Skate Sharpeners

Skates under your shoes are the most critical element in the process of ice-skating. The length, width and sharpness of the skate blades determine the efficiency and performance of the ice. It is thus important to keep the metallic rod under your shoe in accurately sharped condition. However, it is not possible to buy new skates every single time they get worn by use. This is where a skate sharpener helps you refresh the skates and enhance their performance.

The idea of skate sharpening came up in the 1800s with a manually powered grinding wheel. As time went on, the skate sharpening process fell into the category of blacksmiths, knife sharpeners and shoemakers. They later started using a motorised vertical grinding wheel to sharpen the blades of skates. The latest innovation in the process is the patented spinner system that comes with the horizontal grinding wheel. This wheel is dressed in a spinner instead of a single-point diamond. Here the dressing wheel spins and dresses the grinding wheel with a precise radius delivering accurate dressing results on skate blades.

Common myths about skate sharpening

Like many other sports and outdoor equipment, skate sharpening also comes with many myths and misconceptions.  Most skaters have a greater level of confusion when sharpening their skates despite being more aware of their edges on the ice. Strangely it is common for the hockey players to have an entire conversation about their depth of hollow and if they should adjust it for the current ice conditions or not. Then there are figure skaters who even don’t know what depth they should prefer. It is much at odds that a figure skater is more likely to notice an imperfection in their sharpening than a professional hockey player. However, below are some of the common false beliefs found among both.

The fingernail tests

This is one of the most common practices to check the sharpness of the blade. People hold the skate blade up and run their thumbnail vertically along the blade. They scrape off a thin layer of their nail to check the sharpness of the blade. This can give you an idea about the edge’s existence but will not give you a feel for what you will be skating on. This is a confusing and bad idea to check the sharpness of your skate blade. Instead, it better is to use the opposite side of the nail and drag it down with your skin. Don’t worry; you won’t cut yourself as soon as you are not moving sidewise. However, your skin will let you feel the strength of edge and quality of finish done by your skate sharpener.

The magic stick will save money on skate sharpening.

The magic of the Y stick is a tool with different names and functions. It is used to flatten out edges on the blades, grab them and make them straight again. This tool was designed for the last moment, sharpening the skate blade edges and getting a quick fix. However, we can see many people abusing it and overusing it to the point that it breaks the blade’s edges. This generally results in a repeated process of folding skates.  This damage then demands the sharpener to grind away a large amount of blade to repair the damage. It is thus important to use this tool wisely. Better is to keep it handy for emergencies only and avoid overusing it.

Skates do not need drying.

Many believe that they do not need to dry off their skates and walk around in them. This is because skates are made of fabric and are reinforced. To the fact, leaving your skates wet will result in reducing its life. It is thus important to dry them properly as soon as you are off the ice. If ignored, the stainless steel will ultimately start rusting, and the cloth of the skate shoe will be damaged, smelly and unhygienic for use. In the meantime, wet skates will have longer gongers. These are the worse issue that can happen to your shoe. An no matter how deep you will grind a blade, they remain. Hence better is to avoid them in the first place.

Sharper the stake better would be the game.

This is the most common myth that exit in skaters. People generally believe that a sharper blade with a deeper hollow performs the best and stay sharper for longer. Nothing can be further from the truth than this belief. It is important to understand that the taller and pointed the edges will be, the deeper the hollow. As a result, it will place more pressure and weight on the two edges and wear out faster. Instead, a flatter sharpens will last longer and offers more glide with lesser leg fatigue. However, it might give you that biting feeling. However, trying different sharpening is never a bad idea. All come with advantages and disadvantages. Thus, it depends on how you would like to go with your skates.