Sparx Skate Sharpener - At home sharpener

[IPv6Freely 2092]

16 minutes ago, Leif said:

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. 

No idea.

[Kgbeast 195]

22 minutes ago, Leif said:

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. 

Since the edge runner locking mechanism has a impact of the trigger mechanism on the runner, I would say that with each clicking of the runners in the holder a small amount of damage is done to the mechanism. I believe the mechanism is there for fast runner replacement in rear occasions when a damage is done to the runner as apposed to pull the blades out after every skate. Although it is just my understanding.

[Playmakersedge 58]

28 minutes ago, Kgbeast said:

Since the edge runner locking mechanism has a impact of the trigger mechanism on the runner, I would say that with each clicking of the runners in the holder a small amount of damage is done to the mechanism. I believe the mechanism is there for fast runner replacement in rear occasions when a damage is done to the runner as apposed to pull the blades out after every skate. Although it is just my understanding.

I see the blade change trigger as a almost guaranteed point of mechanical failure.  The damage during play is most likely with the holders being broken  and it still needs to be replaced.    Pros are going into any game situation with another pair of skates ready to go.   

[mojo122 535]

2 hours ago, Kgbeast said:

Since the edge runner locking mechanism has a impact of the trigger mechanism on the runner, I would say that with each clicking of the runners in the holder a small amount of damage is done to the mechanism. I believe the mechanism is there for fast runner replacement in rear occasions when a damage is done to the runner as apposed to pull the blades out after every skate. Although it is just my understanding.

From experience I'd disagree with your statement.  I've been in my current skates for just under 2 years now.  I rotate 2 sets of LS3 edge runners, skate 5 times a week, and remove my runners after every skate.  The trigger mechanisms are just fine, although my holders look like they've been through WWIII.

But this is the Sparx thread so let's keep discussing their sharpener.

Edited February 4, 2018 by mojo122

[GoalForFun 176]

Preordered a Sparx the other week and my card was charged already, is that a good sign? Their site still says "3-4 week backorder".

[Playmakersedge 58]

4 minutes ago, GoalForFun said:

Preordered a Sparx the other week and my card was charged already, is that a good sign? Their site still says "3-4 week backorder".

Some factories offer drop shipping after doing  X amount of business.  It keeps the cost down for everyone  . This could be the case . I bet it comes faster. 

[ryanmonty 35]

19 hours ago, GoalForFun said:

Preordered a Sparx the other week and my card was charged already, is that a good sign? Their site still says "3-4 week backorder".

Mine was charged immediately and took 4 weeks 

[JoeyJ0506 192]

Pretty cool seeing Dana Heinze tweet this morning about how the Penguins make use of  The SPARX machine:

 

 

[mojo122 535]

Cool yes, but not really a ringing endorsement for the machine if step 3 includes sharpening it manually.

[hollowicked 39]

sorry if this has been answered on one of the previous pages but does sparx still produce the cross grind wheel?

[JoeyJ0506 192]

45 minutes ago, mojo122 said:

Cool yes, but not really a ringing endorsement for the machine if step 3 includes sharpening it manually.

I thought about that point, but I'm not so sure about that. I am sure there are plenty of players that feel comfortable with a certain person doing their skates, and would not be too happy with the idea of "that guy" not having done their skates for them. There are guys that don't care about their gear specifics, but there are also players on that team that are known fanatics about things being the same Every.Single.Time. (See: Crosby, Sidney).

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Most, if not all teams are using it specifically for that; to establish the first hollow.  

[Vet88 674]

And if you have ever seen him sharpening skates, he uses an oil to do the final pass / passes and it's more a polish than a cut. I suspect it is easier doing this by hand than readjusting the grinding wheel pressure on a sparx, if that can even be done.

[Leif 161]

Using an oil/wax on the final cut is commonplace among good manual sharpeners. That said, the finish I've had from a ProSharp machine has been excellent.

[Santos L Halper 90]

22 hours ago, hollowicked said:

sorry if this has been answered on one of the previous pages but does sparx still produce the cross grind wheel?

