How bothered are you by a bad sharpen?

[althoma1]

I've only received a few bad sharpenings in my life - one was at Canadian Tire when I first started dating my wife. I'd picked up new skates online we wanted to go skating outdoors - CT was the only thing reasonably close to her place that offered skate sharpening. I've skated for years, but could barely skate with what they did to my skates. I took them to a LHS the next day and then tried them again later that week and had no issues. I've certainly never taken them to Canadian Tire again.

What I normally deal with is the wrong hollow being put on. I use 90/50 FBV and used to use 3/4 or 7/8 standard hollows. I always ask for a specific hollow, but sometimes the sharpener forgets what I ask for, is too lazy to change the stock wheel (usually 1/2" or 5/8" or 90/75 if it's FBV) or thinks I can't possibly want a hollow that shallow and think I need something deeper. I check the edges after the sharpening, but I can't tell the depth by just eyeballing it - as soon as I take a couple strides and try to pivot I can immediately tell when a deeper hollow has been put on. They're skateable, but it's harder to pivot (feels like I'm on rails) and there's chatter on stops - neither of those are issues when I skate with the 90/50 FBV. I'll go back the next day and ask for the proper hollow to be put on, which is done, but it's a pain having to go back and I hate having to play or ref games with a deep hollow.

There's one sharpener at the store I know consistently does a good job and puts on the right hollow so I'm glad to see her there when I go in and I'm always hesitant to hand my skates over to someone else. I suppose I could ask for her schedule, but that could make me seem like a creepy stalker. I'm honestly only interested in her skate sharpening skills.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Excellent

I may be a bit fussy about my sharpenings but to be quite honest, surprisingly, I still have a hard time finding really good ones in Montreal.

Jean Roy pro shop at Fleury Arena are very good whether it's Jean himself or his son. Jean doesn't even need to start with a crossgrind to get a nice level sharpening, and they won't give you a weird look if you ask for a specific ROH. They also make Graf Sidas custom footbeds. They're just a little far from my home so it's not the most convenient location to go to regularly for a sharpening.

I've gotten a lot of good sharpenings at Etienne Desmarteaux arena also but some of their sharpeners are better than others.

Now I need to vent about ARS on Bennett street. The first time I went there, he took out his level gauge to show me how bad my previous sharpening was, and showed me again how level it was after his sharpening. I thought, "Finally I've found a decent sharpener!" That was the only time he used the level and the only time I got a good sharpening from there. One other time I noticed him seemingly struggling with one skate. It seemed like he tried sharpening it twice to correct his mistake. That sharpening ending up being off-level at one end of the blade and off-level in the other direction at the other end of the blade, as if the blade wasn't perfectly horizontal when he sharpened it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. And forget about asking for a specific ROH. He goes by numbers like 4, 5, 6, etc. They do good repair work and holder mountings but I now avoid them for sharpening.

If anyone knows of great sharpeners in Montreal, especially in the east end, please let me know.

You are not fussy. You know sharpening.

Jean Roy also has Garon.

The late Jean Eudes Huard at Desmarteaux was probably the best for two generations. Taught many of the other good ones although most are no longer sharpening in Montreal having moved well out to the suburbs, The young guys who replaced Jean Eudes, headed by Nico are excellent as well.

Just off island - Laval at the Cartier Arena, Jason Beauchamp is excellent.

 

[TieClark]

You are not fussy. You know sharpening.

Jean Roy also has Garon.

The late Jean Eudes Huard at Desmarteaux was probably the best for two generations. Taught many of the other good ones although most are no longer sharpening in Montreal having moved well out to the suburbs, The young guys who replaced Jean Eudes, headed by Nico are excellent as well.

Just off island - Laval at the Cartier Arena, Jason Beauchamp is excellent.

It's pretty awesome that you guys know specific shops and who the sharpeners are... I'd like to be able to open my own place down the line to do this and I had this exact kind of thinking in mind for a customer base.

 

[not a troll]

Write on your holder what hollow you want in case the sharpener forgets.

 

[hlrsr]

Ugh, not being confident in your feet is the worst. It feels so limiting. Can't play.

 

[Terry Yake]

anyone in socal have a go-to guy for sharpening?

still haven't found anyone consistent

 

[Canadiens1958]

Data

It's pretty awesome that you guys know specific shops and who the sharpeners are... I'd like to be able to open my own place down the line to do this and I had this exact kind of thinking in mind for a customer base.

