How often do you sharpen

[isakswings]

your child's skates? Dd's new skates came in the week of the 11th, so she has had her skates for 2 weeks. The guy who always sharpens her skates, did her first sharpening. I know they were done right, he sharpens mine too! Anyway, at her lesson today, I noticed dd's coach checking out her blades. Sure enough, her coach told me that dd said she was sliding some. I had our sharpener look at her skates and to my surprise, she needed an edge! This surprised me since we can usually go much longer on a sharpening. That said, dd has been skating quite a bit lately. She skated 5 days the week she got her skates(probably 4 of those days in the new skates) and she skated 4 days last week and 3 days already, this week. I couldn't believe we needed to sharpen her skates again! She's been working on her program, learning new elements and attended a spin clinic on Monday. When I type it all out, I can see how she might wear an edge down faster then she normally does, but what I want to know is if this is normal? She is competing the weekend of the 19th, so considering she blew through the other edge so fast, should I expect the same thing in another 2 weeks? Good grief!

[vesperholly]

It depends on the quality of the blade, the weight of the skater and the amount they skate. I have Phantoms, and usually sharpen my blades every two to three months when I am skating 4 hours a week. I can get away with longer between sharpenings when I skate less. I've heard competitive skaters (Juvenile and up) should get their blades sharpened every 25 hours of skating.

[sk8tmum]

That seems to be pretty fast to lose an edge ... regardless of blade quality. For comparison, DS gets a new edge on every 4 to 6 weeks, and he skates 5 to 6 days a week, 1-1/2 hour a session, landing doubles etc ... DD is similar for time on ice. Sharpening schedule for them is about average among the skaters here, and some who like duller blades go even longer.

The only time we had an issue with losing an edge fast was when we had a blade that was defective, i.e. the steel was not a good enough quality and it was a bad production run ... and once replaced, the problem went away.

Question: how faithful is she about using her guards? If she's not ... that could be a contributing factor. The sharpener should be able to give you some idea as to why the edge wore down so fast.

[Pgh.Coach]

In general I'd say skates need to be sharpened every 30-40 hours of skating; however, some sharpeners will give you a number closer to 20-30 hours.

It really depends on the individual skater though. Like others have mentioned, the weight of the skater, the elements he/she is working on, how often he/she is skating, use of guards, etc. will play a factor in how quickly blades dull.

Also remember that depending on the age and skating experience of your daughter, she may not quite have learned what it feels like to have dull blades so you (or her coach) may need to monitor the amount of skating that goes by between sharpening. As she gets older or more experienced, she may begin to complain about skidding when she should be taking a nice deep edge, for instance, which would be just one indication that her blades may need to be sharpened.

[isakswings]

It depends on the quality of the blade, the weight of the skater and the amount they skate. I have Phantoms, and usually sharpen my blades every two to three months when I am skating 4 hours a week. I can get away with longer between sharpenings when I skate less. I've heard competitive skaters (Juvenile and up) should get their blades sharpened every 25 hours of skating.

Her blade is a Wilson Jubilee blade. Whie I know it isn't the most expensive blade out there, it's better then her last 2 blades were(MK 21, Sapphire) and we didn't have this happen. She is 10 and weighs all of maybe 55-57 pounds. She's doing low freestyle stuff, so she is no where near the level of a Juv skater. Thanks!

[isakswings]

That seems to be pretty fast to lose an edge ... regardless of blade quality. For comparison, DS gets a new edge on every 4 to 6 weeks, and he skates 5 to 6 days a week, 1-1/2 hour a session, landing doubles etc ... DD is similar for time on ice. Sharpening schedule for them is about average among the skaters here, and some who like duller blades go even longer.

The only time we had an issue with losing an edge fast was when we had a blade that was defective, i.e. the steel was not a good enough quality and it was a bad production run ... and once replaced, the problem went away.

Question: how faithful is she about using her guards? If she's not ... that could be a contributing factor. The sharpener should be able to give you some idea as to why the edge wore down so fast.


