Preferred skate blade hollow?

[gintonic]

I'm trying to play around with different hollows, but think I've found 7/16 to be best for me. So I was curious to know what others are using.

What's your favorite hollow, and why?

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[Jarick]

FBV 100/50 - lots of bite and glide

 

[kr580]

11/16". Plenty of bite for me still while getting tons of glide. 7/16 is nuts, haha.

 

[Pog Form]

5/8

Just enough bite so that I don't lose my edge.

 

[canuck44]

11/16". Plenty of bite for me still while getting tons of glide. 7/16 is nuts, haha.

Is 7/16" nuts? I use 3/8.

When i had T-blades, I used to get the second sharpest available, now that I'm back to regular blades I can't do the 1/2".

Weirdest thing is that I remember when I used to get skates sharpened before (5+ years ago, before I got t-blades), just the regular sharpening, which I assume was the standard 1/2" hollow, was so sharp at first that it was hard to stop. Maybe materials have changed or something but even at 3/8", I don't have that issue. I actually liked it the most where I just barely dulled out the skates enough that I could stop smoothly.

 

[ponder]

Is 7/16" nuts? I use 3/8.

When i had T-blades, I used to get the second sharpest available, now that I'm back to regular blades I can't do the 1/2".

Weirdest thing is that I remember when I used to get skates sharpened before (5+ years ago, before I got t-blades), just the regular sharpening, which I assume was the standard 1/2" hollow, was so sharp at first that it was hard to stop. Maybe materials have changed or something but even at 3/8", I don't have that issue. I actually liked it the most where I just barely dulled out the skates enough that I could stop smoothly.

7/16" is not nuts at all, that as close as it gets to a 1/2" hollow, which is indeed the most common. However, what you said about the 1/2" vs. 3/8" hollows doesn't make sense, cause a 3/8" hollow should actually have MORE, not less bite than a 1/2" hollow. Remember that a smaller radius means a deeper hollow, thus more bite, while a larger radius means a shallower/flatter hollow, thus less bite, but better glide. A 3/8" hollow is generally about as sharp/steep/small as anyone uses, that's considered a lot of bite. Personally I like a 3/4", fairly flat, but some guys like hollows as flat as 1".

 

[nullterm]

5/8

Just enough bite so that I don't lose my edge.

Same here.

 

[ponder]

Also, as a general rule of thumb, if you're lighter you're putting less pressure on the ice, so you tend to need a smaller hollow (more bite), while if you're heavier a small hollow results in excess bite and too much friction, so a shallower hollow tends to work better for heavier skaters. But then there's just personal preference too, Paul Coffey for example was not particularly big but used ridiculously shallow hollows, up to 2", which is basically unheard of.

 

[canuck44]

7/16" is not nuts at all, that as close as it gets to a 1/2" hollow, which is indeed the most common. However, what you said about the 1/2" vs. 3/8" hollows doesn't make sense, cause a 3/8" hollow should actually have MORE, not less bite than a 1/2" hollow. Remember that a smaller radius means a deeper hollow, thus more bite, while a larger radius means a shallower/flatter hollow, thus less bite, but better glide. A 3/8" hollow is generally about as sharp/steep/small as anyone uses, that's considered a lot of bite. Personally I like a 3/4", fairly flat, but some guys like hollows as flat as 1".

I see how what I said could be misunderstood. When I used to get the 1/2" before, I found it was REALLY sharp.

When I get the 1/2" now, there's not enough bite for me. I'm content with the 3/8", but I might ask the shop to see if they can go maybe 5/16" or something to see if I like that better although I THINK someone told me they can't do any smaller than 3/8".

 

[ponder]

I see how what I said could be misunderstood. When I used to get the 1/2" before, I found it was REALLY sharp.

When I get the 1/2" now, there's not enough bite for me. I'm content with the 3/8", but I might ask the shop to see if they can go maybe 5/16" or something to see if I like that better although I THINK someone told me they can't do any smaller than 3/8".

