It is time to get the 20 year old Phantoms sharpened again.
As I've previously complained, I am not particularly impressed by what has been done to my blades in the past.

The radius of hollow seems all over the place, so I shudder to think what the rocker is by now. So I am considering sending my skates away to get sharpened.

I rang the Oakleigh rink today, but the guy I spoke to there didn't seem to think they would have the expertise to check and correct the rocker or radius of hollow. He suggested Bladeworx in Hawthorn. I haven't rung them yet.

I'm wondering if other Aussie skaters can recommend Bladeworx or have found a sharpener who could make sure my blades are right. Bear in mind I am in Tasmania, and would have to send them away, get them done quickly and get them back in time to skate again the next weekend.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Maybe you can try call up the rink in brisbane ... ice world ..or something. Maybe even the biggest sydney rink...or biggest melbourne rink. They might be able to recommend a proper skate sharpener. Send the skates there, and then order something like 'The Pro-filer'...which is a hand-held thing ...to sharpen your skates by yourself there-after. Just tell the skate sharpener to sharpen to ROH half inch. And then order a figure skate pro-filer with ROH half inch. Then you can sharpen your own skates before every session.

Before I consider a Profiler, I need to be sure my blades are in the right shape. I am a bit concerned though because my blades are meant to be ROH 7/16, and Profiler only come in 3/8 or 1/2". It means changing my ROH.

Heck, at my testing my blades came up with 3 different ROH, depending on where on the length of the blade I measured.

Can't decide whether to go for 1/2 or 3/16.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

hmmm....I'm not sure. But I reckon that 3/8 is kind of ridiculously sharp. You'd probably have to glide around for quite a long time to dull them down to something ok to use. But since there may be no place near your vicinity for good skate sharpening, then maybe the best bet is to send the skates away once to a reputable place, then sharpen the skates yourself, unless you plan to send the skates away for sharpening on a regular basis.

But if your blades are tapered, then better not use hand held sharpeners etc.

Celliste, If you still need a skate sharpener, I know the details of a great guy who sharpens my skates for me. He also does all the people from Townsville, since they have no-one there NOR a machine that they can do it. He only charges $10, but you'd have to pay for express post either way because we're in Queensland.

If you'd like his details give me a hoy and I'll let you know.