Skate Sharpening 101

[t0rrent98]

I'm fairly new to this skate sharpening thing as a forward and as a goalie. What cuts are recommended for a beginner skater? I'm about 6'0 tall and weigh about 163lb on a good day. I think my current cut at the moment is 1/2". I can't tell if my skates are getting dull after playing about 4-5 games or if its just digging into the ice when I try skating.

Also, how many hours or games would you have to resharpen the skates? I've heard its all by preference and for a beginner we should try at least 10 games and work from there.

I was also told to get my skates sharpened at VIVO from the skate doctor for the best results. Any other recommendations on where they do a good job on skate sharpening?

Thanks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[billybob123]

Shout out to Kutting Edge at Bowness arena, they do a really good job and the guy running it is a coach in our association.

I get my skates sharpened when I find I'm losing my edge on the ice. Usually 10 ice times or so, more often if it's outdoors or chewed up ice.

[Weitz]

If you are new try a couple different cuts to see what you like.

How often you get it done is personal preference.

I play about 40-50 ice times a year and will get my skates sharpened 3 maybe 4 times. I don't use them outside though.

[CMPunk]

Come see Gus at Breakaway Sports up at Winsport. Ex Flames equipment guy, so he knows his skates.

[Swayze11]

My favorite part about getting my skates sharpened is when they say "Wow, who sharpened your skates last? they did a horrible job"

...it was you. I only go here.

[Nabber]

I agree with the above poster who said try and bunch of different sharpenings, see what you like. I use extremely sharp in 3/8 but did try everything else before I determined that. I've also been skating pretty much my whole life but as a beginner I would not recommend this as the cut is too much where stopping is an issue. 1/2 seems like a good place to start from my understanding, go sharper if you feel you don't quite have the grip, or less if you feel like you need more. This would be hard to determine I'm sure.

For a goalie I'd say it's wayyyy different then player. I've only tried goal a handful of times, however would say you want the sharpening to be less since you're sliding across and if you catch too much grip you could injure yourself. One goalie I played with say he sharpens his skates once a year and keeps them very dull, when he still plays a lot. Again personal preference. For player I sharpen my skates max every 10 games.

I always go to Hockey Experts, and I know people are against them being Sportchek however it's cheap and works for me. They have flat bottom V sharpening which they were pushing as a way better sharpening, I did find it was good for a few games however got to dull for myself after then. I believe it would be a good option for a beginner.

[undercoverbrother]

It is funny, I can't tell the difference between places, unless it is a total butcher job.

My daughter on the other hand can tell me where I got her skates sharpened totally by how they feel.

[Northendzone]

where you go likely depends on where int eh city you live/work.

I am in the south on both counts and take my skates to No Sweat/Esporta on MacLeod near Heritage.

Other good options in the south include the guy at South Fish Creek Arena, source for Sports and Hockey Experts. Dunn-rite sports off of 52 is also good.

if you take your skates tot eh out door rink in the winter, then you will want to get them done a little more often, personally, I like my skates to feel sharp, so I used to go after about 4 ice times and get a 3/8 hollow - which is deep.

my son is a goalie and used to like sharp skates; however, as he has gotten stronger, he has a lower hollow. goalie skates are sharpened to be flat; while, player skates have a rocker to them.

[united]

Personal preference and depends on playing style - try a few and see what you like. Go as dull as you can while still feeling comfortable. In general, especially for beer-league with the lack of stop-start, most people go sharper than needed (IMO)...or maybe I'm just an extreme floater. At higher levels they change it up depending on ice, too.

For fun reference - you can see how the league has gotten faster looking at some guys' change in hollow over time:

[Galakanokis]

If always depended on ice for me. Once you get into men's league, especially in summer the ice is really soft and you can go all summer without sharpening your skates. On good hard ice I would go every 3 games.

