how come the first sharpening is more expensive?

[mtc 0]

When you bring brand new, never sharpened hockey skates to a hockey shop that you didn't buy it from, they charge more money on the first sharpen. Why is that? Is there something different about the first sharpening?

im also curious on how they sharpen new skates the first time. Is it the same as a regular sharpen except they grind it on the wheel for a longer time to make the steel from being flat to having a cut? or is there a special technique on sharpening brand new skates?

Since you guys keep asking, I got my skates from sportchek and i told them i wanted to get them sharpened somewhere else, they told me it will cost more for the first sharpening if i do it somewhere else.

[reverseit 0]

I've never seen this happen before

[Neal 41]

If the first sharpen is done correctly, it takes more time and uses up more grinding wheel. If a shop just does a basic sharpen on new steel, you may have blades with different rocker or heights. A good shop will make sure the two blades match up nicely and then sharpen them.

[goaliemanshark 6]

Because some shops charge extra for a cross grind before they sharpen

[Lee-Bro 1]

When you bring brand new, never sharpened hockey skates to a hockey shop that you didn't buy it from, they charge more money on the first sharpen. Why is that? Is there something different about the first sharpening?

That may be part of the answer there. <insert discussion buying local vs. just trying everything on there /derail>

[raganblink 82]

We charge $10 on new steel, not bought from us. Normal sharpening is $5.

Why? Takes up more of the wheel, and takes up more of our time. Time we could be using selling hockey equipment instead of sharpening steel that the customer didn't buy from us. If we can't go help the customers out on the floor (even if we're not busy and you're the only one in here.. that's not the point), they will go somewhere else. Then we have more people not buying our skates or steel and going online, giving them the business.

We don't make our income on sharpening and accessories. We make it on gear.

[Scotty 8]

Crossgrinding them first takes more time and money. A lot of times we would re-dress the wheel as well for a first time sharpen.

[mhkehoe 1]

They do the same thing here at my local rink and it really doesn't bother me. As everyone else already said, it takes them more time to sharpen a new pair of skates.

The rink near me even has a discount program for people who buy the skates through the pro shop as well as the usual free bake and free first cut. In the long run, the skates end up costing roughly the same as what it would cost to buy them online. I would have purchased them in the store if they had my skate size in stock, but they didn't and were not getting another shipment in for a couple of weeks.

[jimmy 194]

It takes approx 4 times the labor/time of a regular sharpening to sharpen a pair of skates the first time. A sharpener must spend this extra time if they want them done right. This may also require the wheel to be dressed 4 or more times as well, which wears the diamonds and stones much more than a regular sharpening. When we sharpen skates the first time for skates purchased at our store, the sharpening is free, this labor is included in the price of the skates. That's one reason why LHS skates cost a little bit more. When someone walks in off the street with a pair of unsharpened skates, that additional labor has to be recouped, hence the extra charges. We charge $20 and get it all the time. I know some view it as a punishment, but it's not. It's pure labor related. If I can do 4 other customer's skates in the same time it takes to sharpen a new pair, and make $20 for the 4 pairs, then why would I charge less for a job that takes the same labor and time to do it?

I guess the question is, why weren't the skates sharpened by the person who sold them?

[AIREAYE 248]

@jimmy : He said he wanted to get them done elsewhere, but afterall it probably would be more economical to get them done at SC (no matterhow shoddy it may be) and then get them redone at a later time at the desired location

[kovalchuk71 212]

@jimmy : He said he wanted to get them done elsewhere, but after all it probably would be more economical to get them done at SC (no matterhow shoddy it may be) and then get them redone at a later time at the desired location

Not true. If they don't know how to properly sharpen a skate, you risk things like toe/heel shaving and steel overheating. Good move by the OP.

[jimmy 194]

Not true. If they don't know how to properly sharpen a skate, you risk things like toe/heel shaving and steel overheating. Good move by the OP.

I agree with you on that one. If that's the case the OP made a good choice and it's worth paying a little bit more for someone to do it right.

[AIREAYE 248]

Well actually no because if you take them to a better sharpener, they'll be able to fix the balancing and edges for you. But then again, I'm assuming that SC guys are at least somewhat compatible and won't mess with the rocker, while you guys are assuming that they WILL.

Better safe than sorry I guess.

[sogaduch 0]

Well actually no because if you take them to a better sharpener, they'll be able to fix the balancing and edges for you. But then again, I'm assuming that SC guys are at least somewhat compatible and won't mess with the rocker, while you guys are assuming that they WILL.

Better safe than sorry I guess.

But some shops if the sharpening that someone gets done is completely off balance like one edge is more then 3 lines off based on the quick square then they would also use the cross grind machine and charge the same rate as a new skate sharpening because basically they can either just use the regular wheel to get the edge down and possible overheat the blade or just do a pass or two on the cross grind and starting off fresh.

[AIREAYE 248]

It would help to actually use a comma or period in that sentence lol.

We charge the same rate in that situation and kindly point out and show the customer the problem with the original sharpening. That way we can be sure to correct it and hopefully win over that customer for the future.