They do, but only hollow-specific cross-grind wheels for their higher end commercial machine, the PS-100. (Starts at ~$2K...)

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

On 2/6/2018 at 8:25 AM, JoeyJ0506 said:

Pretty cool seeing Dana Heinze tweet this morning about how the Penguins make use of  The SPARX machine:

You know you're doing something right when your product makes it to the Show. I'll have one myself some time during the off-season.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

7 hours ago, Santos L Halper said:

They do, but only hollow-specific cross-grind wheels for their higher end commercial machine, the PS-100. (Starts at ~$2K...)

Really? I’d better hang onto the one I have for the consumer machine then. 

[colins 246]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Really? I’d better hang onto the one I have for the consumer machine then. 

 

I believe the issue was with the amount of steel dust it produced in a short period of time. Sparx was sending out replacement filters for people who ordered the cross grind ring before they discontinued them. 

 

colins

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

10 minutes ago, colins said:

 

I believe the issue was with the amount of steel dust it produced in a short period of time. Sparx was sending out replacement filters for people who ordered the cross grind ring before they discontinued them. 

 

colins

 

It definitely does produce a LOT, but its not like I'd use it very often anyway. Should last me a long time. 

[Santos L Halper 90]

5 hours ago, colins said:

 

I believe the issue was with the amount of steel dust it produced in a short period of time. Sparx was sending out replacement filters for people who ordered the cross grind ring before they discontinued them. 

 

colins

 

Truth.  

Which is (IMHO, anyway...) indicative of the one major design flaw of the Sparx consumer machine: There is no provision whatsoever to attach a vacuum/dust collector to the unit.

Despite the weird promo video of the Sparx unit whirring away on the kitchen counter while the kids do their homework in the background, I'm willing to wager that the VAST majority of consumers have these machines set up in their basements or garages.  You know, places where they are also likely to have access to a shopvac with a 2.5" nozzle - a tool which just so happens to be tailor-made to suck fine-grained steel detritus out of a relatively small enclosed space.

Seriously.  A 2.5" port in the back of the unit would (a) allow the use of a cross-grinding ring, and (b) obviate the need to replace a $16.00 filter.  Why hasn't this been done, yet?

What's that?  Oh, Sparx doesn't want to lose the revenue from filter sales?  Fine.  Then make the vacuum port an option and charge an extra $50 for a unit that has one.

I sharpen skates for several players that change their hollows based on the hardness of the ice they're playing on next - if I had a cross-grind ring and my shop vac hooked up to my sharpener, I could get done in 3-4 passes, what it takes a 'regular' grinding ring 10+ passes to do...

 

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

1 hour ago, Santos L Halper said:

Truth.  

Which is (IMHO, anyway...) indicative of the one major design flaw of the Sparx consumer machine: There is no provision whatsoever to attach a vacuum/dust collector to the unit.

Despite the weird promo video of the Sparx unit whirring away on the kitchen counter while the kids do their homework in the background, I'm willing to wager that the VAST majority of consumers have these machines set up in their basements or garages.  You know, places where they are also likely to have access to a shopvac with a 2.5" nozzle - a tool which just so happens to be tailor-made to suck fine-grained steel detritus out of a relatively small enclosed space.

Seriously.  A 2.5" port in the back of the unit would (a) allow the use of a cross-grinding ring, and (b) obviate the need to replace a $16.00 filter.  Why hasn't this been done, yet?

What's that?  Oh, Sparx doesn't want to lose the revenue from filter sales?  Fine.  Then make the vacuum port an option and charge an extra $50 for a unit that has one.

I sharpen skates for several players that change their hollows based on the hardness of the ice they're playing on next - if I had a cross-grind ring and my shop vac hooked up to my sharpener, I could get done in 3-4 passes, what it takes a 'regular' grinding ring 10+ passes to do...

 

 

Meh doesn’t bother me. Prefer the self contained unit anyway.

[colins 246]

7 hours ago, Santos L Halper said:

Truth.  

Which is (IMHO, anyway...) indicative of the one major design flaw of the Sparx consumer machine: There is no provision whatsoever to attach a vacuum/dust collector to the unit.