Just an accumulation of data and experiences since the 1950s, shared by many over the years. Doable in all areas with minimal effort.

Try to get to know the best in your area and apprentice.

 

[SCBruCrew4]

Hate it!

I usually go to Pure Hockey to get my skates sharpened. They are spot on with the way I like my skates to feel and never had a bad sharpen in the two years I've been going there. However I went ONCE to a local hockey shop closer than Pure hockey at the time and I regret it terribly. I was coaching a learn to skate/play class and I was trying to cut and stop while showing the kids how to do a drill and I damn near ended up on my butt about 3 times. Finally another coach came over to me and asked what was up? I told him I went to a new place and I think they went too deep on the sharpen. He was laughing at me and told me to never go there again (obviously)

Took a lot just to stay on my feet during that class and it would have been beyond embarrassing to have ended up on my butt in front of the parents of the kids I'm coaching!

 

[nycpunk1]

Hate it!

I usually go to Pure Hockey to get my skates sharpened. They are spot on with the way I like my skates to feel and never had a bad sharpen in the two years I've been going there.

Mind sharing which PH you use? Consistency is not something I've noticed in any aspect of the one near me. Silver lining: I shop their clearance deals online and then go in knowing they won't have it. Ordering from the store = free shipping. Using their crap inventory to my advantage!

 

[SCBruCrew4]

Mind sharing which PH you use? Consistency is not something I've noticed in any aspect of the one near me. Silver lining: I shop their clearance deals online and then go in knowing they won't have it. Ordering from the store = free shipping. Using their crap inventory to my advantage!

I've gone to Medford multiple times. Normally Chris (I believe his name was) sharpens my skates. Now though I'm going to the new store in Burlington, so far so good.

 

[nycpunk1]

I've gone to Medford multiple times. Normally Chris (I believe his name was) sharpens my skates. Now though I'm going to the new store in Burlington, so far so good.

Interesting. I live down the street from Medford PH and everything about them is inconsistent to the point of absurdity. I thought it was just me, but my friend who got me playing and my entire team have said the same things. Maybe when we get a good one it's the guy who did your skates.

Ski season is starting up, so I plan on stopping off for sharpening at No Icing on my way up 93. Hopefully they are as good as people say.

 

[Malarowski]

Ski season is starting up, so I plan on stopping off for sharpening at No Icing on my way up 93. Hopefully they are as good as people say.

Better.

 

[SCBruCrew4]

Interesting. I live down the street from Medford PH and everything about them is inconsistent to the point of absurdity. I thought it was just me, but my friend who got me playing and my entire team have said the same things. Maybe when we get a good one it's the guy who did your skates.

Ski season is starting up, so I plan on stopping off for sharpening at No Icing on my way up 93. Hopefully they are as good as people say.

Yeah everytime I've had my skates sharpened in Medford the same guy is there sharpening so I'm assuming that's the reason. Everybody's experiences are different I guess?

 

[SacredPetra]

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to recognize the quality sharpeners in various areas. Started with Montreal. Building a positive data bank would help everyone.

I think starting a list ofconsistent sharpeners would be great!

Skated on the skates with even edges today, and while they felt less awful, they didn't feel good. When I had the t'blades on them everything felt easy, now simple movements feel wobbly and the slightest muscle shift causes huge, but unpredictable, changes in the balance and bite of the blade. I'm going to have the people at Players Bench look at them and check the holders, maybe try another sharpening, then if that doesn't help, I'll either see what Graf suggests, or spend some time on the phone with No Icing Sports.

I'm definitely not an advanced skater, so I feel a little silly that this is bothering me so much but with my other skate changes ( figure skates to Easton S17s to Grafs with the t'blades, and changing the hollow and profile on the t'blades several times) it took me a couple laps before I felt solid, I've done almost 5 hours of skating and edge work drills and I still don't feel confident with basic turns and crossovers. I just want to feel confident in my skates again!

 

[Canadiens1958]

A Few Comments

I think starting a list ofconsistent sharpeners would be great!

Skated on the skates with even edges today, and while they felt less awful, they didn't feel good. When I had the t'blades on them everything felt easy, now simple movements feel wobbly and the slightest muscle shift causes huge, but unpredictable, changes in the balance and bite of the blade. I'm going to have the people at Players Bench look at them and check the holders, maybe try another sharpening, then if that doesn't help, I'll either see what Graf suggests, or spend some time on the phone with No Icing Sports.

