Flare Skate Blade - Anyone seen this or used it? WIder than typical steel

[VegasHockey 1280]

I recently talked to someone who was using custom steel that was wider than normal. I forgot the name of the company but someone pointed me to this product https://flareskateblade.com

Has anyone seen or used these? I am fascinated by the idea of wider steel.

Note: This steel is not the same as the person I skated with using the custom wider steel. Maybe someone knows of the other companies name? The steel was about 1mm wider and it did not flare like this brand. 

[Zac911 317]

This is very similar to the Taper Side Honed Figure Skate Blades.  Having an edge flared out at the bottom would in theory give you lower steel engagement with the ice for turns as well as a wider steel for better floatation.  The bigger picture as to service / sharpenings might be more challenging though.  I am all for it;  however,  in the hockey environment  might not be all that practicable,  but I believe some of the next innovations need to come from steel and steel prep.

[GoalForFun 176]

As a former goalie, I'd imagine skating on this stuff would be similar to skating on goalie steel (which is wider). Definitely feel like you get more bite on your pushoffs but as I've only ever used a goalie radius I can't say for sure how this would affect your turning.

[VegasHockey 1280]

On 9/3/2017 at 0:32 PM, Zac911 said:

This is very similar to the Taper Side Honed Figure Skate Blades.  Having an edge flared out at the bottom would in theory give you lower steel engagement with the ice for turns as well as a wider steel for better floatation.  The bigger picture as to service / sharpenings might be more challenging though.  I am all for it;  however,  in the hockey environment  might not be all that practicable,  but I believe some of the next innovations need to come from steel and steel prep.

Agreed. Steel quality has gotten better but no major changes have really evolved since the Paul Coffey era. He was the last player I know of that was known to constant play with this skate design. Profiles, steel types, holders, CAG, ROH, you name it. He tried it. 

[RickDC 24]

One huge immediate issue I can see is that as you sharpen the flared blade and naturally wear down the steel.. Then when you start out, you'll be on wide flared steel, after multiple sharpenings the width is going to get thinner and thinner until you buy another flared steel, whereon you'll start again with large flared edges. Now, most people can feel when they change a 1/16 of a sharpening, or 1 degree of pitch.. how is this going to feel when you're 80 games into a flared steel and the next time you need new steel? Are Pro's going to trust that in a play-off game?

I think it's a gimmick, just the same as heated blades were.. 

[GoalForFun 176]

Good point... is there a rule about having something like this:

[Kgbeast 195]

how thick do you want them to be?

[Monty22 832]

3 hours ago, GoalForFun said:

Good point... is there a rule about having something like this:

How would you sharpen that?  Make it fit the old Easton Razor Blade Kevlar holders and watch LHS workers's heads explode. 

[GoalForFun 176]

4 hours ago, Kgbeast said:

how thick do you want them to be?

However thick the flare ones are at their widest. Obviously image not to scale.

2 hours ago, Monty22 said:

How would you sharpen that?  Make it fit the old Easton Razor Blade Kevlar holders and watch LHS workers's heads explode. 

Same way you'd sharpen a goalie blade?

[Tyler55 10]

You clamp the steel into the sharpening holder above the Flare so there is no special holder or adjustment needed. The steel above the Flare is the same thickness as the stock steel. So if your holder is set up for sharpening LS4 steel, you just clamp in a Flare and no adjustment of the clickers needed. Just dress the stone to whatever hollow you want to use.

The performance advantage doesn't come from the width at the bottom of the blade. The blade was designed to prevent guys from blowing edges when turning. I have watched WHL and NHL players try to blow an edge on these and they are laughing because they can't. The width is just the result of the angles. It comes from the 6 degree angle that the edges are on. The one thing that was discovered when the University of Calgary studied the blade design is that because the edges are not pointing straight down into the ice when gliding, you have over 20% faster glide. Since at least 1 or both blades are gliding when skating, this allows you to carry more speed. 

All information can be found at FlareSkateBlade.com or feel free to ask me. 

[Monty22 832]

3 hours ago, Tyler55 said:

You clamp the steel into the sharpening holder above the Flare so there is no special holder or adjustment needed. The steel above the Flare is the same thickness as the stock steel. So if your holder is set up for sharpening LS4 steel, you just clamp in a Flare and no adjustment of the clickers needed. Just dress the stone to whatever hollow you want to use.

The performance advantage doesn't come from the width at the bottom of the blade. The blade was designed to prevent guys from blowing edges when turning. I have watched WHL and NHL players try to blow an edge on these and they are laughing because they can't. The width is just the result of the angles. It comes from the 6 degree angle that the edges are on. The one thing that was discovered when the University of Calgary studied the blade design is that because the edges are not pointing straight down into the ice when gliding, you have over 20% faster glide. Since at least 1 or both blades are gliding when skating, this allows you to carry more speed. 

All information can be found at FlareSkateBlade.com or feel free to ask me. 

Are you affiliated with the company? 

[Tyler55 10]

Yes. I handle pro services for Flare. 

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Thanks, Tyler - figure you’d step in. 

[Monty22 832]

Finally had a chance to watch the videos, interesting concept. Seems like it would in theory be a good match for FBV - the flat portion of the hollow would be bigger and should enhance the already increased glide, no? 

