Steel runners and honing stones

[rh71el2 3]

I have a Sparx so I use the stone afterward on our skates.  One skate has the LS Pulse steel.  Are we supposed to use a honing stone against steel with that mirror finish?  Because I think it looks marred now.

Does the leather strop actually do anything?  Am I supposed to use both on regular steel (LS3/LS4)?  Only the leather on mirrored & carbon steel because that is the only compromise?

Edited June 12, 2021 by rh71el2

[Buzz_LightBeer 973]

Rubber/Clay stone works well on that finish

 

https://howieshockeytape.com/products/rubber-skate-stone?_pos=2&_sid=e77362d25&_ss=r

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

Yes.  Use a rubber stone followed by a piece of leather and that should take care of it.

However, unless the steel is DLC coated (not just cosmetically coated), there's really no harm in using a regular stone except marring the finish.  It doesn't really affect the skate's performance.  And while we all personally like to keep our equipment in tip top shape on MSH, in reality, most people at the rink are not looking at our steel and judging us by its appearance. (except fellow MSHers...lol)

My kid's skate has CCM Black and I just stone hone it, since the coating isn't really doing anything for performance.  And the kids' don't care that their runners are gleaming.

Steel that is truly coated, like Step Black, etc. if you scrape the finish off, then yes, the blade will suffer; subsequent sharpening won't sharpen as clean as before.