Where I live, only one place you can get them sharpened. I'm not exactly an expert, but first time I got them done noticed one side was higher than the other and still reminas the case, on BOTH skates.

a) I mean if I run my finger from the hollow to each side, one side is higher.

b) If I stare from the back of the blade its very noticeable

I tried taking pictures but they don't show up well due to reflection of light

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It does look wrong. I see the reflection at the tail of the blade and the hollow does look significantly off-center. Is it like that of the entire length of both blades?

I would show this to the person who did the sharpening. If they don't see a problem with it, you definetly do not want to have them touching your blades again. If, on the other hand, they turn all red, look embarrassed and readily admitt their mistake, then give them a second chance.

Were do other figure skaters in your area get there blades sharpened?

If you can get the hollow back on center, then you can maintain that with a hand held sharpener. Profiler works well for me.

I've watched my skate fitter/sharpener grind my blades and he is extremely careful about placing the hollow in the exact center. Before he runs the blade through he marks the hollow with a Sharpie; once near the toe and once at the heel. Then he touches the wheel ever so lightly at two places on the blade and makes adjustments to assure that the ground spot is taken from the middle of the black mark.

I have him grind my blades once a year and maintain them the rest of the time with a profiler.

Here's the web address link. http://www.pro-filer.com/html/pro-filers.htm

It's not as wicked sharp as a well done machine grind, but I can keep it pretty consistant throughout the skating season with about 20 minutes every two weeks.

Try resting a plastic disc on the 'table top' part of the blade. Put the coin on different sections and see if the coin slopes. If the coin is sloped, then the person that sharpened the blades didn't do them properly. If one side is much higher than the other, then I'd probably go as far to say that the shorter side will be the first side to 'go' (that is, to get dull). And since you tested for yourself that one side is much higher, then it's a good idea to go have a chat with the skate sharpening person. And if he or she is not experienced, then beware of them.

And, I'm not sure if it's the picture itself..... but are those really bad nicks in the edges? Or are those shiny 'anomalies' just reflections from something?

Two things.

#1, as mentioned, the sharpener should draw a line across the blade with a sharper, then barely touch the wheel to the blade and make sure it's centered before sharpening. The wheel can be ground unevenly and/or the blades could be mounted improperly.

#2, a sharpener is supposed to, upon completion of the sharpening, test the levelness of the sides using a little square. This is slightly more challenging on blades with varying width like gold stars and gold seals (the support becomes thicker towards the sole plates) but is certainly not impossible as you can still check for an equal gap on both sides.

This sharpening is clearly bad, I got one like that before...(last time I ever got a $5 sharpening). A good, consistant sharpening that doesn't screw up your rocker is worth the extra money and or extra drive/time. Sticking with this guy is likely just going to mean you need new blades a lot sooner and/or your skating suffers.

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Hi, thanks for the replies. Like I said, this person is the only person in my city who can do them, which is odd as it has its own rink, the rink itself doesn't have a sharpening service, but a man comes in every three months, but I have no idea they don't advertise it.

Those are indeed nicks, but they look worse on camera due to the flash. I have only been skating 3 months, the instructor said they could be fine for a year without sharpening

I didn't say anything the last time because I was new to ice skating, only been skating two weeks, so I didn't have any knowledge.

Im not sure about the coin trick, but its uneven enough to notice that one edge grips/grabs my finger more than the other edge if i run it over.

I have a private lesson in two hours so I'm going to get my instructor to look at them.

I am going to get them sharpened on Monday, I'll tell you how it goes.

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I'd encourage you then to travel to the next...

That's insane. Well, I have heard of some people skating on really dull skates for a long time, so I guess it's possible, but I don't understand how they do it.

Good luck!

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

That is true for instructors. My coach has her teaching pair (an old pair of Klingbeils rebuilt a million times over a decade or so and Strauss blades that can be sharpened down to the boot if need be) done every couple years! However, the general rule of thumb for sharpening is 40 skating hours. Some people go more, others go less. I
also know a masters level skater who went a year between sharpenings, but she was off the ice for part of it and skated only in her patch skates for another part of it.

I won't let anyone but my coach sharpen my blades. He does it flawless everytime, because he knows if he doesn't I know where to find him!

