Do handheld sharpeners work well? Would I still need to go in for regular sharpenings?

They're ok for a quick touch up but I would always have my blades professionally done too.

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The best whisper is a click

don't waste money on hand held sharpeners. they are only good for emergencies when you get a burr or step on something right before you are about to skate.
Only for recreational use. If you keep your guards on and blades dry you will need less sharpening. Most of my students get them done every 4-6 weeks. And 1-2 weeks before a major competition.

Thanks.

Actually, you might want to keep a sharpening stone in your skate bag for emergencies - it will get you through a session long enough to get you to your local sharpener. I have one, it's just a generic one I bought in a hardware store, but it serves its purpose very well.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I use a hand-held sharpener on my blades all the time--in fact, my current pair of blades have never seen a sharpening machine, and I love, love, LOVE my self-done sharpening. I wouldn't use anything else. But then, I trust my abilities and skill with the sharpener---more than I trust a stranger with my blades. If I lived in an area with some really good pro shops, and super-well-trusted sharpening folks, I might feel differently. But since I'd have to drive for hours to find an even passable sharpener....well, I'd rather do it myself. And truthfully--I think my sharpening is great. I like it better than machine grinds I've had in the past.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Slightly off topic, but I had a dream that I used a handheld sharpener and rather screwed up my skates

Not that that should keep you from using them... I think they're certainly all right for a touchup, but it depends on how much YOU trust yourself with it

I have never had the need for an in-between sharpening touch up. What you have to do is make sure you recognize when your blades are dull, and then get them sharpened! But I don't really understand how one would be so desperate for a mere touch up that they would take it in their own hands and do it themselves. I've landed every jump in my repertoire on nearly FLAT blades, they were so dull, and sure, it wasn't much fun and my edge didn't have much ride out, but...it's still not that difficult to adjust for a couple of days. I personally think only professionals should touch your blades. Those things are expensive. Plus, if you get accustomed to doing little touch ups all the time, you'll use more life out of your blade and you'll need to replace them faster. Just deal with the dull edges, IMO. A couple of days while you get to the sharpener most likely will not kill you.

I thought I would explain sharpening. If you have never had a really good sharpening you are missing a lot of the pleasure and can make your skating a lot better.

3/4" This is a universal hollow used for most figure skaters and hockey skates.

15/16" Mostly for only indoor ice and less edge penetration produces a faster blade. I use this depth.

9/16" Advanced Figure skating provides a "deep bite" and the kind most people complain about when they get a too sharp blade. Some people like this a lot, but tends to grab on spins.

If your shapening technician doen't know the difference in these depths then go to another sharper that does!!!!!!!! They can ruin a blade in one bad sharpening!!!

I hope this helps those who don't know the ins and outs of sharpening.
FYI Burton

Hmmmm. Well, as I am up for the second night in a row with food poisoning (SO MUCH FUN!) I am replying to this, cause I really disagree with it. 3/4 is most definitely not normal figure skate and even LESS hockey depth. The hockey (and average figure skating) edge is 1/2. It's pretty dull. The standard intermediate and advanced figure skating edge is 7/16- this is what I use and couldn't even imagine using anything deeper. Once, I got a 3/4 sharpening by mistake and it was ridiculously deep. I'm not a heavy person, so if it's deep for me, I can only imagine what it would be like for a guy. This is definitely, absolutely, never what a hockey player would use.

I've been to about a dozen skate sharpeners in my skating career, and they all echo exactly what I just typed. I've never heard of the other depth of hollow, as they're not really used for freestyle- I don't think a skate sharpener who doesn't regularly use the obscure depths listed above is bad news at all, although they can sharpen your skates at any depth you give them so long as it's somewhere on their grinding wheel (or in between two widths, as 7/16 is). Everyone I know uses anywhere between 1/2 and 7/16. Some dancers use 3/4, but that's because they are dancers. I don't know who is right or wrong, perhaps there is no right or wrong and it's a rink or region specific thing, but my eyeballs nearly spilled out of my sockets when I read some of the depths written on the post I quoted, so I felt compelled to reply ASAP lest some poor, ususpecting beginner skater go to a skate shop and ask for a 3/4 hollow. Might as well ask them to throw you out a window, IMO.

