I was wondering if anyone knew what the default radius of hollow is for ultima mark 1V blades. Thanks. Also any tips to get height on jump? Thanks. May i ask those of you who are pro's. My skates are brand new. After any session i dry my skates as dry as dry can be. However there are tiny specs of something on the blade. Its not brown or orange. Should i be worried? I dont think its rust but i wanna make sure. also my arena has a shop that has a sharpening machine. I was wondering if i should get it sharpened there or should i go anywhere else? The nearest shop that is sharpening only is like 100 miles away and my dad thinks its a waste of money. lol. So what are your opinions? My skates are the edea overture. I've had then for two weeks. Thanks. May i ask. Are there any pro shops in california? Because my cousins and uncle live there and i might be going on holiday there. thanks to all of you. Btw i am in nottingham in england. thanks

Blade information is in this thread:
http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=17895

There's a link to a table of mfg default blade radii.

If you try the "Search" feature, you can probably find answers to most of your questions, like improving jump height, etc.

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I searched but didn't find the ultima mark 1V on that chart and thanks for that link.

In general, 1/2" is considered a good radius of hollow for figure skating blades. It doesn't really matter what brand they are.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Yes however im used to the radius of hollow that are on my blades at the moment. If i get a new one skating will be different. Also i've seen that 3/8" is quite popular.

7/16 is also very popular.
Changing your search to Ultima Mark IV instead of 1V may help.

If you skate at Nottingham, it's the National Ice Centre. I would be amazed if the sharpening there wasn't up to scratch.

The original radius of hollow on a new blade changes as soon as it is sharpened for the first time, and I'm assuming you got your blades sharpened before skating on them for the first time? If so, whoever first sharpened your blades should be able to tell you what radius of hollow he sharpened them to. The reason I suggested 1/2" is because it is the midpoint between 3/8" or 7/16" (deep/sharp/grabby) and 5/8" (flatter/more slippery) so it is often the sharpening that is used when the skater isnt' sure or has no preference.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Alright. Thanks. However edea sharpened the skates before shipping and so i dont know. Thanks about the national i centre thing. I just wanted to see whether anywhere else was better. Ill go and ask on saturday. Also the only reason i write mark 1V is because im on my phone. I do know the real one. Thanks you guys. I'll go ask at the NIC on saturday.

There are many pro shops in California.. but California is a pretty big state and not every part of the state has ice rinks or pro shops. Where do your cousins and uncle live?

Ill ask then search. Thanks though i thought that cali was part of florida, like a city

Yes, there are over 50 ice rinks in the state of California, so this list should help you once you find out which city they live in (there are 6 pages of listings):
Click here for California Rink Listing
Those of us who live in California may be able to give you recommendations for rinks and sharpeners once you know which city you'll be visiting.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

That certainly makes sense. I bought some brand new MK Professionals from John Turner here in the UK. The factory radius is 7/16" but John immediately sharpened them to 1/2". That was the radius on my previous skates too and it works for me at the moment.

Sarah

I think i'll ask at my rink and see if they can measure it. If not ill get 3/8 since i might be getting the coronation ace

If they can't measure it then they're not fit to sharpen your blades. Any decent grinder will have a set of blade gauges to determine the hollow as well as to check the edges are level. I considered the Coronation Ace but eventually went for the MK Professional which is very similar but with a slightly less scary looking toe pick.

Good luck and let us know how you get on

Sarah

Went and asked. They couldn't measure it. Guess ill have to check john turner out. Ill search on the internet but i guess i cant trust my rink. Even though its an olympic rink

Good luck. I have to say, getting my skates sharpened is like throwing them in a lucky draw bag and hope that the end result will be easily adapted to. The hollow comes back different everytime. But I get used to them eventually...

I think that while there is a "optimal" radius for everyone, we can all skate regardless of the hollow anyway. Don't worry so much unless the sharpener will make the toepick disappear.