Sharpening at home without a machine

[MaximRecoil 7]

What if you took a short section of 1" diameter dowel, wrapped it with adhesive-backed emery cloth, and attached some sort of grooved guides on each end to keep it centered? This would give you a 1/2" ROH (or a little more due to the added thickness of the emery cloth), and you would have plenty of grits to choose from. You could start out coarse, e.g. 80 grit (or even 40 grit if the blades were particularly dull), and move up through there. You could eventually put a mirror-like polish on it if you wanted to, using e.g. wet 1000-grit or higher, and even strop it on leather with jeweler's rouge as a finishing step.

There seems to be this notion that proper skate sharpening can only be done on an actual skate sharpening machine, and any hand/manual methods are useful only as temporary touch-ups until you can get them sharpened on an actual machine. This doesn't make any sense to me, considering the proper method of sharpening all other edges, from swords to tools to jack knives is manually, moving through stones from coarse to fine (although some commercial sharpening services for e.g. restaurant knives do use powered belt sanders).

I may give this a try, as I have a few pairs of useless skates with rusty blades kicking around that I could practice on. The dowel and emery cloth is the easy part; I'd just need to devise some guides to go onto each end. Ideally the guides would be made out of brass (hardwood could work too); attach them to each end of the dowel, have them hang about 1/4" lower than the dowel, and have a 1/8" groove in each one to fit over the blade and keep the dowel centered as you push it along the blade. The guides would look something like this:

There would be 2 of them and they'd screw to each end of the dowel. When the emery cloth started to wear out, you could loosen the screws holding the guides, rotate the dowel slightly to expose fresh grit, tighten the guides and continue sharpening.

Using this method, I believe that a sharper edge could be achieved than with a conventional sharpening on a sharpening machine, if you wanted to put the time and effort into it, because the sky is the limit on how finely you want to polish the edges. There is also no chance of overheating the steel and ruining the temper, accidentally taking a chunk out of the blade, or significantly altering the rocker radius and/or pitch; all of which can easily happen on the ~4000 RPM grinding wheel of a skate sharpening machine.

Sharpening ends up costing me about $20 and takes at least 2 hours each time ($5 sharpening, $15 gas, 2 hour round-trip drive), which sucks wicked bad.

[tomh7 2]

So for $1000 you could get an X01 and have it paid for in 50 sharpenings (about a year if you sharpen once/week or 4 years at once/month). Even sooner if you include the value of your 2hrs.

[MaximRecoil 7]

So for $1000 you could get an X01 and have it paid for in 50 sharpenings (about a year if you sharpen once/week or 4 years at once/month). Even sooner if you include the value of your 2hrs.

In theory doing it manually can produce sharper / more polished edges (for reasons I mentioned above), and there is no chance of accidentally ruining your blades like can happen suddenly on a ~4000 RPM grinding wheel (especially with someone who has no experience with one). It seems to me that the only advantage of a sharpening machine is that it makes the job faster, which is important for a skate sharpening business. And it would probably take me 4 or 5 years for the X01 to pay for itself. I don't skate nearly as much these days as I did when I was younger.

[Chadd 916]

There are a bunch of hand held and/or manual sharpening devices on the market. They should work but your biggest issues will be maintaining consistent pressure and working out any major nicks or chips to the steel. I have even used an old knife sharpening block to hand hone skates in the past and it works in a pinch. I would still prefer my Blackstone sharpener, or even one of the other powered products.

http://www.thebladedoctor.com/

http://www.pro-filer.com/profiler/

http://www.icewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=SMSS

http://www.edgeagain.com/

[MaximRecoil 7]

There are a bunch of hand held and/or manual sharpening devices on the market. They should work but your biggest issues will be maintaining consistent pressure and working out any major nicks or chips to the steel. I have even used an old knife sharpening block to hand hone skates in the past and it works in a pinch. I would still prefer my Blackstone sharpener, or even one of the other powered products.

