Is it possible to sharpen skates on a CNC mill or lathe?

[donkers 31]

Before I sound like an idiot with the guys who run the machine shop out back, is this possible? I'd take the steel out of course.

[MaximRecoil 7]

Not on a lathe, but on a CNC mill they could manufacture the entire blade in an already sharp condition if someone drew them up a CAD file for it. Start with a properly tempered 1/8" thick sheet of something like 440C stainless steel and you'd have a hell of a blade.

I don't know about sharpening existing blades on a CNC mill, but it could definitely be done on a standard mill. It is simply a matter of cutting an e.g. 1/2" radius groove into the bottom, but you'd want a skilled operator so as to not remove too much steel or alter the profile of the blade. I suspect they'd tell you to just take them to an ordinary skate sharpener though, because it would probably be quite a hassle, and you'd probably still need to do finishing/polishing work to the edges when they were done.

[donkers 31]

yeah i don't know why i said lathe that was dumb.

i know i can cut out the entire blade but i'm not sure how to go about sharpening it. I was thinking of clamping it down with a jaw like a mohawk and just running a cutter across but then i'd have to account for the exact curvature of the profile. I think i'm going to grab a cheap set of steels and do some after work tinkering.

taking it to a sharpener would be easier for sure but if i can have my guys do it at work for me that'd be even easier :)

[Innocent Bystander 5]

You could get the machinist to use the CNC machine to build you a nice holder that you can use to set up your own sharpener... although I am sure the law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty early since you can buy a very nice machine for less than $1k.

[MaximRecoil 7]

i know i can cut out the entire blade but i'm not sure how to go about sharpening it. I was thinking of clamping it down with a jaw like a mohawk and just running a cutter across but then i'd have to account for the exact curvature of the profile. I think i'm going to grab a cheap set of steels and do some after work tinkering.

You mean clamping the blade in something like a bench vise and manually running a handheld cutter along it? If so, the results would be poor, unless you are the human equivalent of a robot. It would be next to impossible to keep the cutter perfectly centered on the blade throughout the passes without some sort of mechanical guide. You'd have high/low/uneven edges all over the place.

[fearthebeard 2]

You could do it on a lathe. You would need to find and abrasive cylinder/round file of the correct diameter then turn that in the chuck and introduce the blade to the abrasive in the normal way. HOWEVER! Without a guide/steady to hold the skate and run it along the abrasive the chances of the blade not being thrown off the rotating abrasive and wrecking one side of the blade is zero. In my youth a friends uncle used to sharpen skates with a round hand file which he ran along the blade length ways. He got good results but he did have fifty years experience as a hand fitter in a precision engineering shop.

I really can't think of a good reason to do any of this though?

[MThockeydad 469]

You could get the machinist to use the CNC machine to build you a nice holder that you can use to set up your own sharpener... although I am sure the law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty early since you can buy a very nice machine for less than $1k.

This would be the best use of the machinist's time!

(Or a holder for FBV spinners!!)

[MaximRecoil 7]

You could do it on a lathe. You would need to find and abrasive cylinder/round file of the correct diameter then turn that in the chuck and introduce the blade to the abrasive in the normal way. HOWEVER! Without a guide/steady to hold the skate and run it along the abrasive the chances of the blade not being thrown off the rotating abrasive and wrecking one side of the blade is zero.

Yes, that's true. I wasn't thinking of that method of using a lathe. That would be the same idea as using an ordinary bench grinder with a round-edge grinding wheel to do the job, which of course will also work, but with the same deal-breaker caveat.

[Mattc555 22]

I would remove the blade, set it up on a CNC operated Bridgeport, program a 9-11 foot radius, and mill the blade with this: http://www.microcutusa.com/undercutlongreach4flute.php .

I doubt it's cost effective, and your surface finish will not match that of a grinder, but it should work.

[Mattc555 22]

If I were to sharpen my skates in our tool room, and mind you I would not, I would use a CNC operated surface grinder.

Since we are in la la land, I would first wire EDM the blades out of Crucible CPM-S35VN sheet stock. $200-$300 blades anybody?

[MaximRecoil 7]

If I were to sharpen my skates in our tool room, and mind you I would not, I would use a CNC operated surface grinder.

Since we are in la la land, I would first wire EDM the blades out of Crucible CPM-S35VN sheet stock. $200-$300 blades anybody?

What about tungsten carbide? Would it be a suitable material to make a skate blade out of, assuming cost wasn't a consideration?

[Mattc555 22]

I be concerned that it would be too brittle. A shot from a puck could shatter it. However, I do not have much expertise in designing with tungsten carbide.