Sparx Skate Sharpener - At home sharpener

[marka 526]

Howdy,

14 minutes ago, Chris Gent said:

Overall, I'm sure I'm well in the hole with the purchase of the sharpener and quite a few different rings until we found what all 4 of us like (my wife and I both play hockey too), but I wouldn't go back to a LHS here in Dallas unless my son ended up playing at a the one rink where we have a trustworthy sharpener.  The fact that I can throw the skates on the sharpener and trust the machine implicitly to get them right while I tape a stick or pack a bag is the ultimate in hockey parent convenience.  I guess if I included gas and time spent, I might get close to break even in another year or 2 in a pure dollars sense, but this is a luxury well worth the capital costs in my opinion.

 

I bet used rings with life left would have a good market.  I've been surprised not to see some of those for sale from folks that tried them and realized they didn't like that grind.

Mark

[Chris Gent 7]

1 minute ago, marka said:

Howdy,

 

I bet used rings with life left would have a good market.  I've been surprised not to see some of those for sale from folks that tried them and realized they didn't like that grind.

Mark

That's a darn good idea.  Might have to see about that.  I'm pretty sure a couple of them are brand new even, because when they offered them, I bought 1 of each trial pack with all the rings.

[ryanmonty 35]

Well it’s only been one skate but so far so good. 

I was suspicious cause it was so easy to use and simple to set up. I figured something was gonna be wrong with my skates when I used them today. But they felt awesome. 

[GoalForFun 176]

Tried searching but I don't think my parameters were right.

Anyway, can you sharpen loose steel with the Sparx? Or does it need to be in a holder?

[IPv6Freely 2092]

2 hours ago, GoalForFun said:

Tried searching but I don't think my parameters were right.

Anyway, can you sharpen loose steel with the Sparx? Or does it need to be in a holder?

There’s a blade holder accessory for that.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Switched to a 3/8 ring for my goalie skates. I thought I was going to bail in warmup but quickly got used to it. My stance felt better, my pushes were harder. Will just take some time to get used to the deeper hollow doing shuffles and t-pushes. 

But overall I’m happy with the change!

[Playmakersedge 58]

2 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Switched to a 3/8 ring for my goalie skates. I thought I was going to bail in warmup but quickly got used to it. My stance felt better, my pushes were harder. Will just take some time to get used to the deeper hollow doing shuffles and t-pushes. 

But overall I’m happy with the change!

Wow nice . I would have be against that ... hey man it's working its working.........goaltending tip.:chris  I remembered something a coach of mine said  to me . Think about the net from the pucks perspective.  The puck sees a complete different set of opportunities.  He said to me as a shooter.  Figure it may be usefl for ya 

[Playmakersedge 58]

On 1/19/2018 at 4:21 PM, Chris Gent said:

That's a darn good idea.  Might have to see about that.  I'm pretty sure a couple of them are brand new even, because when they offered them, I bought 1 of each trial pack with all the rings.

You may be able to find grinding rings that are gonna cost more but lat way longer  .. as long as all the dimensions work.  The more money the more diamond 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

7 hours ago, Playmakersedge said:

You may be able to find grinding rings that are gonna cost more but lat way longer  .. as long as all the dimensions work.  The more money the more diamond 

Huh? 

[Vet88 674]

13 hours ago, Playmakersedge said:

You may be able to find grinding rings that are gonna cost more but lat way longer  .. as long as all the dimensions work.  The more money the more diamond 

You can't use 3rd party grinding rings (yet), Sparx have an ID tag in the ring, if there is no ID tag sensed then the machine will not sharpen. It's how the machine knows how many passes a wheel has done. 

[colins 246]

14 hours ago, Vet88 said:

You can't use 3rd party grinding rings (yet), Sparx have an ID tag in the ring, if there is no ID tag sensed then the machine will not sharpen. It's how the machine knows how many passes a wheel has done. 

 

I'd like to hear Russ's view on 3rd party grinding rings. Would Sparx ever consider licensing the info/tools necessary to allow a 3rd party to produce rings? My guess is no, for obvious reasons like the rings being a key part of the profit/income for Sparx as a going business, and quality control (your machine gets a bad rap because of poor quality 3rd party grinding rings).

