How much are you willing to pay for(m)

[isakswings]

a sharpening? Does it really make a huge difference in who sharpens your blades? Would you pay 15-20 for a sharpening if you knew the guy doing it was supposed to be the best in the area? OR would you go with the guy who is also considered good, but is 1/2 the price(our regular sharpener)?

The guy who is supposed to be the best, is the guy my daughter's coach has sharpen her skates AND I keep hearing his name from other skaters too(including my friend who used to skate competitively). People have been satisfied with our regular sharpener too... but I have been told that the 15-20you pay the other guy is totally worth the price.

How do you choose who will sharpen your skates?

[ibreakhearts66]

definitely pay the 15-20 dollars, it is TOTALLY worth it to have your blades sharpened well. For a while, I didn't really care who sharpened my blades. I didn't think it could really make that much of a difference. Then I had mine sharpened by a really good sharpener. It made a world of difference. What most struck me was that I could stop immediately. I had read somewhere that you should be able to stop after a good sharpening, but never believed it. I just figured sharp blades made it hard to stop, period. Nope. I could stop just fine. The blades just gripped the ice better.

On the other hand, I had a not-so-good sharpening basically ruin my blades and spins. They flattened out the rocker too much, and I could barely even spin. It wasn't until I got my new blades that I realized how badly my other blades had been sharpened. My new blades are an 8' rocker, so should be flatter than my old, 7' rocker blades. The old blade had been so poorly sharpened that THEY were flatter than the new, 8' ones.

I chose my sharpener based on word of mouth. My coach and some of her other skaters get them sharpened by this man. My coach actually drove me all the way to the rink he was working out (about 100 miles from her house....) just to get my blades sharpened and talk to him about buying new blades. Once he sharpened mine, I was sold. I would be willing to pay probably 25-30 dollars for a sharpening from him (although my Paramounts hold a sharpening longer, so I wouldn't be paying as often). He doesn't charge that much, but I would pay it.

$15-20 is not an unreasonably amount at all. Definitely use the more expensive sharpener. It is worth it.

[Thin-Ice]

If you're hearing lots of raves about the really good sharpener and have not heard anyone complain... why not try him once? Then you could judge for yourself if you can feel a difference.

[Sessy]

Hmmm well there's this 1 place in my country that does a really good sharpening for about that price, but it's too far away... 2 hours for me. So I just have them sharpened at my rink for half that price and frankly, so does everybody else at our club and some of those girls have medals from the nationals, so I'm kinda figuring our regular sharpener is pretty good. I have mine sharpened very regularly and only once did I notice a little slip-up where he just didn't sharpen a small part of the blade. And that was the time I asked to have my skates done the next day (usually it takes 2 days).
I can stop right after sharpening without problems. In fact I prefer my blades razor sharp.

Sharpeners at other rinks, I just don't trust. With my first ever-ever pair of skates, they took off a toepick. With my mom's skates, they took off the inside edges AND rocker at an other rink. Alex's skates had the back of their blades taken off by a sharpener at yet another rink (so there was an area much like at the front of the blade behind the toepicks at the back of the blade as well). And I keep hearing horror stories about yet other rinks as well. I think if I'd skate at one of those other rinks I"d definately pay extra to have my blades sharpened safely.

[Skating Jessica]

Definitely pay for the best sharpening you can get! Think of it this way: would you rather pay the $15-20 every few weeks or invest hundreds in a completely new blade because a so-so sharpener ruined them for a few bucks less? As a coach, I've seen what an average sharpener can do to blades (ruined toepicks...lack of edges, for instance) and have heard the complaints from many parents regarding this who have unfortunately learned the hard way. $15-20 for a good sharpening is not that much considering the cost of some of the other "essentials" in this sport.

On the other hand, if you're satisified with your current sharpener, which is sounds like you may be, go with who makes your daughter most comfortable on the ice.

[Virtualsk8r]

I have about four high-end sharpeners at my disposal that I could use -- all have been sharpening skates (and mounting blades etc.) for years for national level skaters, so they must know a thing or two.

