CCM Step Steel feels sharper than SpeedBlade Black..normal ?

[Badaboom 0]

I just bought new Step Steel (regular) blades and at the same hollow (11/16) they felt sharper than my previous SpeedBlade Black. Anyone has this experience ? 

Obviously, the SS is taller but this should not affect the hollow. I'm also aware that with taller blade, i can have more angle, thus more bite but what i'm talking about is lateral glide, I can easily glide sideways with SB vs SS. 

Anyways, i will probably try 3/4 but was just curious if anyone experienced this with their SS.

[xstartxtodayx 340]

Did you get them profiled at all?  Not sure if stock Step is same profile as stock speedblade but the profile can play a part in the way an edge feels.  Aside from that, the hollow should feel the same on both, so the other variable is maybe they didn't sharpen at the ROH you requested (this happened to me a few weeks ago, had to go back and get them re-done).

[Badaboom 0]

SS and SB both are 10' radius stock profile. Nah, no mistake, both are sharpen at 11/16.

[xstartxtodayx 340]

Did they blend/grind down the toe/heel at at on the Step?  I know it's super chunky and can feel longer if left as-is, I'm sure your old steel is worn down front/back from sharpening and also was never as squared off as Step is.  That's all I can think of since the sharpening should feel the same, the better steel will hold that edge better but it should feel the same.

[VegasHockey 1262]

I assume your old steel was heavily sharpened, and the profile has been worn to be more rockered, which means less contact between the steel and the ice since your old steel was more of a 8' profile. 

The new steel would have been 10' profile, which has more contact with the ice and steel, so the standard hollow would feel more aggressive. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by VegasHockey

[Vet88 673]

On 6/11/2023 at 2:54 AM, Badaboom said:

I just bought new Step Steel (regular) blades and at the same hollow (11/16) they felt sharper than my previous SpeedBlade Black. Anyone has this experience ? 

Obviously, the SS is taller but this should not affect the hollow. I'm also aware that with taller blade, i can have more angle, thus more bite but what i'm talking about is lateral glide, I can easily glide sideways with SB vs SS. 

Anyways, i will probably try 3/4 but was just curious if anyone experienced this with their SS.

This is a common complaint. There are 2 issues going on and @VegasHockey dealt with one, your profile. On your SS it is very very unlikely it is anything close to it's true original 10' profile (because of many sharpenings, be it on a manual machine or a automatic tension machine such as a Sparx), this different profile is a big reason why you think the hollow seems to be sharper in your new blades. The 2nd issue is the height of your new steel versus your old. Your post indicates there is a difference in the height between the 2 steels and this can make a big difference. Especially if you don't skate completely neutral over the blade, any variation in this is magnified with the taller steel, you might have a fraction more inside lean which gives you more bite into the ice at the edge of the blade.

Put it like this, I'd be willing to bet that if you had SS ground down and profiled to the same height and profile as your Speedblade you wouldn't notice the difference.

 

[stick9 881]

The profile aspect VH brought up is legit. A few back I switched from 254 to 246 holders. I had to go with a deeper hollow to achieve the same amount of bite.