Sparx Skate Sharpener - At home sharpener

[Giltis 116]

Yeah I have the clear plastic one because of the True blade spike, and it's a bit hard to ensure that the blades are sitting properly at the toe.

[pgeorgan 80]

On 11/20/2023 at 8:24 PM, shoeshine boy said:

my Beam arrived today. loving it!

I really want one of these, but hard to justify. I'm only sharpening my skates, and every time I check with my HDI, it says the edges are perfect. I can see this being a great device if you have a family or your machine is in a pro shop setting. 

I recently played around with the new Gen 3 app. Pretty amazing stuff they've done there if you're someone that really puts the machine through it's paces. 

[pgeorgan 80]

On 11/15/2023 at 2:15 PM, VegasHockey said:

This is the best finishing stone money can buy: https://amzn.to/3G0W0d1 

This is a great stone for removing damage to the blade, and then doing a final pass: https://amzn.to/3SE36fb

Both of those stones will not damage coated steel, assuming you use the ceramic side. The diamond side is going for removing significant damage on steel. 

They make a slightly smaller version of the white and red ruby whetstone that ships with Prime One-Day. The version you linked says I can't have it for 2 months!

Edited December 29, 2023 by pgeorgan

[VegasHockey 1282]

On 12/29/2023 at 9:25 AM, pgeorgan said:

They make a slightly smaller version of the white and red ruby whetstone that ships with Prime One-Day. The version you linked says I can't have it for 2 months!

Smaller one would be fine too. 

[start_today 772]

On 12/30/2023 at 6:15 PM, VegasHockey said:

Smaller one would be fine too. 

When does one use the ruby side vs when to use the white side? 

[mojo122 538]

Interesting video on using 2 of the blade lifts originally designed for Bauer's CarbonLite runners to help round out the toe.

Feathering the toe

[stick9 893]

7 hours ago, mojo122 said:

Interesting video on using 2 of the blade lifts originally designed for Bauer's CarbonLite runners to help round out the toe.

Feathering the toe

I've been doing this for a few months now. Not every time I sharpen...more like once a month or so. I use a couple of nylon washers to prop the rear up. Works like a charm. I highly recommend this to anyone with a machine.

[218hockey 50]

2 hours ago, stick9 said:

 I use a couple of nylon washers to prop the rear up.

Prop the rear up? I'm confused. Do you have the skate flipped in the sharpener like the video?

[IPv6Freely 2095]

I've had those lifts, or some that look similar, since I got my OG kickstarter version of the first gen. I had no idea what they were for. I always figured for figure skates or something. 

[Hills 717]

16 hours ago, stick9 said:

I've been doing this for a few months now. Not every time I sharpen...more like once a month or so. I use a couple of nylon washers to prop the rear up. Works like a charm. I highly recommend this to anyone with a machine.

I've just tilted the skate manually and adjusted that way... but if this is easier it would be a nice to have.

[stick9 893]

15 hours ago, 218hockey said:

Prop the rear up? I'm confused. Do you have the skate flipped in the sharpener like the video?

Yeah, flip the skate so the toe is facing left. Use the spacers or in my case some nylon washers to lift the heel up then raise the ring height to where it nicely kisses the heel. 

Edited September 17, 2024 by stick9

[218hockey 50]

14 hours ago, stick9 said:

Yeah, flip the skate so the toe is facing left. Use the spacers or in my case some nylon washers to lift the heel up then raise the ring height to where it nicely kisses the heel. 

I watched the video, just wondering if you were doing something different. I'll give it a go.

[start_today 772]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:31 PM, stick9 said:

I've been doing this for a few months now. Not every time I sharpen...more like once a month or so. I use a couple of nylon washers to prop the rear up. Works like a charm. I highly recommend this to anyone with a machine.

Apologies, I’m not a tools-y or technical person. What size washer do you use? Is there a particular thickness or diameter I should get? Thanks! 

[stick9 893]

5 hours ago, start_today said:

Apologies, I’m not a tools-y or technical person. What size washer do you use? Is there a particular thickness or diameter I should get? Thanks! 

Going off memory, 3/16ths thick X 3/8ths across. I cut it in half so it would have better contact with the holder.

You can use just about anything or even nothing at all.  

[stick9 893]

Sparx is now offering what they are calling a Flat Grind ring. Curious how much this differes from their old cross grind ring.

https://sparxhockey.com/products/flat-grinding-ring

[IPv6Freely 2095]

Likely just less abrasive so it doesn't start fires in the filter anymore :) 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

On 1/7/2025 at 9:18 PM, stick9 said:

Sparx is now offering what they are calling a Flat Grind ring. Curious how much this differes from their old cross grind ring.

https://sparxhockey.com/products/flat-grinding-ring

Well, the most obvious thing is that its flat, vs. having a hollow.  Not sure that's an advantage.  Seems a lot smarter to establish the start of the hollow with the coarser ring and then final cut it with a normal ring, vs. using the normal ring to establish the hollow as well.