I'm definitely not an advanced skater, so I feel a little silly that this is bothering me so much but with my other skate changes ( figure skates to Easton S17s to Grafs with the t'blades, and changing the hollow and profile on the t'blades several times) it took me a couple laps before I felt solid, I've done almost 5 hours of skating and edge work drills and I still don't feel confident with basic turns and crossovers. I just want to feel confident in my skates again!

You raise a number of points that are important.

Very few sharpeners are equally competent with hockey, speed and figure skates. Some have problems with goalie skates while handling player skates well. Likewise skaters changing skates from say figure to hockey will go thru adaptation phases.

Likewise sharpening skates for outdoor ice vs arena ice is another issue. Will not go there right now since outdoor skating does not touch the present audience.

You seem to be going thru a process of experimenting with skates, blades and sharpenings. This creates a learning curve situation. Keep notes. Once you settle on the skates everything should come together.

 

[lilphildub]

I got a sharpening about a month ago and during my first game, my sharpening was so bad that I had about 3 people say that I should get my skates sharpened... they clearly did a crappy job lol

 

[SacredPetra]

I have, admittedly, experimented a bit and found a set-up that I really liked (Graf boots with the t'blades in an S-11), but was having so many quality control issues I had to change to a traditional holder, which has been a bit of a nightmare.

I spent about an hour talking with the guys at Players Bench ( who were awesome, fielded my nine- gazillion frustrated questions, and put a ton of work into my skates after they finished being annoyed at the original work) while they replaced all the rivets in the holders which was very educational. Part of the problems I'm having are just going to take getting used to as the current holders are a size smaller than the originals. They're hoping too that replacing the rivets ( which were all copper) and setting them in a little differently will give me some flex back in the sole of the boot. I'm going to see how they feel probably this afternoon and definitely on Friday, and then I'll go back and may have them profiled to help compensate for having shorter runners.

 

[jw2]

Only thing worse than a bad sharpening is a girl seeing you step on the ice with your skateguards still on.

 

[hersky77]

You are not fussy. You know sharpening.

Jean Roy also has Garon.

The late Jean Eudes Huard at Desmarteaux was probably the best for two generations. Taught many of the other good ones although most are no longer sharpening in Montreal having moved well out to the suburbs, The young guys who replaced Jean Eudes, headed by Nico are excellent as well.

Just off island - Laval at the Cartier Arena, Jason Beauchamp is excellent.

Im so fussy when it comes to sharpening, I get mine sharpened at a 1/2 and I know right away if they screwed it up or not.

Also a great place in montreal is seymour, he does it out of his garage in the west island off of st charles, most of the pros go to him when they are here during the summer.

 

[Canadiens1958]

True

Im so fussy when it comes to sharpening, I get mine sharpened at a 1/2 and I know right away if they screwed it up or not.

Also a great place in montreal is seymour, he does it out of his garage in the west island off of st charles, most of the pros go to him when they are here during the summer.

True. Question of access.

What about Danny, used to have a closet downstairs at Birnie.

 

[Jackson12]

doesn't bug me really. i just go out there and skate.

 

[Stickchecked]

Granted, I've gone to the same place for the past 2 years, but I don't think I've ever noticed my sharpening being bad. I certainly never notice any variation in quality now.

The one exception was where I got a last minute sharpening at the rink and their default was 3/8. I noticed that immediately but that was my own fault. Now I always specify 1/2.

 

[pelts35.com]

Bothers me much more with my goalie skates than player skates.

 

[Clarkington III]

Being comfortable in your skates in one of the most important aspects of playing a solid game, at least to your potential. When you hand skates over, there is a certain amount of trust placed in them to provide you with that comfort.

I've been lucky I'm that the worst sharpening I've gotten is a hollow I didn't want (~5/8 preferred versus 1/2), but it's easier to dull the skates versus getting them sharper.

 

[intangible]

That first one is very different, I'm not even sure how you'd do that unless you mean the front half of the blade is one and the back half another? I've done that once about a week ago for a guy.

The inside edge is a completely different edge from the outside edge. It's called the "A-trap" system by Blackstone, I believe. It's like the goalie version for Flat Bottom V, which I use for my player skates, as well.