That said, w.r.t technology nearly everything these days that hits critical mass has some factory in China pumping out 3rd party accessories. Apple certainly hasn't been able to stop this. At some level of volume, it would be odd to think there wouldn't be an attempt to reverse engineer the rings and offer 3rd party options. I would imagine Sparx has thought about this and has planned for it.

 

colins

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Even the chip wouldn’t be able to stop a 3rd party if they really wanted to. I just don’t see it happening because I don’t think there’s enough money to be made in an already niche market. 

[Vet88 674]

As HP are finding out as they try to stop clone cartridges getting used in their printers.

I agree, not enough money in it for a 3rd party to reverse engineer a ring. Now if only Sparx were as common as inkjet printers.....

[IPv6Freely 2092]

8 hours ago, Vet88 said:

As HP are finding out as they try to stop clone cartridges getting used in their printers.

I agree, not enough money in it for a 3rd party to reverse engineer a ring. Now if only Sparx were as common as inkjet printers.....

Exactly.

[ryanmonty 35]

If anyone has a 5/8 or 9/16 they don’t want please let me know. 

[aintitthelife98 28]

For those using Step Black Steel on their Sparx, does it require more passes on the first sharpen to get the edge set up than regular steel? I've got fresh Step Black that I'm going to be sharpening for the first time today so just trying to plan for how many passes to make. On fresh LS3 steel I usually do 10 and then put market on the blade and do 2-4 more until it's completely gone. Any one else have other experiences worth sharing? 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

2 hours ago, aintitthelife98 said:

For those using Step Black Steel on their Sparx, does it require more passes on the first sharpen to get the edge set up than regular steel? I've got fresh Step Black that I'm going to be sharpening for the first time today so just trying to plan for how many passes to make. On fresh LS3 steel I usually do 10 and then put market on the blade and do 2-4 more until it's completely gone. Any one else have other experiences worth sharing? 

No more than usual.

[hollowicked 39]

I had my skates done with one of these machines at Summer Jam and was truly impressed. I am at the point now where I am seriously considering a purchase but every time I check their site the machine is on pre order status. I am not trying to pick apart the business model but do they not keep inventory? Has anyone else placed and order recently and if so what was the turn around time to receive a machine?

[ryanmonty 35]

3 hours ago, hollowicked said:

I had my skates done with one of these machines at Summer Jam and was truly impressed. I am at the point now where I am seriously considering a purchase but every time I check their site the machine is on pre order status. I am not trying to pick apart the business model but do they not keep inventory? Has anyone else placed and order recently and if so what was the turn around time to receive a machine?

Mine took about 4 weeks from the time I ordered to the time I got it. And it was during the holidays too. 

[hollowicked 39]

Just placed my order, Ill update once I receive it.

[Leif 161]

Can the Sparx deal with a curved blade/holder? I will explain why I ask. Apologies for the length of this post! 

A few weeks ago I had my skates sharpened on a ProSharp automatic sharpener, the large pro one with a normal grinding wheel that is dressed with a diamond, but the only adjustment on the skate holder is sideways as it automatically does the alignment. Anyway, one skate was perfect, the other was perfect except at the back which was out by 2-4 thousandths of an inch. I asked her to do a few more passes, but there was no change, so it wasn’t due to not taking a deep enough cut. Anyway, yesterday I had them done on a BladeMaster machine, and both blades were almost perfect. But the sharpener mentioned that one blade had a slight variation that he could not remove. We checked that blade and it was slightly but noticeably curved. The blades were almost new, and he reckoned the holder was bent, due to incorrect attachment to the skate. I found this interesting as it suggests that the large ProSharp machine cannot cope with a curved blade, whereas a manual sharpen can cope better. 

However, it might be that the correct solution to this problem is to have the holder rivets redone, as suggested by the sharpener. It’s annoying, these are Bauer S160 skates, so not cheapies. But the more I think about it, the more I think it is a good idea. Sadly it will cost. 

As an aside, I discovered that my ProSharp BAT gauge is out by 2/1000” when compared to my cheap Canadian eBay gauge, and the BladeMaster gauge used by the sharpener. The sharpener is buying a Sparx gauge, when they get stock in, as the BladeMaster needs regular taping to prevent wear. It will be interesting to see how the Sparx gauge is made, although I am less than impressed with my ProSharp one. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

6 hours ago, Leif said:

Can the Sparx deal with a curved blade/holder? I will explain why I ask. Apologies for the length of this post! 