I sharpen my blades every 6-8 weeks as I can. I'm totally neurotic about this and won't let anyone else touch my blades.

That is definitely a cruddy sharpening--to be able to see that kind of slope on the reflection at the tail on even this blurry picture--yikes!

Also, those are some pretty nasty nicks in the edges of your blade---you've been walking on the blades without guards, haven't you? Naughty, naughty! I can see tons of little nicks, and five or 6 larger nicks, just in the section of blade that's clearly shown. If you want to keep your blades nice, they should never touch anything but the ice, or the inside of your hard guards and soakers.

That said---like russiet, I *highly* recommend using a hand-held sharpener at least between professional sharpenings. (And frankly, if what you got is the only kind of 'professional' sharpening available to you--I'd stick with a hand-held, period. But you'll need to get your hollow straightened out, first.) I like the Pro-Filer, myself. I have a SkateMate, but I haven't had the chance to use it yet (hopefully this winter I will), so I can't speak to its quality. Plus, if you use a hand-held, whether a 'branded' one, or even just a plain old stone, you can keep the nicks on your blade to a minimum, or take off the 'burrs' left by a sharpener who doesn't really finish the job.

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The pro-filer is nice. Very nice. I've never used the skatemate yet, but have seen one before. The main difference is that the pro-filer has a rock solid cylinder that cannot deform at all. While the skatemate has a cylinder that can distort when you're using it. I always had a feeling that a cylinder that can distort might be a problem. But since I haven't tried it out myself, I just don't know yet.

That's my feeling on the SkateMate as well, but I want to try it before I pass final judgement on it.

I've just bought one (a SkateMate), but haven't yet had occasion to use it. My coach can and does put a "temporary" grind on with a hand-held stone, rather better than I have done so far with mine, and I've really bought the SkateMate for keeping things going between sharpenings. Will be interested to see how it works.

The guy who sharpened my blades last time hadn't done them before, and is new to the skill, but did a really good job - left them really sharp, though, in spite of having been instructed how not to do that..... but they're fantastic right now!

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Please let us know what you think of the skatemate later when you've tried it out a bit. I had always been interested to find out what its performance is like from the users of that sharpening tool. Thanks!

would that be enough to affect my skating, because i cannot do backward clockwise crossovers very smoothly, whereas counterclockwise i can do them a lot better...

Both skates are slanted that way in the same direction.

I went to get them redone byt he same guy but he was on holiday. Nice of them to NOT tell me on the phone , it takes an hour for me to get there

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So I got them sharpened today. Apparently the guy said it is only the back of the skates that are slanted, due to the way they screw the blades on and it not being straight.

So I went skating right afterwards, and...

I can't go very fast, it feels like I got glue on my blades. They grip very well, so my crossovers are better, but slower, and my three jumps are better but everything is slower and more hard work to do. I am not happy

I like skating fast but it feels like I have to put twice as much power into something to get the same speed as before.

I do not unerstand whether this is how most pople have them, or whether they are too sharp? People with the rental skates are breezing past me with less effort.. they are that sharp.

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If they feel as if you're riding on railway tracks, then they'd probably be quite sharp right now, and you might have to skate around a bit in them to dull them up a bit. Did the guy say what radius of hollow (ROH) he used?

Nope. Last time he asked me what I wanted and I said normal. This time he just did it, but darn, they are sharp, its kinda depressing actually.

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I would recommend you follow up Award's question about the radius of
hollow (ROH).

I had had a number of sharpenings (indifferent to terrible) when I didn't
know any better, but about a year ago my then dance coach put me
onto a sharpener who really knows what he is doing.

We discussed what I was learning and looked at my blades and it turns
out I had a much smaller ROH than is necessary for a person of my size
(6'4" and overweight, so a LOT more weight than a normal figure skater!!!)

My blades were redone with 0.5" (instead of less than 7/16 which is what
I had been given earlier) and I could immediately feel the difference (instead
of feeling like I was pushing through slush, a single push now went a long
way).

Having learnt the hard way (one sharpening was so bad it was impossible
to balance on one foot, it would just slip straight out to the side) I would
recommend you make enquiries with the people who are good skaters
at your rink to find out where they get their blades done.