Thank you! 4-6 weeks is what I am used to, so I was surprised that the edge had worn down already! We've never had this problem before. The sharpener said the edge definately had worn down. My dd is learning low freestyle stuff, so she really shouldn't be wearing it down that fast. I'll keep an eye on how fast this edge goes. Hopefully it isn't the blade. I was really surprised! The only thing I can figure is that our sharpener did not sharpen th blade as well as he usually does last time. He's been doing her skates for almost 2 years and we've never had a problem. She's been skating around 4 days a week since June, so I honestly cannot figure out what was different this time. Like I said, these are new skates and new blades. She's not very big either... she weighs 55-57 pounds and is 10. She is in Gold Medallion boots with a Jubilee blade. Thanks for the reply!

[isakswings]

In general I'd say skates need to be sharpened every 30-40 hours of skating; however, some sharpeners will give you a number closer to 20-30 hours.

It really depends on the individual skater though. Like others have mentioned, the weight of the skater, the elements he/she is working on, how often he/she is skating, use of guards, etc. will play a factor in how quickly blades dull.

Also remember that depending on the age and skating experience of your daughter, she may not quite have learned what it feels like to have dull blades so you (or her coach) may need to monitor the amount of skating that goes by between sharpening. As she gets older or more experienced, she may begin to complain about skidding when she should be taking a nice deep edge, for instance, which would be just one indication that her blades may need to be sharpened.

Thanks! She's 10 and hasn't been skating that long(started almost 2 yrs ago but total time on ice has been about 18 months). She's been more serious about it in the last 10 months and has been skating 3-4 days a week for awhile now. I've been on her about using her hard guards. She's good about it abuot 1/2 the time. That said, she doesn't run around that much w/ her skates on, so I still can't figure out why her blades wore down so fast. In the past, we could go 4-6 weeks before she would tell me they needed to be sharpened. I was really surprised when the sharpener told me they needed a new edge already. Yesterday was exactly 2 weeks to the day since she started skating in these new boots and blades. FWIW, she is working on spins, sit, scratch, and back. She's working on toe loops, salchow, loop jump and some other jumps I don't know the names of yet. She also practices her waltz jump and her landing position(she's finally not going into a back spiral when she lands!). She's working on consecutive edges and different spirals. Still, I don't think any of those things should wear an edge down all that fast should they? These things are all low freestyle from what I understand. She certainly isn't working on anything like doubles or axels yet. LOL!

[Skittl1321]

I sharpen my blades about every 8 weeks. I skate about 3-4 hours a week, and teach 2 hours. I think the teaching is the hardest on my blades, because of the constant stopping (that has to be tough on the edge- right? I try my best to stop on both feet, and not just my dominant side, so that they wear down evenly) and because of the stomping/marching we do with tots just doesn't seem to be a natural movement for a figure skater. I also rarely wear guards, so I could probably get 10 weeks in if I would start doing that!

I have, however, had a bad sharpening, with my regular sharpener, that lasted only about 2 weeks of skating (this was when I did 2 hours a week +1 hour teaching). I was really upset, that's good money I spent on a bad sharpening. Even though that was the recommended sharpener by most skaters at our rink, I switched to someone else, he fixed it easily, and the blades weren't ruined.


Sharpeners are human, so sometimes I think they might just not do as well on them as other times. Maybe he was having a rough day, or just in a hurry. As long as the blades aren't damaged, have them done again and hope it works out! Since you say it's your sharpener, and you know he is usually good, hopefully it will just be a one time thing.

[isakswings]

Sharpeners are human, so sometimes I think they might just not do as well on them as other times. Maybe he was having a rough day, or just in a hurry. As long as the blades aren't damaged, have them done again and hope it works out! Since you say it's your sharpener, and you know he is usually good, hopefully it will just be a one time thing.

Yep... this is the only guy at the rink I let touch our skates. I didn't pay for the first sharpening since we ordered the skates through our rink and they do the 1st sharpening for free. I was shocked since I am used to going much longer then 2 weeks! Like I said in my OP, she has been skating a lot the last few weeks, but honestly, not enough to wear her blades down that fast! She skated MAYBE 20 hours in those boots before we re-sharpened the blades. YIKES.

[Pgh.Coach]

You could always try asking the sharpener to do a deeper sharpening on her blades, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that at her level and since this was a one time incident. Like others have said, sharpeners are human and perhaps he just didn't sharpen them as meticulously as he usually would.

[isakswings]

You could always try asking the sharpener to do a deeper sharpening on her blades, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that at her level and since this was a one time incident. Like others have said, sharpeners are human and perhaps he just didn't sharpen them as meticulously as he usually would.