http://www.thebladedoctor.com/

http://www.pro-filer.com/profiler/

http://www.icewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=SMSS

http://www.edgeagain.com/

Yes, I've looked into those, but they wouldn't have the versatility of a guided dowel wrapped in emery cloth. Plus they would wear out eventually, i.e., the abrasive would wear off something that is coated, or if a stone, it would eventually lose its shape (not to mention becoming clogged). With the dowel, you have a near infinite selection of grits, and it is cheap and easy to change to a different grit. When the emery cloth finally wears out, it is just a matter of replacing the 3.14" long strip of emery cloth (available at any hardware store) and you're good to go again. What appeals to me about this is that you could do a proper sharpening by progressing through various grits, not just edge touch-up/maintenance.

If I had major nicks or chips I'd probably defer to the not-so-local hockey shop anyway.

Edit: Here's what the whole thing would look like:

[DarkStar50 679]

With your new tool, how long do you think it will take you to get one standard 280/size 9 blade done? X2 for a pair of skates?

How many times will you pass the tool over the blade back and forth?

Will you do one continuous pass front to back of the blade or will you do multiple short stroke passes, 2"-3" strokes as an expert figure skate sharpener would with bullet stones?

[mojo122 530]

Buying your own portable machine, or a second set of steel to send them off to someone by mail just seems so much smarter.

[MaximRecoil 7]

With your new tool, how long do you think it will take you to get one standard 280/size 9 blade done? X2 for a pair of skates?

I don't know, I've never done it. I know that I can take a relatively dull 5" 440C knife blade and make it sharp enough using an Arkansas soft stone to shave the hair off my arm, with about 20 passes on each side (5 or 10 minutes). If I wanted to do the whole nine yards, i.e., progress through course, medium, and fine stones and then finish with a razor strop, it would take a lot longer of course, maybe 45 minutes. I don't know what grade of stainless steel comes with a standard Tuuk or Tuuk Plus holder (most likely one of the many alloys in the 400 series, since a magnet will stick to it), but I doubt highly it is harder than Buck's 440C from the 1970s. Of course, with skate blades there is more steel that needs to be removed, since you are cutting a 1/8" wide trench rather than e.g. 1/32" at 23 degrees off the edge of a knife blade, and the skate blades are longer, so it will take longer because it is a bigger job.

How many times will you pass the tool over the blade back and forth?

As many times as it takes to form a burr on the edges (which varies depending on how dull the edges are to begin with), at which point you progress to a finer grit. The same thing applies to sharpening any edge.

Will you do one continuous pass front to back of the blade or will you do multiple short stroke passes, 2"-3" strokes as an expert figure skate sharpener would with bullet stones?

One continuous pass, front to back, though it doesn't really matter. The goal is to form a burr on the edges, which tells you it is as sharp as it is going to get with that level of grit, and this can be done with continuous passes or short back-and-forth motions. Continuous passes are generally preferred with freehand knife sharpening, because it is easier to maintain a ~constant angle. When a guide is in place, having to manually maintain a constant angle is removed from the equation, because it is being done for you. Then it becomes irrelevant whether you use continuous passes or a back-and-forth motion.

Buying your own portable machine, or a second set of steel to send them off to someone by mail just seems so much smarter.

How so?

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Even and equal pressure without altering the skate profile is key to skate sharpening. I can't see how you will be able to maintain that by hand.

[MaximRecoil 7]

Even and equal pressure without altering the skate profile is key to skate sharpening. I can't see how you will be able to maintain that by hand.

Even and equal pressure has to be maintained when sharpening on a ~4000 RPM grinding wheel too, and it is far more critical in that case than with using a hand tool because of how much quicker the ~4000 RPM grinding wheel can remove steel. In other words, the effects of slight variances in pressure are greatly amplified on a skate sharpening machine, to the point that you could easily cut a gouge in the blade if you're not careful. You could never do that with the manual sharpening tool I've described.

With the manual sharpening tool, the worst that will happen as the result of not maintaining even and equal pressure is that some areas of the blade will become sharp before others. You can determine this visually and by the feel of the burr or lack thereof, and then compensate to fix it. It doesn't result in the sudden disasters that can happen with motorized grinding wheels.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Way too much work to achieve a result that won't exceed what you get with a conventional sharpening.