You won't be getting them sharpened that often, and as many of the other,
more experienced posters have already said, it really is worth it!

The sharpener I now use also spends a lot of time to make sure that
the blades are perfectly aligned with the cutting wheel and takes his time
to ensure a very even grind that does not overheat the metal. At the end
of the job he removes any small burrs that remain which means that at
most I need a lap or two before I have no problem stopping (or any other
symptoms that can be associated with newly sharpened blades).

I always feel like a dolt when it comes to working out ROH - sharpeners I've used have never told me what they use and I keep forgetting what it should be for me (average weight, adult, freestyle).

I am continually tempted to buy a pro-filer but I am not sure what size to get - if I get the wrong one will it ruin my blades? They're phantoms so they should be 7/16.

Anyone know where I can order one online and have it shipped internationally?

If you use the pro-filer as the instructions recommend, then you won't ruin your blades. They can work for parabolic blades and typical blades too. Probably not a good idea to try it on more fancier blades, like side-honed ones and things like that.

There's a website you can check out. They will ship internationally.

http://www.pro-filer.com/

Just remember not to accidently slide too far and damage the toe picks etc.
They a choice of 1/2, 3/8, 5/16 ROH (ie 8/16, 6/16 and 5/16). They don't have 7/16. There's probably not an incredible difference between 7/16 (which they haven't got) and 3/8.

Just don't hone too far up to the toe pick etc.

When I stated on figure skates in 2005 I went to a fitter who is well respected at the top levels (Jonathan English in Peabody Mass., USA). He put a 5/8 ROH on my skates initially. He says to use the largest ROH that you can skate with. Since I have gone to 1/2" ROH.

I am now considering dropping to a yet tighter radius, but for now I'm still fine. Your flow on the skates will be better with the larger ROH and I think you will learn edges more quickly.

Back when school figures were required, they used 1" ROH to do their tracings!

Make sure the bur is removed after the sharpening...the technician should do that. Alkso invest in a very fine small diamond hone and remove any burs that develop between sharpenings. I can explain that in more detail if you like.

Jon

Edges are very easy, but part of the thrill is skaitng is skating fast, and i can't do that very easily now!

I have no experience of sharpening tools and radiuses etc.

It will take a very long time to wear them down, its terible, I will ask my instructor next time I see him


** Are good sharpeners able to desharpen them?

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You probably have burrs left along the sides of the blades (as the previous poster speculated), and that is why the blades feel like they are grabbing the ice. After a few skating sessions, they will feel better. I have heard of some people using a coin to wear down the burrs - but I don't know if this is really such a great idea. Ideally, you should use a flat fininshing stone to run along the sides of the blade, to remove the burrs.

I agree--it's probably a combination of things. Firstly, newly sharpened skates WILL feel a bit 'grabby' right at first, *especially* if you've let them go a long time between sharpenings. Think about it--you've been skating on a blade that's getting duller, and duller, and duller, until you're practically skating on a butter knife. A properly sharpened blade just isn't going to feel the same as what you've gotten yourself used to!

Secondly, you've probably got burrs on the edges of the blade. A sharpening grinds metal out of the center of the hollow--leaving little bits of metal on the outside edges that then 'curl' around to the outside of the blade. (It's like when you file your nails--if you don't file it at the right angle, you can peel a thin strip of fingernail out from underneath your nail when you're 'done'.) A good sharpener will take a handheld stone and take those burrs off the blade, but someone who either doesn't care, or who does a rush job, probably won't bother. Those burrs will 'grab' the ice when you skate, making it feel a lot slower.

Also, if your ROH was changed to a smaller one, the skates will also feel grabbier. As a beginner, and an adult, you'll probably want the 1/2" ROH. If you were given a 5/16, 7/16, or 3/8 ROH instead, it will definitely feel different. Some skaters like that smaller ROH--I'm one of them. I love the grabby feeling, as long as it's not truly 'sticky'.

It won't take a long time at all to wear the grabby feeling off of them--usually a single skating session will do the trick. Some skaters I know will dull the edges slightly by pulling the blade lengthwise across the plastic strip at the door to the ice. I don't like to do this, but it does have some advantages.

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