Thank you. This is the first time this has happened. Of coarse, like I said, these are new boots and blades too. If it happens again, I'm going to have to wonder what's up! I certainly don't want to sharpen her blades every 2 weeks! We'll wear the blade down awful fast doing THAT. LOL

[sk8lady]

I like to have mine done every 6 weeks, skating 1-2 hours every day during the season.
However, if your DD walks around without her guards on AT ALL, all it will take is stepping onto concrete once or twice to screw up an edge, or stepping onto dirt, rocks, etc.
If she pronates, the inside edges could also wear out more quickly. Youth hockey players sharpen every 6-10 hours of skating because so much stress is placed on the inside edges (and college and pro players sometimes sharpen DURING games).
Seems to me I've also heard that new blades need to be resharpened shortly after purchasing, sharpening, and wearing for a week or two.

[sk8tmum]

And, on the subject of guards: check the inside of your kid's guards. The guards themselves can get bits of dirt etc in them, then, these get ground into the very blades they are supposed to protect. Put them in the dishwasher every 6 weeks or so to clean them out.

DS loses them so fast, it never gets to be a problem :x; looked in the inside of DD's on a coach's advice, and discovered all sorts of nasty grit and grime.

[Sessy]

When I practice the same spin over and over again, I need a sharpening twice, thrice as fast as when I practice a bit of everything. Also the ice I skate matters: public sessions with the rougher ice surface are a killer on the blades. Also my old MK blades used to dullen much faster than the coronation aces I have now.

[singerskates]

How fast a sharpening wears also depends on the hardness of the ice, smoothness of the ice and whether or not the ice is clean. When I skate on ice that isn't that hard and done right, the sharpening of my blades seem to last longer. I also weigh about 165 lbs and am 5' 8" tall so I have a deeper hollow than most who skate at my level. I'm using Jackson Elite Plus boots with Ultima Elite blades (the pair of blades that I liked to skate on before the Ultima Elite were Pattern 99's).

[isakswings]

I like to have mine done every 6 weeks, skating 1-2 hours every day during the season.
However, if your DD walks around without her guards on AT ALL, all it will take is stepping onto concrete once or twice to screw up an edge, or stepping onto dirt, rocks, etc.
If she pronates, the inside edges could also wear out more quickly. Youth hockey players sharpen every 6-10 hours of skating because so much stress is placed on the inside edges (and college and pro players sometimes sharpen DURING games).
Seems to me I've also heard that new blades need to be resharpened shortly after purchasing, sharpening, and wearing for a week or two.


Thanks. I don't think she pronates and sh's very good about not stepping on anythign other then rubber floors at the rink. That said, she WILL be using her guards more often now. :-) Thanks!

[isakswings]

And, on the subject of guards: check the inside of your kid's guards. The guards themselves can get bits of dirt etc in them, then, these get ground into the very blades they are supposed to protect. Put them in the dishwasher every 6 weeks or so to clean them out.

DS loses them so fast, it never gets to be a problem :x; looked in the inside of DD's on a coach's advice, and discovered all sorts of nasty grit and grime.


Thanks for the tip!

[isakswings]

When I practice the same spin over and over again, I need a sharpening twice, thrice as fast as when I practice a bit of everything. Also the ice I skate matters: public sessions with the rougher ice surface are a killer on the blades. Also my old MK blades used to dullen much faster than the coronation aces I have now.

Well, that could be part of the problem then. She has been practicing the same spins over and over. Not to mention, she skates quite a few public sessions when we can't get to freestyle sessions. This week, she has skated more freestyle sessions then public. Go figure. :-)

[isakswings]

How fast a sharpening wears also depends on the hardness of the ice, smoothness of the ice and whether or not the ice is clean. When I skate on ice that isn't that hard and done right, the sharpening of my blades seem to last longer. I also weigh about 165 lbs and am 5' 8" tall so I have a deeper hollow than most who skate at my level. I'm using Jackson Elite Plus boots with Ultima Elite blades (the pair of blades that I liked to skate on before the Ultima Elite were Pattern 99's).

Thank you! The rink she normally skates at has great ice. The other rink she skates at, the ice is softer then her regular rinks ice. She's skated at both rinks in the last 2 weeks, so it is hard to say if that was a factor or not.

She's in a Riedell Gold Medallion boot with the Wilson Jubilee blade.

Angie