yet another sharpening tale of woe.....

[backspin]

We've all heard this one, haven't we?

I got new skates & blades in February. Very expensive new skates & blades. $310.00 blades, to be exact.

I've had them sharpened 3 times, each time at the same skate shop. The last 2 times, it was the same guy, who I asked for. I liked how he had sharpened my old skates. The last time I asked him to make them much deeper--well, he made them SO deep they literally imbedded themselves into the ice & I couldn't skate. So I took them back the next day & he took them down a bit, & then they felt fine.

The problem is, there is now a spot just behind the toepick that is not only flat (as in no curve/no rocker), it actually is concave slightly! So if you rest the blade on a flat surface & look at it from the side, that section just behind the toepick (which is where all your turns are done, all your spins are spun) actually curves up off the surface and then back down again.

I have a new coach who is VERY into blade alignment/sharpening, and he tells me that, while they can be salvaged, my 5-month old blades have had at least half their lifespan removed already.

Here's the kicker--the guy who did these last 2 sharpenings doesn't technically work at the skate shop--he just comes in & sharpens blades when people ask him to. So----is the skate shop responsible? I can hardly ask him to replace my blades personally. what do I do???

[icedancer2]

Actually you can demand that they get you new blades. I have done it.

About 13 years ago I bought a pair of Wilson Dance blades from a very reputable shop. I paid a lot of money for them (they no longer make this model, but that's just an aside). I got them shapened once at the same place, then brought them back a couple of months later for a second sharpening. The guy said, "Oh, it looks like these are about 1/2 worn down and it's time for new blades, maybe you'd like a Gold Seal?" ($450 blade).

I figured they had ruined my blades the first time (I didn't notice it) and had shaved off half of the blade edge thingy at the first sharpening. I took them to several other shops and they agreed that this is probably what happened. I went back to the shop, was COMPLETELY livid and demanded that they get me a new blade. The new blade came a couple of weeks later and I came to watch him do the first sharpening. He took the little plastic protectors off of the blade and the new blade looked EXACTLY like the first blade -- with a very short edge. This is just how that particular make of blades were made. I didn't say anything and he sharpened the blade and I was happy with them for the next 12 years.

So even though they probably didn't really do anything to the first set of blades, they got me a new pair (these guys mark up blades a LOT) and even though I was mad, it was not a huge big deal (I wanted to sue).

So my best advice is to go back and talk to the guy -- it sounds like he made a mistake, although you did ask for a deeper hollow -- maybe if you had been more specific...)

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.