Despite the weird promo video of the Sparx unit whirring away on the kitchen counter while the kids do their homework in the background, I'm willing to wager that the VAST majority of consumers have these machines set up in their basements or garages.  You know, places where they are also likely to have access to a shopvac with a 2.5" nozzle - a tool which just so happens to be tailor-made to suck fine-grained steel detritus out of a relatively small enclosed space.

Seriously.  A 2.5" port in the back of the unit would (a) allow the use of a cross-grinding ring, and (b) obviate the need to replace a $16.00 filter.  Why hasn't this been done, yet?

What's that?  Oh, Sparx doesn't want to lose the revenue from filter sales?  Fine.  Then make the vacuum port an option and charge an extra $50 for a unit that has one.

I sharpen skates for several players that change their hollows based on the hardness of the ice they're playing on next - if I had a cross-grind ring and my shop vac hooked up to my sharpener, I could get done in 3-4 passes, what it takes a 'regular' grinding ring 10+ passes to do...

 

 

 

They did. It's called the PS100. It'll run you $1100 more than the home version: https://www.sparxhockey.com/pages/sparx-ps100-commercial-skate-sharpener

 

colins

[marka 526]

Howdy,

8 hours ago, Santos L Halper said:

I sharpen skates for several players that change their hollows based on the hardness of the ice they're playing on next - if I had a cross-grind ring and my shop vac hooked up to my sharpener, I could get done in 3-4 passes, what it takes a 'regular' grinding ring 10+ passes to do...

 

 

That seems like a lot of passes.

When I've made hollow changes (not more than 1/8" either way), I've run 5 cycles and had all the marker I put on the edge taken away.  Have you had bad experiences running less cycles?  Perhaps the marker test I'm doing doesn't tell the whole story.

Mark

[Santos L Halper 90]

3 hours ago, colins said:

 

They did. It's called the PS100. It'll run you $1100 more than the home version: https://www.sparxhockey.com/pages/sparx-ps100-commercial-skate-sharpener

 

colins

I know.  See my earlier post where I mentioned that their commercial sharpener is now the only way to get cross-grinding capability. 

Also (and maybe this is just me...), but that seems an awfully steep jump in price for the additions of automatic grinding wheel hight adjustment, cross-grinding capability, and a $90.00 mini-canister vacuum (the vacuum is included with the PS-100).

All of the above being said, make no mistake, despite my frustration with this, I love my Sparx sharpener.  What's more, the people I sharpen skates for love it as well.  My complaint here is, in the grand scheme of things, relatively minor.  I live in Southern California where we don't always have access to a "good" manual sharpening.  Even from the large box stores (Hockey Monkey and Pure Hockey) with the supposed "experts" running the Wysotta, the sharpenings are woefully inconsistent and groin-grabbingly expensive.  The Sparx solves all that and I'm kicking myself that I didn't make the investment earlier.  I just wish I could attach my shop-vac to the thing.

[Santos L Halper 90]

2 hours ago, marka said:

Howdy,

That seems like a lot of passes.

When I've made hollow changes (not more than 1/8" either way), I've run 5 cycles and had all the marker I put on the edge taken away.  Have you had bad experiences running less cycles?  Perhaps the marker test I'm doing doesn't tell the whole story.

Mark

I too use a marker when making hollow changes, however I'm not sure that it's entirely accurate - or, as you said, perhaps it doesn't tell the whole story.  Thinking about it from a 10,000 foot level, I could see where you could scrape enough steel to get the marker off, but still not enough to get an accurate hollow.

My personal experience is that I've had guys tell me that hollow changes kinda felt like an "in between" sharpening.  Since I'll (usually) adjust until they're happy, I've found that I wind up making 10 (+/-) passes when I do a hollow change.  

Keep in mind, it could all be in the heads of the guys I'm sharpening for.  The guys that give me the most grief are former pros that are used to having an equipment manager that obsesses over this stuff, so I'm not sure they entirely trust me or the new-fangled technological wonder I have sitting in my garage.