Just make sure to alternate hands so that people don't wonder why one forearm is bigger than the other. ;)

[MThockeydad 469]

I think you could do it, MaximumRecoil, especially as it appears you have skate sharpening experience. However, it looks like you're seeking approval from people who have found it's quicker and easier to just take their skates to the shop and pay $5-8.

If you want to do it, do it. Take before and after pics and show how you figured it out.

Worst case, you waste a few hours building the jig and your skates don't get sharp. It costs you $20 plus your time to get your skates fixed (which you'd have spent getting them sharpened without trying your DIY method), and if it works or not, you'll have learned something.

I'm a DIY guy, too, and I do a LOT of things that others would pay to have done for them. For me, it's easier to get my skates sharpened. IMHO your only mistake is trying to convince everyone to see it your way. For 99% of the people out there, it's not worth their time.

[MaximRecoil 7]

Way too much work to achieve a result that won't exceed what you get with a conventional sharpening.

I don't mind the work. I enjoy manually sharpening knives, and this would be a similar task. I also believe that the result could exceed that of a conventional sharpening, if I put the time and effort into it. I could go all the way up to say 3000 grit wet, and then strop on leather with jeweler's rouge if I wanted to. You'd be able to see your reflection in it. The more polished an edge, the sharper it is. However, practically speaking, I suspect you're right, i.e., past a certain point of sharpness you probably won't be able to notice any difference in performance on the ice. It is not as if you'll be shaving your face or slicing up sushi with your skates.

Just make sure to alternate hands so that people don't wonder why one forearm is bigger than the other. ;)

LOL

[moreoutdoor 6]

definitely a consideration for skaters like me. I'm 50 mi. from the rink - it being the ONLY place to a sharpening anywhere within a 100+ mi radius. Then consideration of the 'skill' level of the nosepicker (term of endearment for any shop tech... any sport - having been one in my yuut...) who will be doing the sharpening. And the skate shop is open on a very loose schedule.

The likelyhood of someone screwing up on a power grinder is way higher (in the above scenario) than someone who might be overly careful handsharpening their own skates. Given an even stroke, appreciably altering an existing 'profile' is gonna be a hard reach.

Hand 'tuning' a skate which is in good shape is a consideration of mine to extend the in-between times for a 'pro' sharpen.

Considering the cost of blades - noicing's policy to sell blades only when they do 'profiles', adds a ton of cost. Then it's the shipping back and forth...

My consideration for creating my own 'sharpener', using a real 1" stone (I skate 1/2 ROH) is still in the investigative stage, but I may get some 'parts' this week.

Also been looking into the portable sharpeners - maybe buying one and then experimenting on a pair of rink rentals before attempting on my own skates. I have no old crap skates I would experiment on...

I figure if they can put a decent edge on rentals then they'd prolly work on my skates.

[DarkStar50 679]

Ask the guy at the local shop to teach you how to sharpen skates. Learning the repitition of skate sharpening passes will help you understand that "the effects of slight variances in pressure are greatly amplified on a skate sharpening machine, to the point that you could easily cut a gouge in the blade if you're not careful" are not as likely as you may now perceive. It is actually very easy to maintain the same smooth pass on the wheel once you have the confidence of the quality of your sharpening. On the flip side, at some point fatigue might become a factor in the constant motion of your hand held device. My partner in the shop has sharpened Olympic figure skaters blades for a long, long time. The average competitive sharpening time that he allots for each pair is 30 minutes. This is using a machine and then spending 15-20 minutes with the bullet stones to complete the job. Just some food for thought. Let us know how your project progresses. I am interested to hear of your results. Thanks.

[MaximRecoil 7]

Let us know how your project progresses. I am interested to hear of your results. Thanks.

