How long do skates stay sharp

This is typical for athletes who play hockey or figure skate multiple times on a weekly basis. This consensus is based on a few factors:. First is how the skates are being used. Advanced skaters are going to put more wear and tear on the blade as they are doing tighter turns, stopping abruptly and skating at faster speeds. Beginner skaters are not going to put so much pressure on the blades because they will not be doing tight turns and short stops.

The weight of the skater also plays a role in how often you need to sharpen ice skates. Heavier people put more pressure on the blade than lighter people, which digs their blade deeper into the ice, giving it more bite.

This will dull the blade quicker than a lighter person skating. Ice conditions are the last factor that affect the sharpness of ice skates. Harder ice typically outdoor rinks or rinks who chill their ice at lower temperatures is harder to cut into. The blade has to work harder to cut into the ice, making it dull quicker.

Soft ice, typically indoor rinks who chill their ice at higher temperatures, cuts ice like butter and does not take as much effort to melt the ice in the hollow of the blade. This makes it so your skate stays sharper longer. The reason it is so difficult to know when to sharpen rental skates is because all of these factors vary between users. Multiple body typed people at different skill levels can use the same pair of skates in one afternoon, applying different pressures to the blade.

If you offer one-hour skate sessions, try and sharpen the skate after 12 sessions. This will ensure all of your skates are always sharp and allows you to keep a close eye on what kind of shape the ice skates are in if they have any nicks, cracks or scratches. The blade is one of the most important aspects to having an enjoyable experience while ice skating. This is what connects the skater to the ice and should be a high priority to take care of.

If you are on a tight budget and cannot afford to sharpen your skates as frequently or do not have the man power to do so, I would highly suggest having sharpening stones or sweet sticks on hand, so as skates come off the ice you can quickly dry the skate and run the stone on the edges to give them a sharper feel.

Make sure none of your laces are cut or torn. Look at the boot itself and ensure that the rivets are in place. And finally, come to the skate blade.

Closely look at both edges of the blade. See if you can notice any little nicks or dings that are affecting your edges. Next, slowly rub your finger on the blade. These nicks are often hard to spot with your naked eyes, and rubbing your finger can help you feel them.

Remember to go slow with your finger; if the skates are sharp, you can easily cut yourself. Feeling the blades before and after sharpening will help you learn what sharp and dull blades feel like. When a person glides across the ice, the blade is the only part that makes contact with the surface.

It melts the ice because of friction and allows you to slide on the small amount of water generated. As soon as you go past the surface, the water freezes back to ice.

The weight of the player is also crucial because ice melts under pressure. It determines how deeply the blade cuts into the ice and what type of sharpening will best suit the player. This is why I recommend not to sharpen your blades too much for young hockey players.

Scientifically, the lighter the player is, the less ice is melted by their blade. So why should you get your skates sharpened? Because it improves your push and glide, allows you to generate speed better, and reduces your chances of falling. A sharper blade can cut into the ice more easily. Not sharpening your blades can severely lower your game, and it can even be dangerous.

For example, say you like to go very fast and stop, spraying ice on the boards. If you lose your edge while doing that, you might slip out and go straight into the boards.

Skates are sharpened by running the blade across the center portion of a spinning grinding wheel. The wheel removes material from the skate, creating a hollow groove in the middle and making it sharper. By adjusting the face of the grinding wheel, we can choose to make the hollow deep or shallow.

Take a look at your blade. Hollow refers to the cut or depression in the blade. When we sharpen the skates, a hollow groove is carved into the center of the bottom of the skate blade. The deeper the hollow is, the more pronounced your edges will be. The hollow directly affects your skating performance. Stainless steel will still rust, and assuming that your cloth skate guards will soak up the moisture and protect your skates is ridiculous. The worst part gongers? Is that no matter how often I grind steel away, they always appear the further I go.

They do not go away once they happen, so best to avoid them from the beginning. The whole skate guard thing is simple. Any sort of skateguard without a groove for the blades to sit in is not meant to be walked on.

No matter how thick the skate guard is, it will rip from continued walking on…plain and simple. Rubber bottoms or plastic is all that will work, any sort of cloth will not, so when you buy a cloth skateguard from me and walk on it and complain that its ripped, dont be suprised when I look at you like an idiot.

I get that the new and exciting technology in skate sharpening has got the attention of hockey players and parents, but just because its new doesnt mean it will make you a better skater which seems to be a common misconception around my parts.

There are advantages, just as there are disadvantages to different sharpening hollows. This one made it to number one because it seems to be the general idea among all ages, beer leaguers in particular. Alot of people seem to think that sharper or a deeper hollow is the best performing and longest lasting sharpen; which couldnt be further from the truth. To answer that question quickly, the deeper the hollow, the taller and more pointed the edges are making them weaker.

A bigger player like an adult puts alot of pressure and weight on those two edges and wears them out very fast. Dont be afraid to experiment with different sharpenings because they all have their specific advantages and disadvantages.