Sparx Skate Sharpener - At home sharpener

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

11 hours ago, psulion22 said:

3. You don't sharpen my skates, and the guy that does can't do that.

What's that supposed to mean???. LoL. 

 

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

11 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.  He's gotta be in his 90s at this point.

Jeff - the Incredible Edger was that machine that had a small wheel and the jig was on a ball-bearing track.  Was very popular in the figure skating world.

http://www.iceskateology.com/Skateology/INCREDIBLE_EDGER_Hoc.html

 

Thanks JR. Will read up on it. 

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

9 hours ago, oldtrainerguy28 said:

What's that supposed to mean???. LoL. 

 

I think he says he doesn't have anyone in his area who can maintain profiles.  He does live in South Florida.  I can see that.

[psulion22 402]

11 hours ago, oldtrainerguy28 said:

What's that supposed to mean???. LoL. 

 

 

1 hour ago, JR Boucicaut said:

I think he says he doesn't have anyone in his area who can maintain profiles.  He does live in South Florida.  I can see that.

Yep, exactly.  If I had a real quality sharpener nearby, I wouldn't need a Sparx.  I don't.  There's not one guy that can maintain a profile, and even if there was there would be no guarantee that he'd be working when I need them cut.  No joke, that profile would be gone in two sharpenings, max.

[Santos L Halper 90]

34 minutes ago, psulion22 said:

 

Yep, exactly.  If I had a real quality sharpener nearby, I wouldn't need a Sparx.  I don't.  There's not one guy that can maintain a profile, and even if there was there would be no guarantee that he'd be working when I need them cut.  No joke, that profile would be gone in two sharpenings, max.

Additionally, if there WERE some way that you could get "your guy" anytime you wanted, there's still no way you can guarantee that he isn't tired, or injured, or super-busy, or pissed that he scratched the new Volvo while on his way back from lunch, or too focused on the exploits of the North Korean Olympic Short Track Team, or just 'not mentally there' that day....

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  The whole point of the Sparx is that it takes the unpredictable human element out of the skate sharpening equation.  

For people like you (and me - I'm in Southern California), who happen to live where "good" sharpenings are harder to come by, that's a HUGE benefit.  For others that have ready access to quality sharpening, maybe it's not such of a big deal.  But, simply not having to worry about it is what makes a Sparx worth it for the hundreds (thousands?) of people who've purchased one.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

16 minutes ago, Santos L Halper said:

Additionally, if there WERE some way that you could get "your guy" anytime you wanted, there's still no way you can guarantee that he isn't tired, or injured, or super-busy, or pissed that he scratched the new Volvo while on his way back from lunch, or too focused on the exploits of the North Korean Olympic Short Track Team, or just 'not mentally there' that day....

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  The whole point of the Sparx is that it takes the unpredictable human element out of the skate sharpening equation.  

For people like you (and me - I'm in Southern California), who happen to live where "good" sharpenings are harder to come by, that's a HUGE benefit.  For others that have ready access to quality sharpening, maybe it's not such of a big deal.  But, simply not having to worry about it is what makes a Sparx worth it for the hundreds (thousands?) of people who've purchased one.

SoCal here also. I got fed up with how bad the sharpenings are here. You'd think a pro shop run by Randy Carlyle's kid would be decent but no... definitely not. 

To be honest though, if the campaign hadn't been run by a MSH member I may not have backed it. That was a pretty significant reason also. 

[hollowicked 39]

 UPS had fast transit times from the Sparx shipping point to my house, I just got my machine unpacked and did 2 passes on my skates within 15 min. My main concern with this machine was it looked "plasticy" online but that's not the case, the machine has some heft to it and appears to be really solid and well built. next step is to build my arsenal of grinding rings lol 

Edited February 21, 2018 by hollowicked

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

4 hours ago, psulion22 said:

 

Yep, exactly.  If I had a real quality sharpener nearby, I wouldn't need a Sparx.  I don't.  There's not one guy that can maintain a profile, and even if there was there would be no guarantee that he'd be working when I need them cut.  No joke, that profile would be gone in two sharpenings, max.

Do you have a friend in the area that is a Dentist and has True Skates?

[psulion22 402]

3 minutes ago, oldtrainerguy28 said:

Do you have a friend in the area that is a Dentist and has True Skates?

I have a friend that's a dentist (2 actually, one is my dentist).  Don't know if either has True skates.  Why?

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

1 minute ago, psulion22 said:

I have a friend that's a dentist (2 actually, one is my dentist).  Don't know if either has True skates.  Why?

