I would be curious:

How much do you pay to get your skates sharpened?

How satisfied are you with the quality of the sharpening?

What general geographical area are you in (nothing specific please)?

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

I pay $5. In general I'm satisfied, I don't ask for anything in particular though. I switched sharpeners, however, because the first sharpener (who most of the LTS instructors and better skaters used) didn't work for me- I needed a new sharpening every 3 weeks! I think it was more of a "figure skating" sharpening (maybe?) and that's why it didn't work for me. My coach sharpens them now, and it lasts about 10 weeks.

The price is the same regardless of who sharpens them (figure skating coach or counter guy).

I'm in the midwest US (Iowa).

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I pay absolutely nothing because I'm a Professional member of the PSA!

I wouldn't trust my skates to anyone else. I drive over two hours to get thems sharpened and it's so worth it! I've never had a problem with my edges or anything. I get a high freestyle sharpening.

I live in western Pennsylvania, but drive over two hours to the Cleveland area to have them sharpened.

I've done my own for the past 5 years, but it's labor intensive...

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/.../profiler.html

I've started doing the blades of a couple close friends. I really didn't want the extra work, so I named a high price ($20) and they still agreed. They understand that it takes about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to do it.

One friend had a new pair of Coronation Aces absolutely ruined before they were even a year old by a so-called reputable sharpener, and that's why she asked me to sharpen hers.

Also, both friends save a three-hour round trip to have me do them.

I'm in the rather remote Athens, OH area.

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Bill Schneider

(I built my own machine last spring and it works SUPERB! It was not, however, designed for "mass production" and I am starting to get people eyeing my always-fresh skates and "hint" that I could do their's to. If I am going to start sharpening skates, I will upgrade to a commercial machine but I wanted to get a feel for what is happening out there in the sharpening world.)

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

After our local rink closed, I bought a Pro-Filer - my husband does mine for me now and I am EXTREMELY happy with the results - I have gotten spoiled by having super-sharp blades and don't ever let them get really dull, so it really doesn't take him very long to do them. (the duller they are to start with, the longer it takes!!).

When I got them sharpened before, it cost something like $6-10 depending on who did it. But I never was really happy with the results (or the headaches trying to get the skates to & from sharpener). Either the hollow wasn't deep enough, or the edges were off kilter, etc. etc. I'm kind of in a figure skating wasteland though (central South Carolina) . . . was about to break down and start driving out of town for sharpening, but tried the Pro-Filer first and am totally happy with the results.

I pay $15, but it includes not only the sharpening, but re-waterproofing, remounting (as that saga just ends), anything that needs to be done to the boot or blade, etc. My sharpener is the ONLY person I let touch my skates -- my previous guy only charged $7, but apparently only knew how to sharpen inside edges! The guy I go to now gives me a high freestyle sharpening and they stay sharp for about 3-4 weeks (w/15 hours a week of skating).

I'm in the Phoenix, AZ area.

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

I pay 12 dollars per sharpening.

I wish I could find someone else to do mine. Where I live, the closest sharpeners are 2 and a half hours away in the nearest city, so we send our skates away in a big group. The guy who does them though, while he doesn't do a bad job persay, sharpens them so little that you barely notice anything's been done.

I'm in the northeast US.

Over in England I pay £5.

I am generally happy with the results, but last sharpening a different guy done them and made them ultra sharp (if I get him again I will tell him not so sharp) and they were so bad you really could not glide, my coach looked at them and said that her sharpener done hers extra sharp once for a joke, but these were way sharper than that! They had a really nice finish on them I will give him that, but boy I had trouble skating for a week or so!

On the plus side though I haven't had to have them done for 12 weeks, and they are still fine now!

Up to now I was paying $12, but I just switched to a new sharpener and he only charges $7 or $8. He's supposed to be excellent, though (he's one of the only people around who still sharpens figure blades). I live in the Los Angeles area and drive at least 30 minutes to get my blades sharpened by someone good.

If I go more than 35-40 hours without a sharpening, my edges start slipping a little, especially on our hard early morning ice. At 6 hours of skating per week, I usually get them sharpened every 6 weeks, whether they are slipping yet or not.

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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

I dont take my skates to be sharpened anymore, I hone them before I skate

Its hard to find a person you can trust to sharpen skates...

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Tim David's Website

I completely understand where you are coming from Tim. As a fellow Gold Seal user, I am very cautious of who I let sharpen my skates. Gold Seals cost way too much money to have someone screw them up. I will pay premium price to get my blades taken care of. Chuck Fox from Bowie Ice Arena is the only person who has touched my Gold Seals. He mounted them as well. He charges me 15 bux, but he Sno Seals my boots and does all the routine maintenance on my skates at that time. If I ask for a heat molding, he'll throw that in for free as well. His sharpenings last about 10 weeks and I skate 5 days a week, 2 hours each day.

The only other person I would allow to sharpen my blades is Mike Cunningham in Waldorf, MD. But he is so popular that you have to make an appointment weeks in advance and he's close to retirement. He also travels to major competitions and ice tours and does maintenance and sharpenings for those skaters, so he's a difficult person to catch up to. He typically charges 12-15 dollars depending on what you need done.

I get my blades sharpened with a ROH of 7/16 of an inch. My blades are side honed and my edges grip like nobody's business so I can't imagine using a deeper ROH than that. I am not sure what a high level freestyle sharpening means. Could someone ask their sharpener what on earth that means??

BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

I only let Chuck from Bowie near my blades. I believe I pay $12 a sharpening. I'm not sure how long they last as I usually wait until I start sliding off my edges until I get a sharpening.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Yay Scarlett!!! That's what I'm talking about!! Great minds think alike and go to the same blade sharpener!!


BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

I'm paying that in Euro's. Everybody at our club just gets theirs sharpened at our home rink skate shop, and one of the girls has permission to skate a level up and even there she placed second at the nationals... So I'm gonna guess our home rink sharpenings are OK. At least I'm not hearing any horror stories like about other rinks.
There's one girl who doesn't know who ruined her blades - our skate shop, or the one in Turnhout. But as I've said, everybody else is content with his sharpening so...

As for how long it stays sharp, now there's a mystery. I had MK21 blades and I had to sharpen them every month and they'd be DULL by the end of the month. Now I've got Coronation Ace, and I skated on them for 3 months without having any sharpening done and they're still RAZOR sharp and the edges, indeed, grip like nobody's business - haven't done a hockeystop since I switched blades (but everything else works better). I'm puzzled, but hey I'm fine with it! Saves me a ton of money if they stay sharp.

I think part of it might be that I skated less crowded afternoon sessions instead of evening sessions in those last months. The ice wasn't quite so cheesegrater there.

For me, a high freestyle sharpening is actually deeper than 7/16. I'm not sure what we've finally settled on, as it was a lot of "no, sharper than that" then "no, not quite that sharp." He knows exactly what to do to my skates without me asking, and they're wonderous! I find myself sliding at times on 7/16

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

Well I definitely can't mess with those. My edges are plenty sharp for me. Granted, I don't have problems doing T-stops, but I have never had a problem with edge security either.

BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

Not completely sure how much mine cost, as sometimes I send my daughters' away with them. What I do know is that is costs me $50 AUD in express postage, just for mine, and more when my daugher's go too . Think it probably costs about $25 for a sharpen and laser finish. Very happy with that, however having to send them away means sometimes missing a session and a lesson.

7/16 rocks my world with my phantoms. I'd accidentally had more 5/16 was impossible, and 1/2 is way too shallow. You wouldn't think it would make such a difference, but it does. Which is the one reason I don't use a Profiler, they don't come in 7/16.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am