[Csquared]

Length of time between skate sharpenings depend on how you're skating and a lot on personal preference. Lots of people get their skates sharpened every 1-3 times they play but there's also a few people that go about 20-30 times without sharpening.
If it feels like it's really easy to scrape, you're falling when you're turning because your edge is sliding out, your edge isn't catching when you hockey stop or you feel like it's harder to get as much power when you're skating are signs that your skates are getting dull. I do recommend feeling your edge with your hand after you get them sharpened and then after you've skated in them for awhile so you can feel the difference that way too.
Would recommend trying to figure out how your blades feel differently when they're sharpened vs unsharpened and than trying out different cuts.
I also like the Flat Bottom V though many smaller places don't have this and will tell you that you shouldn't get it.
Skate Doctor, Winsport, Kutting Edge, No Sweat, Dunn Rite, and Legends are pretty good.
Adrenaline, Olympic Oval and Tuxedo are also usually pretty good though they have a lot more people working there so it's not as consistent.
I don't find the guy at Cardel Rec South that good.
Don't know much about goalie skates. People used to go to Professional Skate for goalie skate sharpening but that could have changed.

[calgarygeologist]

Thread revival, don't know if there is a better and more recent discussion, but my kid needed to switch skates this weekend as he said his old skates were too small. With the switch I decided to give flat bottom v a try on his new skates. He is small and light and not a strong skater so hopefully FBV can benefit him with greater and easier glide which could give him more speed and energy. I was previously getting a 1/2 hollow on his skates so we'll see how he does in his three games this weekend.

[Coach]

I'm a big fan of the FBV cut. It took a few minutes to get used to, as your edges do feel a bit different, but it really is the best of both worlds IMO. I find it interesting that not more NHLers use it.

EDIT: IIRC, one of the problems was that a y-stick wasn't much of a help if you lost an edge, because the edges are thinner, they just crumple over when using one. If a stone couldn't fix it you were kind of boned.

[Csquared]

I also love the flat bottom v.
In general with the regular sharpening I don't recommend young kids or older kids that are smaller get the 1/2, the 5/8 or 9/16 are usually better for them

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Csquared

I also love the flat bottom v.
In general with the regular sharpening I don't recommend young kids or older kids that are smaller get the 1/2, the 5/8 or 9/16 are usually better for them

I was going to switch my kid to 5/8 with this new pair of skates but decided to try the FBV. My kid was noticeable better on the ice tonight with FBV. There was a few times where he didn't seem quite confident with the edges and fell over but he was quicker and moved better. He was skating harder and faster than his previous 1/2 hollow. He seemed to like the new set up. Not sure if it the new skates or the new profile that makes the bigger difference though.

[manwiches]

Personally, I don't like the FBV. I tried them for half a season 5-6 years ago, and I found I lose my edges a lot more on them. Alot more sliding and slipping. I can see why they might get more glide, but for me, I couldn't tell because I found them slippery

I also found for me, they need to be sharpened a lot more. I usually got 5-6 skates with a regular hollow sharpening, but found I needed to have them sharpened every 3 skates with the FBV.

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[Coach]

Originally Posted by manwiches

Personally, I don't like the FBV. I tried them for half a season 5-6 years ago, and I found I lose my edges a lot more on them. Alot more sliding and slipping. I can see why they might get more glide, but for me, I couldn't tell because I found them slippery

I also found for me, they need to be sharpened a lot more. I usually got 5-6 skates with a regular hollow sharpening, but found I needed to have them sharpened every 3 skates with the FBV.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

This is the main thing to get used to. It feels like you have no edges, but as soon as you dig in the blades bite. It's almost a surprise that you can turn.

They did needs sharpened more for sure. The reason I did it is I worked at a Sportchek at the time and could sharpen my own skates whenever.

[Envitro]

I'm a goalie too, so it's always been an experiment for me until I found what I liked.
I always had it done 1/2", but about 4 years ago I discovered 7/16" and it's been awesome. I feel like 1/2" didn't last as long, and didn't have as much bite as I wanted, without it being too sharp. As a goalie you have to glide on your edges side to side sometimes, and if it's too sharp I can fall on my ass LOL.

One little trick I do with 7/16" is to take my stone to the edge for a very, very light touch to take the bite out of them after I get them back from the skate sharpener. I feel like that helps a tonne for me anyway. Good luck, it's an adventure like anything else.

[Rando]

There seems to be a lot of after market steel options popping up. Anyone try these?

[Wiggum_PI]

Originally Posted by Rando

There seems to be a lot of after market steel options popping up. Anyone try these?

The blades that came with my Bauer Vapour X500s were surprisingly sub par quality, so I ordered some Step Steel blades. Really happy with the new blades, can skate easier and don't have to sharpen them as often.