A few weeks ago I had my skates sharpened on a ProSharp automatic sharpener, the large pro one with a normal grinding wheel that is dressed with a diamond, but the only adjustment on the skate holder is sideways as it automatically does the alignment. Anyway, one skate was perfect, the other was perfect except at the back which was out by 2-4 thousandths of an inch. I asked her to do a few more passes, but there was no change, so it wasn’t due to not taking a deep enough cut. Anyway, yesterday I had them done on a BladeMaster machine, and both blades were almost perfect. But the sharpener mentioned that one blade had a slight variation that he could not remove. We checked that blade and it was slightly but noticeably curved. The blades were almost new, and he reckoned the holder was bent, due to incorrect attachment to the skate. I found this interesting as it suggests that the large ProSharp machine cannot cope with a curved blade, whereas a manual sharpen can cope better. 

However, it might be that the correct solution to this problem is to have the holder rivets redone, as suggested by the sharpener. It’s annoying, these are Bauer S160 skates, so not cheapies. But the more I think about it, the more I think it is a good idea. Sadly it will cost. 

As an aside, I discovered that my ProSharp BAT gauge is out by 2/1000” when compared to my cheap Canadian eBay gauge, and the BladeMaster gauge used by the sharpener. The sharpener is buying a Sparx gauge, when they get stock in, as the BladeMaster needs regular taping to prevent wear. It will be interesting to see how the Sparx gauge is made, although I am less than impressed with my ProSharp one. 

It deals with bent blades as well as any other machine. 

That said, the best way to sharpen is to remove the runner. Sparx has an accessory for sharpening loose steel. 

[Playmakersedge 58]

With bent blades,,You will be surprised at what giving the boot a twist dose . I have corrected many just by doing that in the direction that will realign it. I found it to be in the heel .    Worth a try . It's free and easy

[Playmakersedge 58]

14 hours ago, Leif said:

Can the Sparx deal with a curved blade/holder? I will explain why I ask. Apologies for the length of this post! 

A few weeks ago I had my skates sharpened on a ProSharp automatic sharpener, the large pro one with a normal grinding wheel that is dressed with a diamond, but the only adjustment on the skate holder is sideways as it automatically does the alignment. Anyway, one skate was perfect, the other was perfect except at the back which was out by 2-4 thousandths of an inch. I asked her to do a few more passes, but there was no change, so it wasn’t due to not taking a deep enough cut. Anyway, yesterday I had them done on a BladeMaster machine, and both blades were almost perfect. But the sharpener mentioned that one blade had a slight variation that he could not remove. We checked that blade and it was slightly but noticeably curved. The blades were almost new, and he reckoned the holder was bent, due to incorrect attachment to the skate. I found this interesting as it suggests that the large ProSharp machine cannot cope with a curved blade, whereas a manual sharpen can cope better. 

However, it might be that the correct solution to this problem is to have the holder rivets redone, as suggested by the sharpener. It’s annoying, these are Bauer S160 skates, so not cheapies. But the more I think about it, the more I think it is a good idea. Sadly it will cost. 

As an aside, I discovered that my ProSharp BAT gauge is out by 2/1000” when compared to my cheap Canadian eBay gauge, and the BladeMaster gauge used by the sharpener. The sharpener is buying a Sparx gauge, when they get stock in, as the BladeMaster needs regular taping to prevent wear. It will be interesting to see how the Sparx gauge is made, although I am less than impressed with my ProSharp one. 

The manual machine puts a pressure on the blade when clamping it that can straighten a blade some while grinding.      I think this is happening blades bending or misalignment on one end is because the sole of the skate is slippery.   Loctite makes many adhesive . I wonder if they have something that will add to the mechanical fastening but removable? 

[Leif 161]

On 03/02/2018 at 4:17 PM, IPv6Freely said:

It deals with bent blades as well as any other machine. 

That said, the best way to sharpen is to remove the runner. Sparx has an accessory for sharpening loose steel. 

It is a good idea to repeatedly remove the runner? Or put another way, is the Bauer mechanism robust enough? I read too that there is a small spring that can get lost if you are not careful when taking runners out.