Sharpen by Mail questions

[marka 526]

Howdy,

Let me apologize in advance, because I expect the answers are here.  I must suck at searching though, because I'm not finding much.  :-(

My recent adventures with getting skates sharpened locally have me thinking about going to sharpening by mail, but a couple questions...

What places offer this?  I found NoIcing (appears to be out of New Hampshire?), are there others?  Physical location near Youngstown, OH / Pittsburgh, PA / Cleveland, OH would be awesome for quicker shipping...

I play enough that I would need an extra set of steel.  I'm wondering how much wear and tear gets introduced to the holders / screws by swapping steel every couple weeks?  Easton Mako skates, if it matters.  Not sure if this is a concern at all, if its a "just pay attention and not biggie" thing, or if its a "yeah, you'll need to replace holders every year or so" kinda thing.

Appreciate any pointers or just a link to a thread that already has these answers that I was unable to find.  :-/

Mark

[Ps12 11]

I use noicing and live in PA

no issues with my cxn holders and yes I have multiple sets of steel so I can rotate them.  Shipping time wouldn't be a problem. 

[IPv6Freely 2096]

I was doing the sharpen by mail thing with my Makos for a couple years. Two sets of steel in rotation. Wrap them in a tyvex envelope and stick that in a USPS flat-rate envelope. The sharpening was decent enough, but man the costs added up. $8 or whatever for the sharpen, and $5 each way for shipping. Then I started playing goalie too, so I would have had to start sending those away as well.

I just said screw it and bought my own sharpener (Sparx) so I don't have to send them away anymore. Pop the skate in, push a button, and done. 

[Aggie 9]

If your runners are size 280 or less, you can cram 5 pairs of runners into the flat rate USPS envelope.  I used to drive 125 miles to get FBV, but through this board, I started doing sharpen by mail a few years ago and have been very happy with results.  

[IPv6Freely 2096]

26 minutes ago, Aggie said:

If your runners are size 280 or less, you can cram 5 pairs of runners into the flat rate USPS envelope.  I used to drive 125 miles to get FBV, but through this board, I started doing sharpen by mail a few years ago and have been very happy with results.  

Yep, but even then... $26 every two weeks added up quickly. (two pairs plus $5 each way for shipping). 

[Fat Buzz 70]

I used noicing for a almost two years.  They did a really good job, and the ship times from Ohio were pretty quick. but the costs add up like crazy.

It shouldn't have much effect on your holders, either. 

 

 

[Aggie 9]

2 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Yep, but even then... $26 every two weeks added up quickly. (two pairs plus $5 each way for shipping). 

I only skate once a week right now, so I don't have to sharpen that often.  5 pairs of runners could last me months.

[YesLanges 128]

I used Blade-Tek in Manitoba for a while and they did a real good job custom profiling and ROH sharpening.  Switched to No-Icing for FBV and dual radius profile and have never had a problem. Usually less than a week from shipping out to return (to NYC). If the screws wear out before the steels, I figured I'd be able to find comparable screws at a large hardware store. I was expecting FBV to last much less than ROH because of what I'd read about how delicate the edges are. I'm careful where I step even on rubber floors and I use a honing stone after every skate, but I've never experienced a ruined edge from use or just because of one or two nicks. A light touch with a Speed Stick also seems to keep them nice and sharp for just as long as ROH, in my experience. 

[JAG 20]

1 hour ago, Aggie said:

I only skate once a week right now, so I don't have to sharpen that often.  5 pairs of runners could last me months.

5 pairs of runners!?? Why so many?

[IPv6Freely 2096]

2 hours ago, Aggie said:

I only skate once a week right now, so I don't have to sharpen that often.  5 pairs of runners could last me months.

I was sharpening every other week. Probably didn't NEED it anywhere near that often, but I didn't like the feeling of a fresh sharpening after not doing it for a a couple months so I was trying to stay consistent with it. 

[Fat Buzz 70]

I had three sets, more for the sake of having to ship back and forth less often and saving money on that end.

[Aggie 9]

1 hour ago, JAG said:

5 pairs of runners!?? Why so many?

Because I'm one of those MSH gear whores!  I actually have more than five.  Had to stock up on CXN runners since no more Mako skates.  And what Pocketmonster said above applies to me too.

[jimmy 194]

There are ways to lower shipping costs.  If you're not in a hurry for your blades, you don't have to ship Priority mail which is $6.45.  You can send them Parcel Post, depending on your location that could be as low as $2.  If you pay cash, we can send them back the same way too, but if you want to use your credit card, we have to use Priority Mail because we need delivery confirmation to prove we sent the package.