Eying up a good/bad sharpening

[rebel96 0]

Hey,

I've played inline hockey for years (no ice rinks where I live ) and skated on ice whenever the opportunity arose but I finally have the opportunity to play competitive ice hockey in leagues etc. There's not too many places to get skates sharpened around here...pretty much limited to the proshop at the rink....so I don't know if they guys there do a good or a bad job. I'm leaning towards getting them done at noicingsports by mail since bob gets such good reviews here.

Basically I'm wondering if any of the sharpeners on the board would have any tips on what to look for when eying up the blade after it's been sharpened but before you skate on it?

And by skating on them how could I tell if I'd had a bad sharpening done?....besides something obvious like constantly loosing an edge.

Thanks,

Dave

[EvenEdgesMN 0]

the most easiest thing you can see right away is the finish on the blade, it should be totally even, smoother the better and no burning. A good smooth even finish will give you better glide then one that looks like fish scales. If your eyes are good you can check the edges by looking down the blade, but if you do not know what your looking for with the edges you can put a dime on there to help check to make sure they are even. If you can not tell anything from that then you could go as far as getting a level from somewhere like blade master or blackstone that will tell you if the edges are even.

You can also listen while they are being sharpened. If the sound changes, then the pressure or the speed is too, which leads to bad blade radius. If you notice the toes or heels are wearing down real fast, thats a sign of that also.

I would give your local shop a try, seems like most rink sharpeners care or they don't, no in-between.