It would be interesting to see something from Sparx on what's different that makes this ok to use in the home machine / why they went with flat.

Mark

[IPv6Freely 2095]

5 hours ago, marka said:

Well, the most obvious thing is that its flat, vs. having a hollow. 

The crossgrind ring had a hollow? Seemed flat to me. 

[mojo122 538]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

The crossgrind ring had a hollow? Seemed flat to me. 

Can't speak for the original wheel for the 1st generation machines, but the commercial units have 3 different cross-grind wheels that cut a hollow as part of the process.

[IPv6Freely 2095]

8 hours ago, mojo122 said:

Can't speak for the original wheel for the 1st generation machines, but the commercial units have 3 different cross-grind wheels that cut a hollow as part of the process.

I can because I still have one. It was flat. 

[stick9 893]

On 1/10/2025 at 12:25 PM, marka said:

Howdy,

Well, the most obvious thing is that its flat, vs. having a hollow.  Not sure that's an advantage.  Seems a lot smarter to establish the start of the hollow with the coarser ring and then final cut it with a normal ring, vs. using the normal ring to establish the hollow as well.

It would be interesting to see something from Sparx on what's different that makes this ok to use in the home machine / why they went with flat.

Mark

JMO. That kind of defeats the purpose of THIS ring. When cutting a new hollow I always do a few passes with the flattest ring I have. This allows me to flatten things out without burning up passes on. I do this on brand new steel too.

Now if you want to start cutting a hollow, that's a completely different purpose. For that I'd say your best bet is just to use whatever ring you plan to sharpen with. I can see where you're coming from I just don't think it would be as useful as flat cut.

[Leif 161]

I don’t see the point of using a flatter hollow wheel to flatten off the blade before doing a full resharpen with the desired wheel. That flatter hollow wheel will be the same price as the final wheel, and it will cut at the same rate. Okay, I have some spare wheels I don’t use, which I could use as steel munchers, so to speak, if the blades had a lot of damage that needed be stripped off. But not everyone has wheels they don’t normally use lying around. 

My understanding is that a cross grind is done with a coarser wheel, so it takes more material off in each pass. Yup, the Sparx flat ring is indeed coarser than a standard ring. 

[stick9 893]

6 hours ago, Leif said:

I don’t see the point of using a flatter hollow wheel to flatten off the blade before doing a full resharpen with the desired wheel. That flatter hollow wheel will be the same price as the final wheel, and it will cut at the same rate. Okay, I have some spare wheels I don’t use, which I could use as steel munchers, so to speak, if the blades had a lot of damage that needed be stripped off. But not everyone has wheels they don’t normally use lying around. 

My understanding is that a cross grind is done with a coarser wheel, so it takes more material off in each pass. Yup, the Sparx flat ring is indeed coarser than a standard ring. 

It was free and I didn't like it. So I have this really flat ring that I never use. Hmm, maybe I could use it to grind off the first few passes of new steel or in the odd chance I sharpen for someone else and they require many many many passes to un-bleep their edges... 

When it dies it dies. I won't replace it or be buying a flat grind. Im simply pointing out an alternate way to use a tool you may already have. Especially if that tool is going unused.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by stick9

[Buzz_LightBeer 970]

11 hours ago, Leif said:

I don’t see the point of using a flatter hollow wheel to flatten off the blade before doing a full resharpen with the desired wheel. That flatter hollow wheel will be the same price as the final wheel, and it will cut at the same rate. Okay, I have some spare wheels I don’t use, which I could use as steel munchers, so to speak, if the blades had a lot of damage that needed be stripped off. But not everyone has wheels they don’t normally use lying around. 

My understanding is that a cross grind is done with a coarser wheel, so it takes more material off in each pass. Yup, the Sparx flat ring is indeed coarser than a standard ring. 

It's less a matter of flattening the blade as it is removing the factory polish or coating. New blades come very inconsistent on the bottom, but the coating really gums up a sharpening wheel. Removing that first layer with a mostly flat hollow makes the first sharpen and every subsequent one easier. If you try to do a new cut with a normal hollow, at least with a traditional sharpening wheel, you heat the steel and do a number on the wheel unnecessarily. Plus it takes twice the time. I imagine the same principle applies with these sharpening rings.

Also, I would put out there that a "flat" ring and say a 1 1/2" hollow are reasonably similar at those widths, you could accomplish the same with either