One guy trashes everything about the others and when he sharpens your skates - he always has to 'correct' the problems (and his sharpening doesn't last)....another guy takes too much off the blades and you can't stop (at$700-800 for blades I quit using him! but lots swear by him)....the third is a skate store that has had a bad rep before but now have some awesome sharpeners, and the fee is reasonable (plus they are close to the rink)...the fourth is an international coach who doesn't trash anyone and does an excellent job as well but costs about $15.

It's all in knowing what kind of feel you want from a sharpening. Often sharpeners will just put a standard grind on your blade, and you may need something sharpener or duller. Ask what the radius is next time. Then try the new guy with the same radius - and compare.

Just because a sharpening is expensive doesn't make it the best for you.

BTW - I deal with sharpeners that sell high-end blades and have machines specifically set to sharpen figure skates...they would NEVER take the picks off blades (low end or not) and know how to re-rocker both hockey and figure skates if you need it. Never use rink rat type sharpeners with generic hockey sharpening machines that can't be recalibrated for figure skates! If that is your only option - then go for the expensive sharpening. However, if you have a rink that is experienced with really sharpening figure skating blades (and not just rec skates) - they should know what they are doing.....The difference my skaters pay to get their skates sharpened at the skate store ($8.00) vs the gourmet guy ($15.00) adds up over a year!

[jskater49]

I do pay $15 for sharpening.

When I lived in Sioux City, I paid $20 for sharpening AND I drove 3 hours to get it done.

You get a bad sharpening and you can ruin your blades and hurt yourself badly. You don't scrimp on sharpening.

[pairman2]

Maybe a sharpening pro can provide more detail here, but I've found that any one using the huge machine with the standard grey shapening wheels, no matter how good the technical skill of the person sharpening, produces a less then desirable sharpening.

The machines that produce a very nice sharpening are much smaller and use grinding wheels that are very small, like about 3", fine grained and I understand, very expensive. Maybe 'expensive' is the key. If they were to grind off a deep peice of your rocker, it would also consume a lot of that expensive wheel!

I used to take my blades to a guy many years ago that would routinely 'flat grind' away the previous cut and start from scratch. Needless to say, the blade was gone in a year or less.....then he could sell you a new one!

[isakswings]

Thank you! I appreciate all the replies! We actually used the 15-20 guy once and that was last week. We had just bought my son new hockey skates and he needed to use them the next day. The regular guy wasn't available and since he is the only guy I trust to sharpen our skates, I didn't want someone else to do it. Because of all the good things I have heard about the other guy, I got his number from my daughter's coach and we took our son's skates to him. My son is only 7 and I am not sure he has much of an opinion about how his blades feel, so TBH, I don't know if his sharpening is better or not. I'd like to have my skates sharpened by him and compare him to my regular guy. I have heard that the 15-20 guy's sharpenings last longer. So while you pay more upfront, if it last's twice as long as sharpening them with the regular guy, I am paying the same, right?

Anyway, the 15-20 dollar guy told us that our regular guy is also good. Our daughter's coach has said she won't let anyone but our regular guy and the 15-20 dollar guy touch her blades, so I do feel confident using our regular guy. That said, I think the only way I am going to know whose sharpening I prefer is to try it out myself. I do agree that I won't let anyone sharpen our skates. We've heard horror stories about toe picks being shaved off by those who use those machines some of you spoke of, I about choked when I heard my daughter's friend's mom say she had her dd's skate's sharpened in one of those machines. ACK! She paid all of 4.00 for the sharpening, but with a lot of risk! Her dd is happy with the sharpening, so she is going to try it again. She wondered why I didn't take my ds' skates to the 4.00 rink for sharpening... I told her I didn't want to take the risk! Not to mention it WAS a first sharpening, so I REALLY did not want an inexperienced sharpener sharpening his blades! So, in the end I paid 5 X's as much to have his blades shapened, but I also know they were sharpened by someone who truly knows what they are doing.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback! At least I know I am not crazy to consider paying 15+ for a sharpening. :-) Dd will be getting new skates in a few months, I will likely take her skates to the more expensive guy for the first sharpening.