Here's an excellent site for technical information. It's important to know that 1/2 inch to one skater is not the same to another. The result depends not only on the size and skill of the skater, but also on the blades themselves. check it out:
http://www.warrensecurity.com/Skatin...nformation.htm

That is a GREAT site! Thanks for posting! (In fact, I think I may "sticky" your post, if that's ok.)

It especially helps explain why I like doing my blades myself---sharpening is a 'craft' and a skill...and I trust myself and my skills far more than some hockey kid at the rink shop!

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Ok, my confusion level just went up.....
I first got my beginning skates sharpened (Mirage blades) at 1/2" roh. My new blades are Coronation Comets, and they are sharpened at 1/2" roh.
However, at the John Wilson website, it states their "hollow" at 7/16????

Is that a recommendation or did I screw up the blade by changing it? When i took these to the sharpener, I remember he did ask me what hollow, I said "I think 1/2"-but I'm not sure?" but he said he'd use the previous one since they were sharpened earlier by another rink.....

All I know is that I don't like to "skid" on my edges-I like my blades to bite the ice a bit and when they get dull I really don't like it (so I sharpen about every 25-30 hours).

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Sure flippet, stick away.
I'd like to learn how to use a handheld, as I think it would be good to know. I have phantoms, so it was interesting to read about the added degrees from the blade itself. I was also wondering about the Phantom specials. I like really deep edges.
Mike at Skater's Paradise has been sharpening mine for so long now, and he's great.

Don't worry about it. Blades come with a "factory grind" and then you can switch it to whatever you skate on. My skates come with a 7/16, but even though 7/16 is the sharpening I get, you still have to get them sharpened before you wear them for the first time. So if you happen to skate on 1/2, then sharpen them to 1/2. There's no problem with that whatsoever.

Thanks!

Now for the next newbie question: When do you know when you are ready to change your roh? Take, for example, me. I begin skating on 1/2" and do well. Then I learn single jumps etc. or progress further.

At what point does one change to another hollow? At doubles? or is it strictly personal preference? Or does one 'experiment'?

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I think the hollow essentially stays the same and depends on your skate discipline. From what I've heard, the shallow hollow is better for figures and the deep hollow is better for dance/freestyle. I think freestyle has more latitude than the other disciplines. Dance moves need blade that can grip the ice on deep edges and figures require a shallow hollow for full control over change of edge. Sometimes the figure hollows are so shallow that they cannot be tested by a coin (A silver dollar might be big enough). I could be wrong because I'm a newbie also.

I don't think you have to worry about getting a figure hollow. Figures aren't practiced like they once were. To a certain extent, they were retained in the U.S. in something called "Moves in the Field". However, many say that this is not a sufficient replacement for traditional figures.

I'd say it's mostly personal preference. Most folks start with 1/2", partially because it's easier to work with for beginners, and partially because a lot of folks just like this ROH in general. I switched to a 7/16" somewhere around FS2, I think....because even with a fresh, good 1/2" sharpening, I felt like I wasn't getting a good 'bite'. I love 7/16". (The only quirky thing with a 7/16", for me, is that it does make my stops a bit more heart-in-mouth the first day out, especially if it's been a while since a sharpening...nothing like sticking cold when you were skidding the day before. But things even out well by the second session--I've re-acclimated myself to sharp blades, and the worst of the sticking gets smoothed out.)

If you want to try it, and think you can handle it, go ahead and change it. If you hate it, you can always change it back. (Yes, changing back and forth will take more metal off than sticking with one ROH, but if you keep that in mind and still want to try it, you can.)

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

It's a very individual sort of thing. For instance, I'm currently skating on 5/16" ROH, and my blades are side-honed which increases the effective sharpness even more to boot, but I love it. I had 1/2" ROH at first, then had them made 7/16", and really liked the difference, so I decided to try an even deeper hollow. I don't have a problem stopping, but would have never been able to learn to stop on these hollows simply because of the additional drag (but on the upside, when I do stop now, I stop faster).

