Flare Steel + Sparx Fire

[VegasHockey 1280]

Had a customer who wanted to use a Fire cut on his Flare and with the help of Sparx and the aid of computer software we were able to determine the following:

The takeaway was that for a 3/4 FIRE, you could get a sharper bite angle for the same depth as a 1" hollow on a Flare blade. Therefore, the 3/4 FIRE might be a good choice for Flare blade. 

 

 

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Wouldn’t it be annoying that the width of your skate blade narrows in width with every sharpening? I don’t get the point. 

[VegasHockey 1280]

25 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

Wouldn’t it be annoying that the width of your skate blade narrows in width with every sharpening? I don’t get the point. 

The width doesn't matter. It's the increased angle which makes the Flare ideal. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Shrug. Okay.

[caveman27 208]

18 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

Wouldn’t it be annoying that the width of your skate blade narrows in width with every sharpening? I don’t get the point. 

I just looked up their website. Never heard of these blades until now.

https://flareskateblade.com/

 

I get the concept, since the bottom edge is wider, the hollow of the blade provides more glide similar to FBV. It would seem to me that you would start to lose that same edge angle after every sharpening (even though it's a little angle each time) until you can go with a narrow hollow, e.g. 1" to 7/8". So, you would be sacrificing edge feel during that "middle" time until you could grind it at 7/8", Or, sacrifice feel and go with an even sharper 7/8" earlier than later. I would rather have consistent feel after multiple sharpenings. They don't really talk about it in the FAQs. Maybe they don't have long term testing where someone has ground down the blades a lot. 

[stick9 890]

On 8/15/2019 at 8:30 PM, Nicholas G said:

The width doesn't matter. It's the increased angle which makes the Flare ideal. 

I think point being made is as you sharpen you change the width and alter the angle of the blades. You're essentially grinding away the gains.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Blackstone tried to figure out FBV on them but couldn't.

[VegasHockey 1280]

4 minutes ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Blackstone tried to figure out FBV on them but couldn't.

I assume because there is a significant difference between the Sparx FBV (Fire) and the Blackstone FBV. I tested with the Bldemaster FBV (X cut) and it also seems to work, though not nearly as well as Sparx. With Sparx using a smaller flat surface area and larger "fangs" there is a larger "sweet spot" to getting the FBV to cut properly on Flare. 

1 hour ago, stick9 said:

I think point being made is as you sharpen you change the width and alter the angle of the blades. You're essentially grinding away the gains.

As you sharpen you change the overall width of the steel but the attack angle doesn't change. You always have the 6 degree attack angle until the steel is worn to a point where you would typically change it. Also, since you are going with a more flat hollow and the steel is wider I find you don't need to sharpen them nearly as often. I know many players that go 60+ hours of ice time before they sharpen them. This is good for the players but bad for pro shop owners like myself 😉

 

20 hours ago, caveman27 said:

I just looked up their website. Never heard of these blades until now.

https://flareskateblade.com/

 

I get the concept, since the bottom edge is wider, the hollow of the blade provides more glide similar to FBV. It would seem to me that you would start to lose that same edge angle after every sharpening (even though it's a little angle each time) until you can go with a narrow hollow, e.g. 1" to 7/8". So, you would be sacrificing edge feel during that "middle" time until you could grind it at 7/8", Or, sacrifice feel and go with an even sharper 7/8" earlier than later. I would rather have consistent feel after multiple sharpenings. They don't really talk about it in the FAQs. Maybe they don't have long term testing where someone has ground down the blades a lot. 

I've tested the steel wearing them down to nearly no flare being left and the entire time continue to use the same hollow I always skate on and didn't notice anything specifically. However, I skate on a relatively flat hollow to begin with even on standard steel so maybe I am just not as sensitive to the change in width and such. As I mentioned above though, many players change how often they sharpen their steel which usually prolongs the life of the flare width.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

2 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

I assume because there is a significant difference between the Sparx FBV (Fire) and the Blackstone FBV. I tested with the Bldemaster FBV (X cut) and it also seems to work, though not nearly as well as Sparx. With Sparx using a smaller flat surface area and larger "fangs" there is a larger "sweet spot" to getting the FBV to cut properly on Flare. 

Correct. Try not to refer to Fire or Blademaster BFD as FBV - neither of those form dressings have a V shape as they are an evolution of a ROH.  

[caveman27 208]

2 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

I've tested the steel wearing them down to nearly no flare being left and the entire time continue to use the same hollow I always skate on and didn't notice anything specifically. However, I skate on a relatively flat hollow to begin with even on standard steel so maybe I am just not as sensitive to the change in width and such. As I mentioned above though, many players change how often they sharpen their steel which usually prolongs the life of the flare width.

That's believable. I had Step Steel with my previous skates and the quality of the steel was better than OEM blades so I didn't have to sharpen as often.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

4 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

I assume because there is a significant difference between the Sparx FBV (Fire) and the Blackstone FBV. I tested with the Bldemaster FBV (X cut) and it also seems to work, though not nearly as well as Sparx. With Sparx using a smaller flat surface area and larger "fangs" there is a larger "sweet spot" to getting the FBV to cut properly on Flare. 

Correct. Try not to refer to Fire or Blademaster BFD as FBV - neither of those form dressings have a V shape as they are an evolution of a ROH.  

[Achcht 0]

Does anyone know what size Sparx fire ring to use on Flare blades to get the same result as a 1/2” fire ring on standard blades?  Thx