michigan has a Blackstone and got him interested in FBV - Get him the spinners PLEASE....

Yeah but if he has a conventional Blackstone sharpener, which I am pretty positive he does, he can't do them.

[Ivan 1]

Seem to be getting quite better finishing/polishing results by putting some Fine Shine on top of Lube Tube before final pass. Again, I am using a regular Turbo Spinner portable, not an X-01 or X0-2.

With the regular (non-FBV) spinner dresser polishiing has never been a problem. Using the full size Black Walnut grinding wheel.

I've been getting a fantastic finish with the regular spinner on my X02 and the stock wheel. I did up some old tacks and the finish was stunning for a portable.

Yeah, with the regular spinner I get perfect finish even without Lube Tube or Fine Shine. With the FBV seem to be getting there too now.

I'm there now. Guess been lacking general sharpening experience. The finish on FBV is perfect now :D

Edited February 26, 2009 by Ivan

[goodguy 7]

Arctic Pond in Plymouth Michigan has a Blackstone and got him interested in FBV - Get him the spinners PLEASE....

Yeah but if he has a conventional Blackstone sharpener, which I am pretty positive he does, he can't do them.

You are right again JR...damn..

Hate to reread all 47 pages of posts but what Blackstones (beyond the X01 and X02) can take the fbv spinner?

Edited February 26, 2009 by goodguy

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Arctic Pond in Plymouth Michigan has a Blackstone and got him interested in FBV - Get him the spinners PLEASE....

Yeah but if he has a conventional Blackstone sharpener, which I am pretty positive he does, he can't do them.

You are right again JR...damn..

Hate to reread all 47 pages of posts but what Blackstones (beyond the X01 and X02) can take the fbv spinner?

Stealth triple head and F-02-SPIN portable.

[scorer75 9]

So far my research says everyone who has switched to FBV either notices a slight improvement or loves it.

Has anyone who has gone to FBV switched back???

If yes, why?

[hcm 0]

Hi all,

I've just bought an X02 and I'm wondering if the wave pattern I can notice on the blade after a sharpening has anything to do with the quality or not of the sharpening ?

thank you

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Yes, your final pass needs work. It comes over time, or in some cases, doesn't come at all.

[mnpucker 33]

Make sure you properly dress the wheel. also make sure your spinner is spinning when you dress the wheel. I have the X02 and I found that the spinner can tighten to the point that it does not spin on new machines. To fix you need to take the spinner nut off and break in the spring washer on the under side. I simply took a pliers and clamped down on the repeatedly for a few minutes. Re-install and try it again. I think you will find that the wheel was not dressed consistently (not perfectly round) which causes the waves you were talking about. Since I did this I have gotten an amazing finish.

[hcm 0]

yes I did notice the spinner was not turning at first and I did fix it like you explained but it doesn't seem to help in terms of the wave pattern.

any tips for the final pass JR ? as per the video the final pass should be faster but from what I noticed the slower I go the less wave pattern appears on the blade but going too slow risk getting burned marks on them. Is the lub suposed to help clearing this wave on the final pass or is it for another purpose ?

[Ivan 1]

You need to do the final pass SLOWLY. Lube Tube/ Fine Shine polishes the blade.

To the best of my knowledge, the final pass on the video IS SLOW http://www.vimeo.com/1739055

Think polishing(not sharpening) when you're doing the final pass. VERY light and gentle pressure. And again, GO SLOW. Takes a little bit of time to get used to.

Good luck!

Edited February 26, 2009 by Ivan

[TBLfan 25]

[jimmy 194]

So far my research says everyone who has switched to FBV either notices a slight improvement or loves it.

Has anyone who has gone to FBV switched back???

If yes, why?

I've only had a total of 3 people of about 800 who tried it who switched back. Two said the 100/75 wasn't sharp enough, one said he just liked his old hollow better, but didn't dislike the FBV. So, 3 of about 800 is pretty good results. I think once you find the FBV setting that feels best for you, you'll be happy. If you're looking for someone who might say, the FBV sucks, I just don't think that's going to happen. :-) it's just too good.

[krwwc6 0]

For those of you in St. Louis, Johnny Mac's on watson now has FBV installed on their blackstone.

[goodguy 7]

To those who own the x01 or x02:

I'm looking at the financials behind either machine and what the break even is.

And scenarios you ran through before buying one (i.e. on a personal level, it would take X number of sharpenings to break even).

-or- are you charging teammates for sharpenings, etc. How much...

Or was a payback not really a factor and it is just convenient (and fun) to do your own sharpenings?

Thanks

[Chadd 916]

To those who own the x01 or x02:

I'm looking at the financials behind either machine and what the break even is.

And scenarios you ran through before buying one (i.e. on a personal level, it would take X number of sharpenings to break even).

-or- are you charging teammates for sharpenings, etc. How much...

Or was a payback not really a factor and it is just convenient (and fun) to do your own sharpenings?

Thanks

I'm better than anyone else in the area and I needed a machine as I'm not running a shop anymore. I do skates for people I know and like. I haven't been charging anyone that I've talked into trying the FBV. Don't buy one hoping to get good enough to make money on it. There are way too many hacks out there doing skates and doing it simply for money is the wrong reason to buy a sharpener. Very few people who are only in it for the money are very good at sharpening skates.

[scorer75 9]

So far my research says everyone who has switched to FBV either notices a slight improvement or loves it.

Has anyone who has gone to FBV switched back???

If yes, why?

