Blade Profile

[greenstripetowel 1]

Hello, i have Graf 735 skates. I had them profiled when i bought them. The blade has noticably less steel in the front compared to the back and the toe is rounded off a lot. Being grafs, the boot has a forward pitch already, and im thinking i should have left the profile alone or left the pitch neutral. My skating feels fine, my problem is that i find my balance is off when im shooting. For example on my follow through i feel i need to take an extra step so i dont fall forward. Does anyone have any advice for me or have a similar problem. thanks. Here is a picture of my skates.

[ZombieAttack27 1]

Hello, i have Graf 735 skates. I had them profiled when i bought them. The blade has noticably less steel in the front compared to the back and the toe is rounded off a lot. Being grafs, the boot has a forward pitch already, and im thinking i should have left the profile alone or left the pitch neutral. My skating feels fine, my problem is that i find my balance is off when im shooting. For example on my follow through i feel i need to take an extra step so i dont fall forward. Does anyone have any advice for me or have a similar problem. thanks. i will post a pic but cant figure out how yet. help with that would be great too thanks lol.

Not sure what the problem is for sure... but it sounds like you have to replace the runners.

[greenstripetowel 1]

I feel like I can't get the most out of my shot because if I put too much weight into it I will fall forward in my follow through. And I'm pretty sure my runners have life left in them. I wish I could figure out how to post my picture so you can see my runners.

[Chadd 916]

Sounds like you might have too much bend at the waist and not enough at the knee. If the problem was with the blade you would likely find it happening when you skate. When they were "profiled" what did they do, give you a different radius or just shave down the toe and heel?

[greenstripetowel 1]

Ok here is a link to a picture of my skate. I'm not sure what they did. It looks to me like they took some off the toe. It was done at a reputable hockey shop in my area though. But maybe they didn't take into consideration that the boot already has a forward pitch.

I hope the link works, and thanks for your input.

http://emob1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd457/greenstripetowel/CopyofIMG00287-20101219-1522.jpg%5B

[Chadd 916]

Damn, it looks like they ruined your steel, that looks like a 4' radius. You have almost no steel on the ice with a banana profile like that and anything other than being perfectly centered on your skates will give you problems. Replace the steel and, if you are having problems adjusting to the new steel, have a competent shop make the changes that you need.

[greenstripetowel 1]

Do you think i should go with new steel in same holders or all new - like a Tuuk set-up. What are some of my best options out there for steel and holders on my 735s? my LHS sells step steel, is this any good?

[Shtrsdad 0]

Dude your steel is shot! Dunno what the profile looked like when it started, but, your sharpener hasn't done you any favors. Get new steel get a neutral profile done and find another sharpener

[Chadd 916]

I would just go with new steel. Step has had pretty good reviews, so it sounds like a decent choice. I wouldn't think of having the same shop replace the holders given how badly they mangled your steel. If you do replace the holders, I would go with the new Cobra 5000.

[aal 3]

I'd also go with Cobra 5000 and Step Steel. I've got this on my Ultra G3's. I don't know for sure, but I think the 5000 is a direct, screw in, replacement for the 3000. If you go with Tuuk, I think you have to have the skates and / or holders drilled. I've tried replacing Cobra holders with Tuuk before, a couple of times and it didn't work; the skates just felt "off". I know a lot of people do it though.

[greenstripetowel 1]

I put step steel on my nt-3000 holders and tried them last night without having them profiled. They felt smooth but really clunky and flat. I am going to have them profiled and thinking of asking for a neutral profile. What about radius? Does a 9' radius sound normal to you guys? Thanks.

Also, how do the cobra 5000s differ from my 3000s?

[dogey 0]

Damn, it looks like they ruined your steel, that looks like a 4' radius. You have almost no steel on the ice with a banana profile like that and anything other than being perfectly centered on your skates will give you problems.

I'd have to agree, that looks like more rocker than the 9' radius it should be. I would guess 5 or 6'. Profiling really should not touch the toe or heel, profiling is to make the glide region better.

If I were you, I'd just have the center portion reprofiled, there's plenty of steel there, and unless you touch plastic to the ice in the front, it's fine.

It's amazing how many skate shops have these thousand dollar profilers, yet don't know how to use them. My nephew had his player skates done and it looked like the bottom of a goalie skate when he got them, absolutely no toe or heel in them, and I had to redo them by hand which took a long time. The toe and heel need to be done by hand unless some computerized system is doing the whole skate.

IMHO I hated the Graf runners, I changed to Tuuk and liked that much more, felt much stiffer. Every time I stopped on the graf runner it felt like the blade was bending and I couldn't control stops.

[almack 0]

should be 11' not 9 radius and pitch are to different things sometimes in order to get the desired result you need to work the toes or heels some but nothing like that

[Blade-Tek 1]

Unless you made a custom order, adult sized skates generally will have a 9ft radius, under size 6 will have the 11 ft.

I suspect the banana blade front in the picture of the Graf was likely achieved over a period of time. . . .

that is a lot of material missing and would take a LOT of grinding ? ? ?

[beerleaguecaptain 1004]

After years of skating on old steel you might consider giving yourself time to adjust to new steel before having them profiled. Some guys know exactly what they want in a profile. Every time they get new steel they have it done. Most of us though use the out of the box profile. Bauer is a 9ft. CCM is longer (11 I think...??).

Every time you have your skates sharpened your profile changes slightly. Usually you loose more at the tips as the sharpeners apply more pressure - it's physics, they don't want to but it just happens. Over time you go from a 9 to an 8 to a 7... etc. With a good sharpener you use consistently the radius may change less or at least change consistently. With a bad sharpener your profile can get really whacked out.

Bottom line is that if you wait too long before replacing your steel its hard to adjust but you will eventually adjust.

I know that I like to replace my steel sooner rather than later so that the adjustment time is minimal. Usually one game and a practice. Sometimes less.

[almack 0]

Unless you made a custom order, adult sized skates generally will have a 9ft radius, under size 6 will have the 11 ft.

I suspect the banana blade front in the picture of the Graf was likely achieved over a period of time. . . .

that is a lot of material missing and would take a LOT of grinding ? ? ?

grafs come stock with a 11ft radius

[CAmmon 2]

So do Easton, CCM, and Reebok skates.

[almack 0]

eastons are 9 rbk and ccm are a 10ft

[Nwalk123 0]

The radius on the blades from the manufacturer are not consistent. On tuuks, they advertise a 9ft radius but may Total ones had a 13ft radius.

[farhanshak 1]

Hey all,

I need the help of the profiling guru's on here.

I purchased a pair of CCM u+ pro's online, and it includes free profiling and sharpening.

I am coming from Graf 703's, with ls2 runners and holders, with 2 mm heel lifts. I love this set up...

I have the exact same set up on my easton 1200C.

The reason I like this set up, not on my toes too much, not on the heel to much. I feel as though I am right where the balls of my feet, and my arch meet. Still allows me to pop up on my toes, and still neutral enough for skating backwards when I get put on D to cover, and it feels like I have a decent amount of blade on the ice.)

Considering the profiling is free I thought I would give it a whirl.

what sort of profile should I have done to the CCM U+ pro epro holder (I dont want to switch it to tuuk yet, it has the perforated stainless steel runner, not the rocket runner if that helps and getting them sharpened at 1/2 inch)...