Skate sharpening hollow question

[HockeyButt 0]

Hello,

I was skating on the 'normal' sharpening, that you get done

at the LHS, when you don't specify anything special.

My hockey coach saw me skating and suggested I go with a "14",

instead. Said I'd have an easier time.

So he got them sharpened for me at a "14", and I did notice an improvement.

But what exactly is a "14"??

What would I ask for when returning to the LHS for future sharpenings?

[retroXvertigo 4]

I'm assuming 14 is 14mm.

Since I play in the US, I started at 1/2" and played around from there. I ended up settling on 5/8".

Lower than 14 will give you a deeper cut and more bite into the ice. Higher will dig less into the ice and will give you more speed. They key is finding your middle ground. I'd imagine there are many threads on this board about this.

Once you get it dialed in where you like it, you can play around with different cuts for different temps, i.e. soft summer ice.

[jimmy 194]

14mm is like a 17/32" hollow, halfway between 1/2 and 9/16".

[HockeyButt 0]

Ok, thanks.

So if I'm happy with my 14, would I go to the store and

say 'please give me a 14mm sharpening?'

is that the right lingo?

[jimmy 194]

Ok, thanks.

So if I'm happy with my 14, would I go to the store and

say 'please give me a 14mm sharpening?'

is that the right lingo?

Where are you located? If outside the US, yes. Most US sharpeners use inches, not mm's.

[HockeyButt 0]

I'm in Canada.

I'm pretty new to skating, so the coach told me

my 'regular' sharpening was too much for me and was slowing me

down a lot.

I liked the job he did. But I will need to find a store which does

good sharpening.

Apparently that's not always easy.

[jimmy 194]

Your regular sharpeneing must have been a deeper hollow. If the 14mm felt better and you are a beginner, I suggest you try a 17mm and compare it to the 14. You might like it better, it has less bite and may help you control the skates better till you build experience, especially if you are not confident in stopping.

[cgrays12 0]

I'm in Canada.

I'm pretty new to skating, so the coach told me

my 'regular' sharpening was too much for me and was slowing me

down a lot.

I liked the job he did. But I will need to find a store which does

good sharpening.

Apparently that's not always easy.

Ive been sharpening for 5 years and have never used the mm measurement lol. Definitely play around with different hollows now in the summer before the serious hockey starts and find something your comfortable with. Always listen to other peoples advice but make sure your making your own final decision about what your comfortable on.

My LHS when I was in minor hockey sharpened at 3/8 as a regular and I eventually moved flatter and flatter to comfortably finding and now skating on 3/4. Best thing to do is try a bunch a couple of ice times each (because sometimes you get bad ice, or soft ice, or whatever and dont always get a good read) and see what you like best

[leonzhu 7]

Anybody think maybe it's a rocker measurement rather than a ROH? Perhaps you were on a 13" rocker, and now that he profiled it as a 14" rocker you feel more stable.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

No, it's mm.

[HockeyButt 0]

Hello,

I don't know what a rocker is...

Is ROH "radius of hollow"?

When he was checking out my skates initially, he was holding up these

metal circles to the underside of the blades. Holding the skates and circles

up to the light, to see if light was getting through. He flipped through different

sized circles until he found one that did not let any light through.

Then he said 'yea this is what you're skating on now, and I think a 14 would be better'

Does that help?

[cgrays12 0]

Hello,

I don't know what a rocker is...

Is ROH "radius of hollow"?

When he was checking out my skates initially, he was holding up these

metal circles to the underside of the blades. Holding the skates and circles

up to the light, to see if light was getting through. He flipped through different

sized circles until he found one that did not let any light through.

Then he said 'yea this is what you're skating on now, and I think a 14 would be better'

Does that help?

It sounds like he was checking the radius or "rocker" of your blades. It measures how flat or round the skating surface of the blade is. Heres a site with some good information on both sharpening hollows and radiuses

http://blog.hockeygiant.com/2011/04/hockey-skates-pitch-hollow-and-radius.html

[jimmy 194]

Hello,

I don't know what a rocker is...

Is ROH "radius of hollow"?

When he was checking out my skates initially, he was holding up these

metal circles to the underside of the blades. Holding the skates and circles

up to the light, to see if light was getting through. He flipped through different

sized circles until he found one that did not let any light through.

Then he said 'yea this is what you're skating on now, and I think a 14 would be better'

Does that help?

He was checking hollow with those circles. Once he found one with no light under, and none on the sides, he found the right one.