It also depends how hard the ice is that you skate on. When I go to my old rink, which has very cold hockey ice, it's a lot more troublesome than better ice. Presumably because the sharper edges mean there's more weight on smaller contact areas, and the harder ice will splinter instead of melting, so there's a lot more edge noise.

It also depends on your weight, and how much you lean when you skate.

If you feel like you don't have enough bite or edge support, then you may want to have the hollow deepened. You can always change back - the only consideration is that changing the hollow takes off more metal than a regular sharpening, since more metal has to be removed to give them the new hollow, so you don't want to be changing back and forth all the time. ;-)

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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

I've heard of figure ROH's up to 1 inch. So you would need a 2 diameter coin to test

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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

I'm guessing you mean 3/8" here, because 3/4 would be shallow indeed - shallower than a 1/2" roh, and you'd be sliding all over the ice. 3/8" (or 6/16") is definitely deeper than 7/16", so that makes more sense.

As for hockey, it depends. The goalies will typically get shallow grinds, 1/2-3/4", because they slide left and right a lot more. On the other hand, some hockey players at my rink get ridiculously deep grinds, up to 1/4", because they want the additional bite. They get the deeper grinds more often than freestyle skaters. (This all according to the guys in the pro shop anyways, I don't actually know any hockey skaters)

For figures, I've heard that 3/4" is common, but I don't know anybody who actually skates figures or what they use. And it's all too easy to mix up skating figures with freestyle figure skating (which I guess should just be called freestyle skating?).

Get well soon stardust! I like seeing the additional posts from you, but don't much like the thought of you being ill!

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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

3/8ths is deep. I do dance and I had 3/8ths on my old MK dance blades (which are slimline). On those blades, the 3/8" ROH is roughly equivalent to a 7/16" ROH on normal width blades, or so I was told by the skate technician I use.

I used that 3/8" ROH on my Ultima Ascend blades (non-slimline dance blades) for about a year and recently changed to a 7/16" ROH setting. I'm a much happier skater now.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Oops!! Yes I meant 3/8ths! Thanks for the correction. And yes, being sick sucks. I think I'm at the tailend of it, thankfully. My sleep schedule is all out of whack though. It's 3am, and I am WIDE AWAKE. But it's okay, I probably won't go back to the rink until next week. Which means I can stay up and....WATCH QVC!!! Oh, the excitement. I wish the guy with the Gazelle infomercial came back. I love him.

and while I am at it:

I changed my sharpening from 1/2 to 7/16 when I started doing double loop. I would always skid and slide and not get a good grip on it. And my landing edges were just not feeling deep enough anymore. I think usually when you do harder jumps, especially at first when you are more edge-dependant and the grip of your edge is the difference between a landing or a fall, that's when you change it. But then, once you get the jumps down, you're accustomed to sharper skates, the footwork, the spins, it all works out, so you keep it that way. I've personally never felt the need to go deeper than 7/16. And it's to be noted that I never ever have a problem stopping the first day on the ice, no matter how long I might go without sharpening. I was told when I was little that a blade sticking to the ice, no matter the hollow, meant a bad sharpening, and every good sharpener I have ever been to since has comfirmed this for me. I never ever stick. If you do, it might be worthwhile to go see someone else. Just a thought.

That's pretty true. For myself, what I meant by 'sticking' is really more lazy technique on my part--I'd get so used to skidding on a dull blade, that that first stop that actually stopped on a dime would often throw me. Any other kind of 'sticking' would usually be due to a burr on the edge of the blade that wasn't removed well. If that's taken care of properly, there's no problem.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

I can stop and I don't "stick" after sharpening anymore because I use a different sharpener and he seems to know what he is doing, removes the side burrs and all that. Before, it was awful trying to stop

I appreciate everyone's input! This is info that you never seem to get in lessons, or the coach just breezes over....

My old sharpener person once gave me a 5/8" roh because I complained about not being able to stop. Then I was skidding..... Shortly afterwards, I changed to another sharpener (after asking around for recommendations).

Good sharpeners are hard to find!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!