Skates - bent steel, no edge...how could this happen?

[Dante2004 0]

Somehow the steel on the skate is bent (front to back).  Just slightly.  You can barely see it with your eye.  I was only able to confirm this was the case when I put a straight edge against the side of the blade.  The inside edge towards the middle was gone and I just assumed he stepped on something.  So we had them sharpened again...same thing...sharpen...same thing.  Now I know something is odd.  That's when I figured out it was bent.

This is on my son's skates, CCM size 4.5.  He plays PWAA so he is a competitive skater, but doesn't have the weight and impact of an adult player.  

Any idea how something like this happens?  Sure it could have happened during a game, but I would have thought for him to have hit something hard enough you would see some sort of evidence.  Puck mark on the blade holder, chip in the blade, etc.  Someone suggested heat from being left in the trunk of the car, but that seems like a stretch.

[Leif 161]

Swap the blades, and if the same skate has a bent blade, the cause is the holder, presumably badly riveted. Or just examine the blade when removed. 

[Dante2004 0]

18 hours ago, Leif said:

Swap the blades, and if the same skate has a bent blade, the cause is the holder, presumably badly riveted. Or just examine the blade when removed. 

I hadn't thought about the holder itself warping the bending the steel.  Good suggestion.  He never complained until we put the new(er) set of steel in so I just assumed they were the cause.  They most certainly are bent, but could have been bent by the skate itself.  The original steel is harder/higher quality and perhaps strong enough to not get bent???  Anyway...I'll explore that tonight.

[psulion22 402]

Bent steel is a pretty typical thing.  While it more often happens with cheaper or stock steel, it can happen with better quality and aftermarket runners too.  I had two sets from a very popular third party manufacturer sent to me from JR that had one bent runner from each pair.  It was unusual to be sure, but it shows that it can happen.  Runners are stamped from a sheet of steel, and that process can put a slight bend in.  Most often, the holder will straighten it out.  So if the steel has a bend off the skate, it may not on the skate.  Just to see, I've put the aforementioned bent runners onto a skate and sharpened them.  I wasn't able to detect any issues.  If there is an area that corresponds with the bend that is having an issue with sharpening, you may have another issue.  As suggested above, I'd swap sides on the runners.  If the issue remains on the same side, the problem is with the holder on that skate.  If it stays with the bad runner, then the problem is the steel.  Of course, there's always the possibility that you're just getting a bad sharpening.  Steel can be bent back, or the holder can be remounted correctly to fix the issue.  

Edited April 16, 2019 by psulion22

[Dante2004 0]

Took the steel out last night and there was a slight bend to the steel against a straight edge when not in the holder.  I purchased new steel and getting them sharpened today by the "good guy" at the local pro shop.  Hopefully that comes out good and it isn't the holder.  

If that doesn't fix it, I'll move on with the trouble shooting and try swapping left/right skates.