Sparx Skate Sharpener - At home sharpener

[Leif 161]

Is there any advantage to black steels if you do a one pass sharpen before every session? From what I have read, the key advantage is keeping an edge longer. Also does anyone know if any particular blades are more or less prone to being tapered? My previous Step Steel blades were tapered so usng a BAT gauge was a bit tough. My Bauer LS5 blades are not tapered. However a sample of one set of each does not tell me much. 

[Dante2004 0]

Anyone "travel" with the Sparx?  Did you buy the case from them, or get something on your own?  They want $399 for theirs and I can pick up a Pelican case for half the price.

 

Thoughts?

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I'd just buy their case, personally. 

Can you point us towards the correct Pelican case for half the price? 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

3 hours ago, Dante2004 said:

Anyone "travel" with the Sparx?  Did you buy the case from them, or get something on your own?  They want $399 for theirs and I can pick up a Pelican case for half the price.

 

Thoughts?

 

If you can get a Pelican case for half the cost that holds the Sparx, there's no question at all that that's what I'd do.  Those are great cases.  You're going to have to configure you're own foam setup (either the packing foam it shipped in or pick and pluck foam I'd imagine).

 

Mark

[IPv6Freely 2092]

14 minutes ago, marka said:

Howdy,

 

If you can get a Pelican case for half the cost that holds the Sparx, there's no question at all that that's what I'd do.  Those are great cases.  You're going to have to configure you're own foam setup (either the packing foam it shipped in or pick and pluck foam I'd imagine).

 

Mark

The Sparx case is also a pelican, it just has custom foam inserts. I'd just like to know where you can get them for half the cost. I've seen them for maybe $100 less but not half. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

The info is on page 46. It's a Pelican 1650 which is $289 with foam, at least. 

[Stewie 721]

20 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

The info is on page 46. It's a Pelican 1650 which is $289 with foam, at least. 

You can get those cases gently used around 150 on eBay fairly regularly, which could be a great option for those that don’t mind a few scratches to save a couple hundred 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

25 minutes ago, Stewie said:

You can get those cases gently used around 150 on eBay fairly regularly, which could be a great option for those that don’t mind a few scratches to save a couple hundred 

In that case, yeah its probably worth it assuming they still have foam in the right spots. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Just for a comparison, if you bought a new 1650 with custom foam cutouts it would be over $500: https://mycasebuilder.com/cases-by-brand/custom-foam-pelican-cases/pelican-1650-custom-foam-case/

[Leif 161]

The EU price is about £600 whereas a new or nearly new 1650 (no foam) can be had for ~£200. 

I could take mine to training sessions and charge for sharpens, but it’s a heavy machine, and all too easy to drop and/or bang against something. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

You’re comparing apples to oranges. The foam inserts alone are very expensive. You have to compare it to a case with foam.

[Stewie 721]

29 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

You’re comparing apples to oranges. The foam inserts alone are very expensive. You have to compare it to a case with foam.

You don’t have to use their foam inserts though, so that also can save you 

certainly buying from them is a great option if money isn’t an issue, but you can probably get pretty close to the level of protection on the cheap if you don’t mind a bit of work 

personally I’d get a nice used case, and I have a good source of free foam if needed, so I could make something pretty close for pretty cheap if I ever were to purchase a sparx

Edited April 18, 2019 by Stewie

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Sorry I meant the generic pelican foam isn’t cheap. I wasn’t referring to the Sparx foam. I only mentioned it because Leif specified the price of a case with no foam which could be misleading for anyone else reading this thread who doesn’t realize how much the foam itself costs.

If you can get a used case and foam for decently cheap then I’m all for it.

My overall point was that with what a new case with stock foam costs ($300) or a new case with custom foam costs ($500), the Sparx case at 400 isn’t that unreasonable. Just to try to put some context into it when people get the sticker shock. 

[Leif 161]

The UK and European price is unreasonable IMO. The Sparx is also much more expensive here, but still worth it. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Yea I could see that. £600 for Sparx vs around £369 for a pelican with foam may be more than many people could stomach. But in the US it's definitely worth it (again unless you can find one used for cheap). 

[bunnyman666 445]

6 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Sorry I meant the generic pelican foam isn’t cheap. I wasn’t referring to the Sparx foam. I only mentioned it because Leif specified the price of a case with no foam which could be misleading for anyone else reading this thread who doesn’t realize how much the foam itself costs.

If you can get a used case and foam for decently cheap then I’m all for it.

My overall point was that with what a new case with stock foam costs ($300) or a new case with custom foam costs ($500), the Sparx case at 400 isn’t that unreasonable. Just to try to put some context into it when people get the sticker shock. 

$400 to protect a $1K investment is worth it IMO.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

15 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

$400 to protect a $1K investment is worth it IMO.

If you actually travel with it, yeah. I don't so at this point I have a small pelican case that contains just the accessories tray. 

[bunnyman666 445]

13 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

If you actually travel with it, yeah. I don't so at this point I have a small pelican case that contains just the accessories tray. 

Exactly! I am not travelling with mine, so therefore- no case. The minute I ponder travelling with mine, that case will be ordered. Something like this deserves the best protection money can buy.

[bunnyman666 445]

On 4/17/2019 at 1:57 PM, Leif said:

Is there any advantage to black steels if you do a one pass sharpen before every session? From what I have read, the key advantage is keeping an edge longer. Also does anyone know if any particular blades are more or less prone to being tapered? My previous Step Steel blades were tapered so usng a BAT gauge was a bit tough. My Bauer LS5 blades are not tapered. However a sample of one set of each does not tell me much. 

From my experience, that singular pass would be enough on black steel. Between the coating and the polishing processes, the edges are a touch harder than with plain steel. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

10 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

Exactly! I am not travelling with mine, so therefore- no case. The minute I ponder travelling with mine, that case will be ordered. Something like this deserves the best protection money can buy.

I can imagine it might be tough to put in a warranty claim on a machine that wasn’t transported in their case. Not trying to suggest I have reason to think they would do that but they certainly COULD make a case that if it wasn’t properly protected then it’s not their problem. And again I’ll reiterate, I’m not suggesting they would or will do so. I don’t want to start a debate about it. Just something to consider.

[bunnyman666 445]

11 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

I can imagine it might be tough to put in a warranty claim on a machine that wasn’t transported in their case. Not trying to suggest I have reason to think they would do that but they certainly COULD make a case that if it wasn’t properly protected then it’s not their problem. And again I’ll reiterate, I’m not suggesting they would or will do so. I don’t want to start a debate about it. Just something to consider.

You never know. I never saw that in the literature.

A Pelican case is pretty well the gold standard in protection when it comes to sensitive micro mechanical machines like cameras; I would qualify a Sparx as such a machine even though it is the size of an old printer! Why risk your investment when the ultimate case is available?

[IPv6Freely 2092]

It was more of a common sense statement than anything. 

[bunnyman666 445]

21 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

It was more of a common sense statement than anything. 

100% common sense- I get it.

Again- why risk your investment if the best protection is available if you plan on taking it anywhere?

[Leif 161]

I certainly would not transport mine on a regular basis without a solid case and the Pelican with foam is ideal. The original box is okay for rare use such as moving home. However the Sparx is heavy, easy to drop, so the ProSharp Home might be a better choice as a mobile machine. But the made in Sweden aspect makes it very expensive, and it lacks automation. 

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

I'm sure it's been mentioned in the thread, but don't feel like searching through.  What's the closest, equivalent Fire radius to an FBV 100/50?