Can a regular sharpening add pitch ?

[z1ggy 81]

I ordered neutral profiled replacement steel for my Mako IIs sometime last summer. It was really great, it took me from the +3 in the stock Mako set up to a +2, which I was fine with. I felt more balanced and comfortable on my feet. However, when I had my guy sharpen them, the next time on the ice I felt that familiar feeling of being too much over my toes again. He's since sharpened them 2 or 3 more times and it seems to have gotten worse. I feel like I'm almost back on that stock +3 set up again.

Is it possible he inadvertently added some forward pitch again? I'm considering buying the same replacement set again profiled neutral to see if I feel a difference. I don't have a local profiler around me so it's pretty much my only choice to see if I can fix this.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Of course. The sharpener disrupted your existing profile.

[z1ggy 81]

Okay, good to know I'm not just imaging this. I'll probably just end up sending my steel to Jimmy and see how that works out.

[Vet88 674]

Is it possible he inadvertently added some forward pitch again?

It's such a simple thing to do but many of us don't think about this. When you get your new blades sharpened and and profiled to how you like, take them off your skate and trace the outline of the blade on a piece of paper. Now you have a record of that profile and as time goes by with additional sharpenings you can always refer back to this to see if the profile is changing (and have a meaningful discussion with your sharpener).

A while ago Maximum Edge did a study of skate blades for a Varsity team and 70% of the team had blades were out of balance / profile etc. Your sharpener may be ok at putting on an edge but if they don't understand the how and whys of what sharpening is about then your blade will change over time.

[jimmy 194]

It's such a simple thing to do but many of us don't think about this. When you get your new blades sharpened and and profiled to how you like, take them off your skate and trace the outline of the blade on a piece of paper. Now you have a record of that profile and as time goes by with additional sharpenings you can always refer back to this to see if the profile is changing (and have a meaningful discussion with your sharpener).

A while ago Maximum Edge did a study of skate blades for a Varsity team and 70% of the team had blades were out of balance / profile etc. Your sharpener may be ok at putting on an edge but if they don't understand the how and whys of what sharpening is about then your blade will change over time.

The pencil outline is a poor method, not very accurate. I could change your profile from a 9 to a 8 or 10' and it would still line up perfectly with the pencil tracing, in some cases the thickness of the pencil marks is way more than the amount of steel taken off to alter a radius. Every sharpening, even great ones, alters the profile a little bit. So after many sharpenings, it is altered enough to where the skater may feel off. This is normal. It is recommended that at least once a year to have the profile re-done to get it back where it should be.

[Vet88 674]

Agreed for a true radius but if the sharpener is too heavy in the front or rear or thru the middle then this will show up. I've used this (thin pencil outline then measured against the inside of the line of the blade) and seen a dramatic change in the profile I had in just one sharpen (for some reason the sharpener ground the heck out of the front of one of my blades). I'm not saying it's a be all to end all way of checking your profile, it's a basic guide as there isn't much else out there for the average skater to use. Personally I use the number of sharpens done as opposed to a time period for a reprofile, just my preference.

[z1ggy 81]

What surprised me was I skated on the fresh profiled steel about 5 times, it felt great once I adjusted. Got it sharpened once, and was immediately thrown off on my first stride.