The things sharpeners do

[cptjeff 0]

eyeballing it works to an extent. You're not going to get as accurate as using a (correctly calibrated and applied) edge checker, but you're not going to end up with your left edge a skyscraper and your right edge a townhouse.

Yeah, if you're practiced you can get really good results eyeballing it, even without a penny. No real trick to that, jut gotta have a good eye and practice. I will often do a skate by eye and then just use the checker to get that last bit perfect. There have been times when I've gotten it perfect just eyeballing, but usually it's a bit off.

Certainly not the end of the world if you have to do a skate by eye.

[raganblink 82]

Agreed, IMO if you can't tell if you did a decent job by eye you really shouldn't be sharpening skates. You know if you messed up by eye, and you know if you did a good job. Can you tell if it is perfect? No, but you can tell if its good enough for the typical customer.

[skyscrape 5]

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, why does it feel like I am skating on velcro for the first session when sharpener A sharpens with 5/8th's and when sharpener B sharpens my skates at 5/8th's, the first session on the ice is equal to the third ice session after I pick them up from sharpener A?

[VakarLajos 5]

some possibilities. one has a better technique and is giving a smoother edge. or the other doesn't know what 5/8 is.

[skyscrape 5]

some possibilities. one has a better technique and is giving a smoother edge. or the other doesn't know what 5/8 is.

Sharpener A is an old timer who has been sharpening forever and SHarpener B takes pride in hi sharpening. Can you over sharpen while maintaining the correct hollow?

[VakarLajos 5]

yeah. you make too many passes or apply too much pressure and can burn the blade.

[skyscrape 5]

yeah. you make too many passes or apply too much pressure and can burn the blade.

Would there be any visible markings or signs of this happening?

[VakarLajos 5]

a good sharpening should have all the lines going in the right direction, not like fishscales. Should be silver, not brownish. The edge should be smooth and crisp.

[theWB 2]

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, why does it feel like I am skating on velcro for the first session when sharpener A sharpens with 5/8th's and when sharpener B sharpens my skates at 5/8th's, the first session on the ice is equal to the third ice session after I pick them up from sharpener A?

A better sharpening will bite more (feel sharper) even if the hollows are the same. A clean evenly dressed wheel combined with even, well defined edges and steel that isn't burnt will "dig" into the ice more than a hackjob sharpening. The simple answer being that as long as they really are both using a 5/8's hollow on your skates, the "sharper" sharpening is the better one.

As far as what skyscrape asked, you can't technically over-sharpen. As long as your sharpener knows to keep light even pressure, knows how not to destroy your steel's radius, and checks his edges to ensure they are even, it doesn't matter if he makes 10 passes or 100, the "bite" will feel the same. Not everyone is capable of this and that leads us to Vakar's point of rough burnt sharpenings from too much pressure.

[skyscrape 5]

Thanks for the input! It doesn't appear to be brown or burnt, but maybe a slight look of fish scale's. My biggest issue is that I keep wearing out my inside edge's extremely fast. I am a big guy that must put some serious wear on the edges, but I am trying to find the right set up. I think I am over thinking the whole process!

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

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.

gotta be talking about play it again. i saw a ridiculous job come from there.

[tamtamg 12]

Got my skate sharpened and played some pick-up. My right skate felt really weird. I checked the edges, everything was level. Went skating again on them, same thing, right skate felt weird. I took off the blades to take a look at my steal, and i noticed this:

the right steel is about 3-4mm shorter than the left towards the front of the steel, and is even height towards the rear... is this normal?

[cptjeff 0]

Got my skate sharpened and played some pick-up. My right skate felt really weird. I checked the edges, everything was level. Went skating again on them, same thing, right skate felt weird. I took off the blades to take a look at my steal, and i noticed this:

the right steel is about 3-4mm shorter than the left towards the front of the steel, and is even height towards the rear... is this normal?

No. the guy ground off too much of one blade in the front and screwed up your profile. Unfortunately, that's one of those things that takes time, skill and effort to fix, and will eat up a good bit of your steel when you have it done.

Take them to a manager where you had them done or a guy you trust (not the one who did them that time), and show it to them, show them the receipt if you have it, and see if they'll fix it for you. They probably won't compensate you for the steel, but you should be able to get them to even it back out for you.

By the way, have you ever thought about getting your profile adjsuted to a more forward stance? Now's your chance to try it.

[jimmy 194]

Some of the STEP steel is defective and comes with heights and shapes very uneven right out of the package. Also they changed their heights in the past (they are shorter now). I've had several pairs come mismatched, and others just screwed up. For a while, every pair of 230mm steel I got was bad, severe reverse pitch and shorter in the back. STEP is a very good company though, and will replace them no problem. It's unlikely a sharpener did that, it would take a while and lot of intentional grinding to take off 3-4mm during just 1 sharpening..

[tamtamg 12]

Some of the STEP steel is defective and comes with heights and shapes very uneven right out of the package. Also they changed their heights in the past (they are shorter now). I've had several pairs come mismatched, and others just screwed up. For a while, every pair of 230mm steel I got was bad, severe reverse pitch and shorter in the back. STEP is a very good company though, and will replace them no problem. It's unlikely a sharpener did that, it would take a while and lot of intentional grinding to take off 3-4mm during just 1 sharpening..

hmm... if that's the case why didn't i notice this before? also, should i contact step directly or the LHS i bought them from?

[cptjeff 0]

hmm... if that's the case why didn't i notice this before? also, should i contact step directly or the LHS i bought them from?

That's why I was thinking it was the sharpener. Could still be the steel, but I think you would have noticed.

[jimmy 194]

Yea, odd that you didn't notice before but taking 4mm off in 1 sharpening is a lot of grinding.

[cptjeff 0]

Yea, odd that you didn't notice before but taking 4mm off in 1 sharpening is a lot of grinding.

Could have been a number of things though- could have been a newbie applying pressure unevenly at different points in his motion, burning a spot on the blade and trying to fix it up, getting it really uneven in the front and being told to fix it by his boss, or cross grinding one of those imperfections out just in the front without thinking of how much blade he was eating up...

It is a lot, but look at some of the other examples of what horrible sharpeners can do in this thread. What may shock us as the worst job ever done may look like decent work to the guys who do it.

[tamtamg 12]

I did leave the skates with them for a few hours cause i went to have lunch and run a few errands before hand. It's possible an employee started on one skate, and had to do something else, then came back and did the same skate again. Or they did come from the factory wrong like jimmy said, and i've never notice it before. Maybe JR, can give his input here, cause he was the only person to sharpen them before this.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

I did the initial grind and if there were some sort of imperfection, I would've noticed it and shaped the blade. My thought is that it happened after. Send me your blades and I'll shape them up.

[AHF 1]

I don't have a picture, but earlier today I sharpened a skate that still had 1/4 inch of crossgrinding marks on the toe.

I looked at the skate...paused for a moment...gave the dad a rather puzzled look...

He knew that I knew something wasn't right. He informed me that the skates were purchased earlier that day and that his son "wasn't sure" about the sharpening he had just received. Apparently, the kid at the store in question was having a rough time with the machine and actually suggested he go somewhere else to get them sharpened. ;)