I've only had a total of 3 people of about 800 who tried it who switched back. Two said the 100/75 wasn't sharp enough, one said he just liked his old hollow better, but didn't dislike the FBV. So, 3 of about 800 is pretty good results. I think once you find the FBV setting that feels best for you, you'll be happy. If you're looking for someone who might say, the FBV sucks, I just don't think that's going to happen. :-) it's just too good.

Thanks for the reply. Not looking for someone to tell me it sucks, just looking from input from you guys as I'm gonna try FBV next week for the first time.

It's hard to believe something so new and revolutionary has been so well accepted.

I'm Looking forward to trying it.

[pmspaul 0]

To those who own the x01 or x02:

I'm looking at the financials behind either machine and what the break even is.

And scenarios you ran through before buying one (i.e. on a personal level, it would take X number of sharpenings to break even).

-or- are you charging teammates for sharpenings, etc. How much...

Or was a payback not really a factor and it is just convenient (and fun) to do your own sharpenings?

Thanks

I went with X02 just thinking that I would have more and more people wanting the FBV, and thus I would prefer the heavier duty of the 2 portables. I wasn't worried about breakeven or profitability. I do not charge people to try out the FBV, but if they like it, I'll charge $3-5 to sharpen depending on how much I like them.

I knew how to sharpen skates, and since moving here I haven't been able to find a place I trust to do a good job. So I wanted to just do them myself for my family of 4 and some of the kids I coach. If sharpening other people's skates makes me enough money to pay for wheels and spinners, then it's all good.

My experience so far, if you can do a good job sharpening, word spreads fast.

[jimmy 194]

To those who own the x01 or x02:

I'm looking at the financials behind either machine and what the break even is.

And scenarios you ran through before buying one (i.e. on a personal level, it would take X number of sharpenings to break even).

-or- are you charging teammates for sharpenings, etc. How much...

Or was a payback not really a factor and it is just convenient (and fun) to do your own sharpenings?

Thanks

I went with X02 just thinking that I would have more and more people wanting the FBV, and thus I would prefer the heavier duty of the 2 portables. I wasn't worried about breakeven or profitability. I do not charge people to try out the FBV, but if they like it, I'll charge $3-5 to sharpen depending on how much I like them.

I knew how to sharpen skates, and since moving here I haven't been able to find a place I trust to do a good job. So I wanted to just do them myself for my family of 4 and some of the kids I coach. If sharpening other people's skates makes me enough money to pay for wheels and spinners, then it's all good.

My experience so far, if you can do a good job sharpening, word spreads fast.

Make sure if you are charging people that you have the proper city, state and federal business licenses, and report your profits to the IRS and your state. If you charge, you are no longer a home sharpener, you are a business. You don't want to get caught doing it under the table or without licenses. As soon as your LHS finds out you are, they'll drop a dime to the IRS, etc. You definitely don't want that.

[hcm 0]

Ivan,

I think I was generally exerting too much pressure so thank you for that tip. and for the video I was looking at this one... http://www.portableskatesharpener.com/blac...ning_video.html

it's on the main page showing the X02 model just at the right of the 1:46min video you've sent me. you'll see "click here to view our training video"

on this video the guy did say the final pass should be made in "half the speed of the regular passes" for myself I was captivated by what I saw at that moment so that I was pretty sure I had heard in "half the time of the regular passes" which would be a faster final pass. that's my mistake.

I was curious to what lead me to believe the final pass should be faster so I looked at this part of the video several times and I took some notes.

in the sharpening process segment the blade touches the disk for the 1st pass is done in 3.68secs

in the knowing when the blade is sharp segment the blade touches the disk for the 1st pass in 4.23secs 2nd pass 3.32secs 3rd pass 3.71secs.

in the final pass segment the blade touches the disk for 2.88secs

so on this video the final pass is actually faster then all the above previous passes. the narration doesn't match the example on this case.

the final pass on the video you're reffering to is done in 9.30secs.

as for the guy not looking at what he's doing video from TBLfan, he's done his last pass in 21.48secs.

[TBLfan 25]

That "guy not looking" is JR. haha.

[goodguy 7]

Got my sons skates FBV'd today 90/75.

Got a little training on the machine (not hands on of course) and the spinner concept looks like an amazing innovation. Pretty foolproof compared to the old way. Sharpener said he has had no complaints and only good reviews of the FBV.

Feeling the blade after sharpening, it felt flatter (like a goalie skate) but still very sharp whcih I knew would be that case but it wa interesting. Wasn't as dramatic a feel difference with the finger as I thought (but hell it is the skating that matters not my stupid finger) Gentleman said his FBV users are getting more time between sharpenings also.

From what I could gather, if FBV "takes the market by storm" it looks like Blackstone could have a corner on the market.

Will report back as to how he likes them tomorrow.

Taking him to the new Puckmasters training center in the next few minutes to get some ice time with them and see if he falls on his ass or skates like the wind.

UPDATE: OK, got some good results from the FBV. Unfortunately puckmasters only has 1/4 ice and it is pretty rough as I dont think they zam it but one or twice a day - it was like pond hockey grade.

Anyway, as far as edges and movement, I could see no negative - in fact it looke dlike he was more agile on on the FBV sharpening than a regular one (hard to tell).

Well the initial test was good but we will se when he jump on the real (just zam'ed) ice for his 10:00 playoff game tomorrow. From how he was skating tonight, I think he will be fine.

BTW, he was dying to try the synthetic ice sheet next to the real ice and I said "no way" as I didn't know if the stuff would dull the sharpening I ran all over to get. But I let him try it anyway for a few - like skating through sludge. The EBV seemed to be as sharp as ever.

Edited February 28, 2009 by goodguy