One came up to get his True skates and brought his old ones that were done on Sparx as he said that's all he had. As you have pointed out. The level was off and he called me after he skated and said mine was far better but he couldn't ship his extra set back and forth because of duties which I totally understand.

[psulion22 402]

I don't think I know anyone with a Sparx.  But even then, if he only used the alignment tool (if he even did that), the level could definitely be off.  I'd love to be able to ship mine up to someone every time, but that's just not reasonable.  So a properly configured Sparx is the best I can get in my area.  I check for level on old steel with an old ring first, then sharpen my steel out of the skate for 2 passes, check for level, then do 2 more passes.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

That's the nice thing with the Sparx; it gives level edges consistently once you get it adjusted. 

[218hockey 50]

22 hours ago, psulion22 said:

 

Yep, exactly.  If I had a real quality sharpener nearby, I wouldn't need a Sparx.  I don't.  There's not one guy that can maintain a profile, and even if there was there would be no guarantee that he'd be working when I need them cut.  No joke, that profile would be gone in two sharpenings, max.

Can that happen so easily?

 

I have a good sharpener just down the street but all I can check at home is edge evenness. How would a person even know how much his profile has changed?

 

 

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

You’d need a template to measure up against. 

You could trace a freshly-profiled set onto a piece of paper and reference to that. 

[Sticktape 8]

I have owned a Sparx for almost two full hockey seasons and love the machine for its convenience and consistency of sharpening. I have had no issues with the machine itself but I have had to return 3 discs due to various issues. Would highly recommend the Sprax edge checker, I wore a grove in the Blademaster one quickly as I did not know about the tape trick.

As an entry level skate sharpener myself, the biggest issue I have had to deal with thus far was not related to the sharpener but the blade itself. Thought I would I try out some of the Tydan Steel (supposed to be similar to the Step Steel), ordered them with a 10ft radius and not sharpened. The blades (2 sets) arrived and I sharpened them up, took about 18 passes to get a good 1/2 inch fire edge on them. I sharpen with my toe to the right and always edge check with he toe facing me. I got the edges perfectly level in the centre of the blade, and sent my son out to play. He could not make his tight turns, only had one edge (on both sets), this baffled me... Brought them home and tried again, same issue. I was baffled as I never have had an issue with LS 4 Steel ever. Upon further edge checking, I turned the blade around and checked it from the heel and it was out of level by 6 thou. I proceeded to contact both Sparx and Tydan to see what was going on.. Of course Tydan had never heard of that before and that was the end of discussion, couldn't return as they were skated on. Sparx was helpful in stating that they have seen this before with various steel in that the edges aren't always 90degrees to the running edge of the blade therefore the edge checker does not sit properly on the blade giving a false reading. I sharpened the blades again edge checking with the heel facing me and it was night and day difference, everything is ok now.. 

I sharpen skates for a few friends and they all have converted to the fire ring, they seem to like it as it offers a good combination of glide and grip. When the weather turned real cold and the ice got super hard I had to put my son to a 3/8 fire sharpen as the bite on the 1/2 inch fire was not quit what he liked.

I have referred 8 people to purchase a Sparx and all have been happy with the purchase to-date. 

Bottom line is I don't think you can go wrong with this sharpener for home use, I can't speak for a commercial situation. 

 

 

 

  

 

     

[Playmakersedge 58]

On 2/4/2018 at 3:15 PM, 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. 

Can the skate be put in the machine?   When I have seen video of the machine the toe was facing left from the vantage point of the window 

[colins 246]

15 minutes ago, Playmakersedge said:

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. 

Can the skate be put in the machine?   When I have seen video of the machine the toe was facing left from the vantage point of the window 

 

I put the toe towards the right on mine. Sparx documentation showed toe left, so I imagine most new users follow that advice. 

 

colins

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Per Sparx, they now recommend toe right, but say its ok to do it with the toe facing either way.

https://www.sparxhockey.com/manual

Mark

[psulion22 402]

On 2/24/2018 at 12:08 PM, Sticktape said:

I have owned a Sparx for almost two full hockey seasons and love the machine for its convenience and consistency of sharpening. I have had no issues with the machine itself but I have had to return 3 discs due to various issues. Would highly recommend the Sprax edge checker, I wore a grove in the Blademaster one quickly as I did not know about the tape trick.