[jskater49]

Anyway, thanks for the feedback! At least I know I am not crazy to consider paying 15+ for a sharpening. :-) Dd will be getting new skates in a few months, I will likely take her skates to the more expensive guy for the first sharpening.

Hold on there. No one said you were not crazy. It's just that we are all crazy too! :D

j

[isakswings]

Hold on there. No one said you were not crazy. It's just that we are all crazy too! :D

j

Atleast I am in good company! LOL

[sk8lady]

I drive my skates to Boston (4 hours+) to get them sharpened. I take my son's hockey skates to the rink where I get my lessons (1 1/2 hours away) to get them done. If an adult with some sense can do your son's hockey skates and you know what to look for on the blade, you're probably okay going local. I don't any more since one of the former hockey players who does sharpenings at our local skate shop put a giant nick in one of my son's skates and told me it didn't make any difference. ("Humor me," I said, "and fix it." My goodness, he was so annoyed!!)

[Rusty Blades]

There is only one "good" sharpener in my area and although his sharpenings were good, I didn't like the way he treated my blades. Being the engineering type and with some machine shop experience, I built my own machine and do my own sharpening. Now nobody else touches my blades, EVER!

Unfortunately price doesn't guarantee a good sharpening.

[Gina10179202]

15-20 dollars is expensive? That's about £10 here in England, that's the cheapest it gets at our rink! So, depending on how strapped I am at that time, I will either go for the cheap sharpening, which is £10 ($20) and done by the hockey guy, which I find fine, not amazing, or if I have a comnpetition or an important week coming up I will go to one of the coaches who charges..I'm not sure, but it is probably more expensive.

[Mrs Redboots]

15-20 dollars is expensive? That's about £10 here in England, that's the cheapest it gets at our rink! So, depending on how strapped I am at that time, I will either go for the cheap sharpening, which is £10 ($20) and done by the hockey guy, which I find fine, not amazing, or if I have a comnpetition or an important week coming up I will go to one of the coaches who charges..I'm not sure, but it is probably more expensive.

Goodness, your rink is robbing you! Even the great sharpeners only charge £7.50. Our coaches charge about £5.00 or £5.50 (but I am not letting my coach sharpen my blades until he has at least another six month's experience! He's only just bought the machine), and the friend who does dance club's blades if they want it (although most dance club members were in the rink Tuesday morning to have their skates done by John Turner) only charges £4.00.

[Hannahclear]

It costs me $15 for a sharpening, done right by a skating professional. Wouldn't consider any other options.

[Skating Jessica]

I drive 2.5 hours to another state to have my skates sharpened. I used to pay $12.50 (I think the price went up to about $13 now) to get 'em done, but since I'm a coach/PSA member, I get mine sharpened for free. Definitely a plus of being a coach. :)

[karliey]

Sounds like I might have the most expensive sharpening at the moment :(, £12. I got a slightly better result than my other option (a friend went for the other option). They are very even, but it's a recreational sharpening that's the same for hockey and figure skates so I'm finding them a little bit shallow. I'm just glad I didn't take them to the other rink and end up with uneven edges!

I'm definitely willing to pay/travel for a good sharpening, it's pointless otherwise and you'll just need them done again.

[Mrs Redboots]

Sounds like I might have the most expensive sharpening at the moment :(, £12. I got a slightly better result than my other option (a friend went for the other option). They are very even, but it's a recreational sharpening that's the same for hockey and figure skates so I'm finding them a little bit shallow. I'm just glad I didn't take them to the other rink and end up with uneven edges!

I'm definitely willing to pay/travel for a good sharpening, it's pointless otherwise and you'll just need them done again.
When you're back in this country, we'll let you know when JT is coming to our rink, so that you can get them done by one of the best in the land for a mere £7.50!