Bad Sharpening or Not

[crash_roberts 0]

I realise there are a couple of threads about sharpening but didn't want to hijack someone elses issue...

Anyway I bought my son a new pair of Vapor X:60s on sale yesterday at what has been understood by me as one of the better LHS here in the Ottawa area. Must say I wasn't happy with the service but that is another issue in itself; my real problem is with the initial sharpening. After returning home I noticed a few problems that I would ask those experts in skate sharpening to comment on:

Firstly I noticed sublte scallopped like coloration across the short side of the blade inside the hollow - I suspect that these are slight chatter marks. Usually I expect to see a nice clear sheen / patina down the length of the hollow - am I mistaken here? I'm not sure if this is an issue or not.

Secondly each end of the blade of each skate has been discoloured with a brown hue near the hollow but extending a little into the blade as well. I suspect that this is due to overheating as it looks from a lay persons view that the blade has been burnt. I certainly don't have enough knowledge to know if this is bad enough to case any concern but I can say that after returning the skates to the counter I was very surprised at how hot the blades were - I couldn't really hold my finger against the blade for any extended time without some pretty good discomfort / burning.

Lastly the blades are not well finished in that as I run my finger down the edges there are areas that feel rough and catch the skin. This indicates to me that there is still some pretty good burring on the edge, am I wrong?

Maybe I am a little too obsessed here but I expected a little better from this shop. Should I go back and have these re-sharpened, are the marks I see chattering and is it that significant and is the discoloration from overheating going to cause future problems? These are all questions that exceed my knowledge so any advice that might be offerred by those in the profession would be very much appreciated,

Steve "Crash" Roberts

[HolyRollie 0]

I don't think you're too obsessed. Those are some pretty alarming things to see on a skate. I can't honestly say what those mean, but in my 10+ years of playing I've never seen anything like that. I would take the skates back and ask a few questions.

[raganblink 82]

a) the guy burned the steel while sharpening, most likely it isn't at that stock 9' radius anymore either, and parts of the blade will be more worn down than others (after one shaprening shouldn't affect it much at all, but its subtly there. Typically this is on the heel or toe of the blade, from what you're experiencing however, he increased the radius by holding the skate in the middle.

b) there was no last pass or 'finish'. this explains the chatter marks and why you're not seeing vertical lines on the steel.

c) from sounds of it they didn't use a stone on the steel.

overall sounds like some kid sharpened your skates who thought he knew what he was doing. go back and have someone who knows what they are doing, redo them.

[HockeySavants 5]

On a brand new pair of skates I would be pissed, i suggest having another shop look at it and see if they can determine they were sharpened incorrectly. I would probably say that they were not properly sharpened. Sounds like he didn't use a stone to finish the job.

[SolarWind 23]

might be slightly off topic but related: from my experience stock LS2 blades are all over the place in terms of pitch/radius and need to be profiled

my last pair of custom T1s after the initial sharpening (by experienced guy) & checking agains the standard template had the center of the blade not even touching, instead there was a bit of a hole in there...

[raganblink 82]

IIRC Bauer stamps out their steel on a press. So I don't see how there could be a pivet in the center of the steel. Like I can't see that happening at all.

[yrhmblnr8r 69]

I got a similar sharpening a while back from my LHS. They corrected it when I went back the next day and pointed out the burn marks. Take them back and give the shop a chance to fix it. If you get a blank stare from whoever's helping you, get them sharpened somewhere else going forward.

[crash_roberts 0]

Well I went back in and explained that I wasn't happy and they said they would correct it. I must say they did try and the result was more passable but afterward there were still chatter marks along the hollow (less across the blade this time - more like angled herring bone) although they were less apparent. The guy that did them did take more care and the blades were not that hot and for the most part the burrs were taken care of as well.

I was about to go home but I just couldn't help going to another shop (one that I have used with good results in the past) to see what they thought. I arrived pretty much at closing but they were happy to help me anyway. The guy there took a look and said they were all right notwithstanding the chatter marks but then he checked the level to find that each blade was slightly out (one on the front and on at the back). He told me that kids skates can be hard to get fully level then he commented that that the hollow wasn't too deep. I told him I had asked for a 7/16 so he checked it and it was more like 5/8.

Needless to say I had him touch up the skates - he did a great job and oh ya - both skates level from front to back (not that hard I guess) and not the slightest hint of chatter, overheating or burrs.

Guess I know who will be sharpening my family's skates from now on...

Thanks for the help guys

Crash

[Sniper9 535]

I had the burn /chatter marks one time frmo my LHS... When I hopped on the ice I had NO edge at all.. It felt like I was skating with goalie skates on.. maybe even worse.. when i would stop, I literally would glide forever lol... That was the only time it has happened, but it was ridiculous how someone could even sharpen skates that badly