As an entry level skate sharpener myself, the biggest issue I have had to deal with thus far was not related to the sharpener but the blade itself. Thought I would I try out some of the Tydan Steel (supposed to be similar to the Step Steel), ordered them with a 10ft radius and not sharpened. The blades (2 sets) arrived and I sharpened them up, took about 18 passes to get a good 1/2 inch fire edge on them. I sharpen with my toe to the right and always edge check with he toe facing me. I got the edges perfectly level in the centre of the blade, and sent my son out to play. He could not make his tight turns, only had one edge (on both sets), this baffled me... Brought them home and tried again, same issue. I was baffled as I never have had an issue with LS 4 Steel ever. Upon further edge checking, I turned the blade around and checked it from the heel and it was out of level by 6 thou. I proceeded to contact both Sparx and Tydan to see what was going on.. Of course Tydan had never heard of that before and that was the end of discussion, couldn't return as they were skated on. Sparx was helpful in stating that they have seen this before with various steel in that the edges aren't always 90degrees to the running edge of the blade therefore the edge checker does not sit properly on the blade giving a false reading. I sharpened the blades again edge checking with the heel facing me and it was night and day difference, everything is ok now.. 

I sharpen skates for a few friends and they all have converted to the fire ring, they seem to like it as it offers a good combination of glide and grip. When the weather turned real cold and the ice got super hard I had to put my son to a 3/8 fire sharpen as the bite on the 1/2 inch fire was not quit what he liked.

I have referred 8 people to purchase a Sparx and all have been happy with the purchase to-date. 

Bottom line is I don't think you can go wrong with this sharpener for home use, I can't speak for a commercial situation. 

 

 

 

  

 

     

Was the Tydan steel coated?  I have heard of instances where there are variations in the thickness of the coating and it affects how edge checkers sit on the steel.

[Santos L Halper 90]

2 hours ago, psulion22 said:

Was the Tydan steel coated?  I have heard of instances where there are variations in the thickness of the coating and it affects how edge checkers sit on the steel.

+1.  In fact, the Sparx manual for the edge checker specifically says that some coatings may make it impossible to get an accurate edge checker reading.  This is why I neither use nor recommend coated steel.  

[Santos L Halper 90]

17 hours ago, colins said:

 

I put the toe towards the right on mine. Sparx documentation showed toe left, so I imagine most new users follow that advice. 

 

colins

I do both.  For touchups/quick sharpens (3 or fewer passes), I put toe right.  If I'm doing 4 or more passes or ESPECIALLY if I'm sharpening new steel, I will do two with toe-right, then switch to toe-left, and continue alternating every two passes until I'm happy with the edge.  

YMMV, of course, but it's worked for me so far.  

[Sticktape 8]

21 hours ago, Santos L Halper said:

+1.  In fact, the Sparx manual for the edge checker specifically says that some coatings may make it impossible to get an accurate edge checker reading.  This is why I neither use nor recommend coated steel.  

Yes I had read that as well and was aware that the coatings could cause issues so I bought the un-coated Tydan steel.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Sticktape

[Playmakersedge 58]

On 2/20/2018 at 12:29 AM, oldtrainerguy28 said:

What's that? Never heard of it. Every machine i have brought there was made for 220. 

Incredible edger  I think (?) Is a machine that uses a small od wheel . And the skate holder slides on machined round bar in two directions  it has an ultra smooth feel . I believe it was first designed for figure skates  . Small wheel to get close and under the toe pick  . Incredible lil edger if you want to Google it .  

[Playmakersedge 58]

On 2/20/2018 at 12:29 PM, IPv6Freely said:

Can anyone suggest a good car power inverter so I can bring my Sparx to games and sharpen my teammates skates for a couple bucks?  I'm not sure what wattage is required - I'll have to look that up. 

Look at the power draw of the machine.  It will give you the watts and amps the machine draws and requires.  An inverter is a really handy thing to have . I would get 2000 watt .  I just got a tool and equipment cat with stuff on sale  company is Eastwood   .They have a pure sign wave inverter  $129.99  item # 31464.      eastwood.com

[Playmakersedge 58]

On 2/22/2018 at 10:58 AM, 218hockey said:

Can that happen so easily?

 

I have a good sharpener just down the street but all I can check at home is edge evenness. How would a person even know how much his profile has changed?

 

 

Something about profile that I want to mention.     When a profile is cut on a blade the profile is cut on the skating surface.  After a profile is cut it actually leaves a high toe and heel . The technician has to go back and free hand blend the toe and the heel . 

I have seen guys ruin a profile from one sharpening.  You don't want those people to touch your skates.  A good technician will approach the wheel go in the direction of rotation and slide the skate over the wheel in a straight plain .finger tips on the holder.   If you go to the same place, same tech  the profile shouldn't be changed much or at all.

This being said the spark being consistent your profile should be accurate on the skating area of the blade  .