I'll report on the results, good or bad, though it may be a while. I'll ask my father to make me the two guides out of at least 1/4" hardwood; maple if he has some (he's a cabinet maker so he should be able to do it fairly easily), and the rest of the stuff (1" dowel, emery cloth, a couple of wood screws) I can get downtown at the hardware store. If I'm happy with the sharpening results, I'll consider having the guides made from brass (it is a matter of me sending a vector/CAD drawing to a guy I know and him feeding it into a CNC waterjet). Brass has a relatively high level of natural lubricity and is softer than steel, so it won't mar anything, plus it would last forever.

[fearthebeard 2]

I used to have a hand sharpener similar to your design. It was Swedish thing but its flaw was the abrasives were made out of plastic tubes which meant that they squished with pressure which meant every pass gave a different RoH. If it had solid non squishy abrasive cylinders it would have worked fine. I have seen skates sharpened with a round file before too. If it were me I would have the guides formed from brass/bronze etc and the cylinder machined in hard steel. I would use valve grinding paste instead of paper backed abrasives. Having spent half a lifetime hand fitting things because of no access to machine shops etc I think there is no reason at all that your idea won't work. I would probably search ebay for an old cheap sharpening machine first though

[MaximRecoil 7]

My "prototype" will be all wood, since that's the cheapest, quickest, and easiest method for "proof of concept". I have thought about using a steel cylinder eventually, and as I mentioned earlier, I would want brass guides eventually too.

[notquitedeadyet 13]

I honestly admire your initiative, but as a person who has been playing with metal for 40+ years & sharpening skates for 10+ years, I promise you there is no way this will work.

Emery cloth is an effective abrasive, but does not have the ability to do what you are asking it to do here. You need to remove at least a few thousandth of an inch, and you need to remove it from the ENTIRE inside hollow, the complete length of the blade. That .120 x 3.14" patch of emery will be dull by the second or third stroke on carbon blades, let alone stainless. And the cloth backing is too resilient to maintain a keen edge (not to mention the wood dowel backing it). Another problem is maintaining enough precision in those notches to keep the whole assembly from rocking even slightly.

There have been many hand held sharpeners with the exact same idea but superior design & materials that have failed miserably.

[Souldriver 64]

Way too much work to achieve a result that won't exceed what you get with a conventional sharpening.

Just make sure to alternate hands so that people don't wonder why one forearm is bigger than the other. ;)

The problem would be consistent strokes as mentioned and by hand you need a lot of pressure which becomes harder to maintain over time. Also any type of emery cloth or sandpaper would need constant changing as it gets clogged. May be usefull to give a quick freshen to skates that havnt been sharpened too recently, or as a way to manually get a real nice polish.

[MaximRecoil 7]

Emery cloth is an effective abrasive, but does not have the ability to do what you are asking it to do here. You need to remove at least a few thousandth of an inch, and you need to remove it from the ENTIRE inside hollow, the complete length of the blade. That .120 x 3.14" patch of emery will be dull by the second or third stroke on carbon blades, let alone stainless. And the cloth backing is too resilient to maintain a keen edge (not to mention the wood dowel backing it). Another problem is maintaining enough precision in those notches to keep the whole assembly from rocking even slightly.

Your last sentence here is something I've already thought about, and of the issues you've raised, it is the one that most concerns me.

You may be right about the compressibility of emery cloth causing a problem; I'll probably try sandpaper first, most likely the adhesive-backed 80-grit stuff (made by 3M I believe) that my mechanic friend uses with his DA sander for bodywork.

I think there are certain sandpapers that would go longer than 2 or 3 passes before becoming dull, but also keep in mind that you would multiply the number of passes it takes to get dull by about 25 to determine how much total use you can get out of each piece, because you can rotate to a fresh patch of grit. Also, sandpaper can be combined with an abrasive compound as well.

3.14" is not my planned length of the dowel, by the way (it will probably be only 1" or 1.5" long), it is the circumference of a 1" diameter cylinder, meaning I'll need a piece of sandpaper that is 3.14" long (and 1" or 1.5" wide, depending on what I decide on for the length of the dowel) to completely wrap the dowel. 3.14 divided by 1/8 = ~25. So if I only get 3 passes before it is dull, that's about 75 passes before the sandpaper is dull everywhere.

