The things sharpeners do

[DarkStar50 679]

When I get a pair of skates I don't recognize to sharpen, I often check the level to see what I'm dealing with. Today this is what I found.

Before

After

If anyone else wants to post some disasters they find, they can put them here.

[forbs02 20]

I wish I'd had my camera with me at work one day... A man brought in a pair of skates to be sharpened that he had had sharpened at a general sporting goods/camping store down the street. I looked at them and they had been sharpened to a point! I had never seen anything like it before. They must have put the skates in a knife sharpener or something. It was unbelievable!

I also do what you do and check the skate level before I start if the skates have been sharpened by someone other than myself. I've seen some really uneven sharpenings coming from other school's managers or if my girls had them sharpened at their local shops over breaks.

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

from yesterday...i was appalled.

[Gummer12 134]

Plz tell me that was a Cadillac skate lol

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

Peranis in Saginaw...lets just say i wasnt surprised.

[VakarLajos 5]

there's a large box store near my shop that sharpens skates. I cannot tell you how many times people have brought me their skates after going there to fix them.

The main problem? The sharpenings not finished. Cross grind marks instead of edges...

I tell the customer, "There are good places in the city to go to. Here, ___, ___, and ____. All good places and I respect the people there. Not telling you we're the only place to go, but please do NOT go back to this place! For the safety of your skates and yourself!

[epstud74 24]

[Chadd 916]

Had these come from the shop around the corner. They were brand new and this was how they sent them out the door.

[raganblink 82]

You guys seemed shocked your local competition sucks. I've known this for years. When you go to the other places here you either get what Chaad has, or they sharpen the skates at a point for each side of the hollow, to make it literally look like \/.

I don't get how its hard to sharpen correctly.... make sure your top plate is level and hasn't jolted up; make sure skate is on holder and spring correctly; make passes, check them, finish. Pretty sure any idiot can do this.

[jimmy 194]

A skate that comes into a shop for sharpening SHOULD have uneven edges. The natural act of skating wears edges down, especially on the dominant foot. For most skaters, this is inside edge on the lead (push) skate, and outside edge on the heel. That's why we bring skates to a sharpener, to resharpen of course but also to rebuild the edges/hollow. In many cases it's unfair to blame an uneven edge on the previous sharper, some sharpeners even use that as a ploy to trick the customer that their sharpening is better. Having said that, yes bad sharpeners are out there and they can create un-level edges, but a 1-2thou off on a quick-square will be normal when skates are dull and ready to be sharpened.

[Gummer12 134]

Looking at those pictures...those are More than just a Thou or two off. And are obviously uneven sharpen jobs.

[VakarLajos 5]

One of the guys at the rink who sharpens has the idea that the skate MUST stand up. If it doesn't stand up, it's a terrible job. Some of the skates he's done have been worse than anything posted on this thread. Sure, they stand up, but the indie edge is an inch higher than the outside edge.

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

yeah slightly uneven is one thing, to be as off as these are, takes some (bad) work

[VakarLajos 5]

I'd also like to see the finish on these skates. I'm positive there's massive fish scales on some of them.

[Gummer12 134]

One of the guys at the rink who sharpens has the idea that the skate MUST stand up. If it doesn't stand up, it's a terrible job. Some of the skates he's done have been worse than anything posted on this thread. Sure, they stand up, but the indie edge is an inch higher than the outside edge.

Standing skates is totally the wrong way to go. There are so many variables that can make a skate loose it's balance from standing on it's blade like a mismounted holder.

[VakarLajos 5]

if the blade is off center, an old skate will shift the padding and weight, SO many variables just in the skate. What if the table is off?!

Just a horrible concept.

I was working with Ron Duguay last year and he had a pair of Vectors with horribly mounted holders on them. In order to get him comfortable on the ice I had to make the edges uneven. First time a guy had ever asked for a terrible sharpening job and be happy with it. hehe

[Law Goalie 147]

Had a couple of beauties a while back at a shop with an otherwise pristine reputation.

The first one, I had popped down to the basement of the shop to look for some 3mm cord, and all of a sudden, I realised I could hear the sharpening upstairs - and it sounded *wrong*. Sure enough, I went back up, and noticed three things: first, the kid who was originally sharpening the skates was gone, and one of the managers was in there; second, when the skates came out, the steel was so hot that the well-nuts and bolts were too hot to touch; third, there was, I kid you not, half a centimetre of steel missing from the toe of each skate. To their credit, I was asked if I needed the skates right away (I didn't), and was handed a pair of new pair of blades, profiled and sharpened, before I left the shop.

The second time was kind of my fault. The two guys I trust weren't there - one for coffee, one because of a bad case of burrito-runs - so I handed my skates over to a new kid, on the theory that he'd probably been trained already. The blank stare I got when I asked for 7/16ths was probably not a good sign. Nor was the fact that he didn't start to sharpen them until I'd left to check out the goalie section, and when I came back, it was just in time to hear the real sharpener come back in with a loud, "What the hell are you doing?" No damage done, except to the kid's ego.

[Ivan 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPB9oTETXLQ :D

[Law Goalie 147]

Now if he put his whole bodyweight forward and leaned into it like he was pushing a fridge up a ramp...

[AIREAYE 248]

When i was anew skater, I got my skates sharpened at a local supermarket...dont ask me why, i dont remember. The guy there gives me this insanely deep hollow, deeper than 1/4"...dont remember how i managed to survive

[Race4LastPlace 31]

Never touched a sharpener, but guarantee i cant do worse than the guys here in louisville.

But this was after the last time i sent them out. Felt like my FBV was round on my inside edge. Thought my groin was going to explode during the game...

[jumtao 0]

Up until the last 10 years or so I didn't even know a skate sharpen can be so complicated with all the different hollows and the level of the blades.

I used to take mine to PIAS or pop in one of those machines at Canadian Tire when I was a kid. Honestly, I couldn't even tell the difference between a good sharpen/bad sharpen/dull blades back then. Note that my parents have no clue about hockey or equipment LOL

Boy have I learned the difference now :D

[SirJW 207]

One time I had my skates sharpened by a guy screaming at his g/f w the phone on his shoulder. Needless to say I knew it would a crap job but I figured there was no point in trying to reason w/ him at the moment.

[UMWhockey 0]

there is a place in the area that has a sharpener, but isn't really a hockey pro shop. Not sure what they are doing when they sharpen, but it really looks like they are trying to make the blade into a point. Not really sure how they are able to do it, but it is impressive to say the least. Needless to say I have to take the crossgrinder to it as it would take forever otherwise.

[hockeyluke88 0]

Peranis in Saginaw...lets just say i wasnt surprised.

Every time I get my skates sharpened there they come out worse than when I brought them in...i'll learn one of these days. <_<