Ah I see, never mind, totally misunderstood you the first time. But yeah, I think 3/8" is about as deep a hollow as most shops will go.

 

[budster]

I've been using a 1/2 for quite a while, but I think I may go with something a little flatter next time just to change it up.
--
Radius of hollow explained

 

[Placebo Effect]

FBV 100/50 - lots of bite and glide

Same here

And to the poster wondering about 7/16, that's far from nuts. One of my LHS has 7/16 as their "regular". Also, according to CBC during the Winter Classic, Crosby uses 7/16. Last I checked he isn't nuts and he's kind of good.

 

[canuck44]

Same here

And to the poster wondering about 7/16, that's far from nuts. One of my LHS has 7/16 as their "regular". Also, according to CBC during the Winter Classic, Crosby uses 7/16. Last I checked he isn't nuts and he's kind of good.

Kind of good? Ya think?

 

[kr580]

I should have said 7/16" would be nuts for me. I'm used to a really shallow hollow. I'd snap my ankles if I tried to stop on a 7/16" or 3/8" cut.

 

[bokchoy]

9/16 or 1/2 for me.

 

[umpft]

Can anybody explain those numbers to a newbie? (that'd be me) All they tell me over here (Europe, CH) is that I'm getting a (metric?) "4", no idea what that means except low number harder to stop, high number harder not to slide away.

If I know how you measure your blades I can try to make some sense out of the units they use over here.

I've made a picture if that is any help..

 

[kr580]

The standard sharpening is called a Radius of Hollow (ROH) which means the stone used to sharpen the blade has that size radius on it. The curve of the hollow is exaggerated for visual representations sake but that's the basic idea. The larger the circle, the flatter the curve (1/2"). The smaller the circle the more it digs in and gives a deep hollow (5/16").

I'm not sure you'll get an answer to your measurements as blades are rarely the same exact width and the differences between sharpening radii are TINY. By the sounds of it they just number their sharpenings from deep (more bite) to shallow (less bite; flatter). I doubt '4' is an actual measurement of any kind. Maybe ask them for an explanation of exactly what the 4 stands for next time you go in?

 

[umpft]

The standard sharpening is called a Radius of Hollow (ROH) which means the stone used to sharpen the blade has that size radius on it. The curve of the hollow is exaggerated for visual representations sake but that's the basic idea. The larger the circle, the flatter the curve (1/2"). The smaller the circle the more it digs in and gives a deep hollow (5/16").

Thanks for the great explanation!

I've asked the last time because before they just did it without saying a single word, so I assumed there was one type of blade sharpening... then I started realizing that there were some differences between each time I had the skates sharpened and I noticed the others where putting a piece of paper with a number in the skates while dropping them in...

I will inquire further in this matter.

 

[Avshockey85]

3/8 for me!

 

[GoldenTriangle]

I use a 5/8 hollow.

I'm a bigger guy at 6' 1", 210lbs and I'm very good on my edges so this has given me the best bite/glide balance.

 

[toddmanley]

I use a 5/8 hollow.

I'm a bigger guy at 6' 1", 210lbs and I'm very good on my edges so this has given me the best bite/glide balance.

Same for me and I'm 6'9", 225lbs.

 

[GoldenTriangle]

Same for me and I'm 6'9", 225lbs.

Do you play defense for the Bruins?

 

[SouthpawTRK]

I initially tried 1/2" for a long time and then moved on to FBV 100/50, but have finally settled on 5/8". The 1/2" did not seem very stable to me and while I liked the FBV, it seemed that my blades were getting dull rather quickly. With the advice from a great individual, I tried the 5/8" and have never looked back.

On a side note, I just got my skates sharpened (after not sharpening them for at least 3-5 months) and it was almost like having new skates in last night's game.

 

[Hounsy]

Goalie using 3/8

 

[canuck44]

Goalie using 3/8

Interesting. I thought goalies didn't like such sharp skates