I don't know if the beech or birch typically used for off-the-shelf hardwood dowels will be hard enough or not. I'll have to wait and see. If it isn't hard enough, a 1" diameter steel rod isn't hard to find. It is all just theory for me at this point, as I've never specifically done this, but it costs next to nothing to try.

[notquitedeadyet 13]

Sandpaper that is used on a DA has little effect on metal as it is designed to cut paint. Ask your friend what happens when he gets thru the paint to bare metal. And that's with a power tool, on some pretty soft metal.

Consider this: a 8" grinding wheel turning @ 3450 rpm travels about 7225 feet per min (calculators are online), so during a 2 second pass, about 240 FEET of GRINDING WHEEL travel along the blade. And you're still not done, it takes multiple passes to sharpen the blade. You're gonna need a lot of abrasive. And you'll be pretty tired.

Also consider the alignment issues you'll have with your simple slot method, especially if they can rotate independently on a single axle.

Good luck, looking forward to hearing your honest results.

[MaximRecoil 7]

Sandpaper that is used on a DA has little effect on metal as it is designed to cut paint. Ask your friend what happens when he gets thru the paint to bare metal. And that's with a power tool, on some pretty soft metal.

I've done bodywork with it myself, so I don't need to ask him. Granted, car bodies are made from mild steel, and skate blades are significantly harder. But I've used the same stuff for general purpose hand-sanding of various steel items, such as various fasteners. In any event, there are countless sandpaper options out there.

Consider this: a 8" grinding wheel turning @ 3450 rpm travels about 7225 feet per min (calculators are online), so during a 2 second pass, about 240 FEET of GRINDING WHEEL travel along the blade. And you're still not done, it takes multiple passes to sharpen the blade. You're gonna need a lot of abrasive. And you'll be pretty tired.

It only takes multiple passes because you are using relatively little pressure and the grinding wheel isn't particularly coarse. If you pressed hard you could cut a gouge into the blade very quickly, which is indicative of its true grinding potential, which you don't even come close to taking full advantage of when using proper sharpening technique. If a robot did it, applying a perfect and consistent amount of pressure to remove only the exact amount of steel needed to make it sharp, the wheel would be perfectly capable of sharpening in one pass (though it may overheat the blade, affecting the temper).

Also consider the alignment issues you'll have with your simple slot method, especially if they can rotate independently on a single axle.

It is inherently self-aligning, assuming the blade is true. You simply loosen the guide screws, set it on the blade, then tighten the screws while it is on the blade.

Another thing to consider is that 100% precision in all aspects isn't required for a serviceably sharp edge. If it were, you wouldn't be able to sharpen a knife freehand, because it is impossible for a human to perfectly hold a single angle throughout a stroke across the stone. If you look at the sides of the edge of a freehand-sharpened knife under magnification, you will see that there are many angles there, resulting in sides of the edge that are roughly convex. However, you can still e.g. shave hair off your arm with it, which is more than a serviceable level of sharpness for most knife applications. The most important part is that the two sides of the edge meet at a microscopically thin point, and of course you don't want any major inconsistencies.

Even on the highest-end sharpening machines out there, there will be some wobble in the rotation of the wheel, not to mention variability in the flatness of the base of the holder and the surface it is slid across, even if only measurable with sensitive lab equipment. There is a window for achieving a serviceably sharp edge, not just an eye of a needle, which is why some people have had success sharpening skates with something as imprecise as a simple unguided round file.

[Innocent Bystander 5]

I would like to take pause in this thread to ( in all seriousness) marvel at the thoughtfulness and ingenuity that is on display here. Do you think basketball players work this hard to find a way to maximize their their on court potential? This sort of passion is what is so freakin' great about hockey.

Carry on

[bunnyman666 445]

If you think about it, speed skaters sharpen their own blades. They go for a zero hollow (flat). They have to make certain their stones are flat, as well.

I don't think it is impossible to sharpen by hand tools, it certainly isn't easy.