[VegasHockey 1280]

12 hours ago, Tyler55 said:

Yes. I handle pro services for Flare. 

Are any well-known professionals using these? Are they approved for use in NHL and such?

[shooter27 116]

Somebody asked it above, and I'm curious as well, what happens when the flare gets worn down from sharpening? I assume that will change the angle of the edges to the ice.  Does that mean one needs to change hollow as their blade wears down to get the same bite?

[VegasHockey 1280]

1 hour ago, shooter27 said:

Somebody asked it above, and I'm curious as well, what happens when the flare gets worn down from sharpening? I assume that will change the angle of the edges to the ice.  Does that mean one needs to change hollow as their blade wears down to get the same bite?

My assumption is you will get your blades sharpened less often thus having a much longer blade life. But overall, once you hit a specific point, you would swap the steel as the flare would be insignificant. 

[Tyler55 10]

On 9/9/2017 at 7:03 PM, Monty22 said:

Finally had a chance to watch the videos, interesting concept. Seems like it would in theory be a good match for FBV - the flat portion of the hollow would be bigger and should enhance the already increased glide, no? 

We spoke to Blackstone about making a spinner for FBV that would work with the 4.5mm bottom, but for now, we are just focusing on getting them into retail. They already have a ton of glide and way better bite than traditional steel. Not opposed to it in the future. I am curious as to what a FBV would be like on the Flare. 

[Tyler55 10]

On 9/10/2017 at 2:37 AM, Nicholas G said:

Are any well-known professionals using these? Are they approved for use in NHL and such?

They are approved in all pro leagues and we have a lot of CHL and NHL players using them. 

[Tyler55 10]

On 9/10/2017 at 1:51 PM, shooter27 said:

Somebody asked it above, and I'm curious as well, what happens when the flare gets worn down from sharpening? I assume that will change the angle of the edges to the ice.  Does that mean one needs to change hollow as their blade wears down to get the same bite?

As the Flare is worn down from sharpening, the bite angle doesn't change. It's still the same 6 degrees.So your turning advantage doesn't get lost. The total height of the Flare is 6.5mm and most people replace when it's about halfway down the Flare. Because the bite is better at 7/8" on a Flare than 1/2" on traditional steel, sharpening as often isn't necessary. If you are using a 7/8" hollow when the Flare is new, you could switch to a 3/4" as they get lower. I never have. It's all personal preference.The worst case scenario is you leave them too long and they just turn into traditional steel. 

[malcb33 97]

I don't see the steel available for Edge holders, is that due to the patent Bauer holds?

If so thats a huge shame, I'd love to see how these compare to my Black Step steel.

Edited September 11, 2017 by malcb33

[Tyler55 10]

2 hours ago, malcb33 said:

I don't see the steel available for Edge holders, is that due to the patent Bauer holds?

It will be available in Canada only. We are going to update our website. We are shipping Flare Blades for the edge holder to stores in Canada right now. 

If you contact us through our website, we can find a retailer near you that can sell you a pair. 

Edited September 12, 2017 by Tyler55

[VegasHockey 1280]

What is the default profile on the steel? 10ft?

[Tyler55 10]

16 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

What is the default profile on the steel? 10ft?

It is the same as whatever format you use. Example - Bauer LS2 is a 9', so our Flare Blade that fits an LS2 is the same. Flare for Graf would be 11'. We just copy the profile but you can always change it to whatever you like. 

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

On 9/8/2017 at 6:48 PM, Tyler55 said:

You clamp the steel into the sharpening holder above the Flare so there is no special holder or adjustment needed. The steel above the Flare is the same thickness as the stock steel. So if your holder is set up for sharpening LS4 steel, you just clamp in a Flare and no adjustment of the clickers needed. Just dress the stone to whatever hollow you want to use.

The performance advantage doesn't come from the width at the bottom of the blade. The blade was designed to prevent guys from blowing edges when turning. I have watched WHL and NHL players try to blow an edge on these and they are laughing because they can't. The width is just the result of the angles. It comes from the 6 degree angle that the edges are on. The one thing that was discovered when the University of Calgary studied the blade design is that because the edges are not pointing straight down into the ice when gliding, you have over 20% faster glide. Since at least 1 or both blades are gliding when skating, this allows you to carry more speed. 

All information can be found at FlareSkateBlade.com or feel free to ask me. 

Tyler,

 

I have had 2 players come in with these. One Pro (NHL player) and one Minor Midget player. Both did not fit well on the new Blademaster holder as the blade was to close to the holder was not tall enough for the curves at the front and back of the holder. When I did get in a position that would sharpen consistently the steel itself was a pleasure to sharpen. As a sharpener I think there is some design work to be done to make it work better on the holders. Also no level I have goes on these to be able to make sure its a consistant level. (I have them all)

 

As for the 2 players the PRO player didn't like them at all. Although he admitted the profile felt way off even though the guy ( who he got them from) tried to adopt his profile to them from his old blades. 

The younger player really liked them but couldn't explain what it was he liked, The dad just spoke to whats on the website. These were the ones I spent the most time with. With no level it took a little longer to make sure they were as straight as could be.

Adjustments to sharpening I think would make it easier to push to players in retail. 

Another ting was the weight seemed to be a little heavier?? 

 

My 2 cents