Readers ask: How To Sharpen Your Skates?

Can I sharpen ice skates at home?

Speed- and tour skates have a flat glide surface and can reliably be sharpened at home with fairly basic equipment. A long stone, and a fixture to hold the blades perpendicular will work fine.

Do my skates need sharpening?

If you have spent more than 15 to 20 hours on the ice, you need to sharpen your ice skates. Moreover, if you constantly keep falling, your ice skates need sharpening to form a better grip with the ice. If you are experiencing any difficulty making turns on the ice, your ice skates need to be sharpened.

What should I sharpen my skates at?

You can get your skates sharpened anywhere from 1/8th of an inch to one inch. 1/8th would be the sharpest, and one inch would be the least sharp. The majority of pros use something with a shallower hollow, but preference does widely vary.

How can I sharpen my skates without a machine?

Use your flat file and begin at the toe or heel and move it across the blade in a diagonal motion. The file should always remain perpendicular to the blade when sharpening. Run the flat file across a blade in one direction 15 to 20 times and then repeat in the opposite direction. Do the same for the other skate.

How do I know if my skates are dull?

To see if blades are dull, you can simply feel them with your finger. Run your finger width-wise across the blade, not length-wise as you can cut yourself this way. You should be able to feel two distinct edges.

Is it bad to skate on dull skates?

It’s really a personal preference. Basically, get them sharpened when they feel too dull for you, or you lose an edge on one side of the skate or you have nicks in the blade. As a rule of thumb, an average hockeyplayer will lose somewhere between 5 and 10 % of the skates edge per hour of skating.

Can skates be too sharp?

While your skates can never be too sharp, they can certainly be too dull and that can take a whole lot of fun out of the game. For those skaters who do feel their skates are too sharp at times, we recommend reviewing our post on selecting an ROH. You should experiment with a slightly shallower radius.

Is Flat Bottom V better?

Some people may ask does the flat bottom v wear the blade down quicker? According to No Icing sports (a custom radius shop) Getting a Flat bottom v on your skates will not alter your rocker radius at all and a flat bottom v does not take off any more steel than a regular sharpening would.

How often do hockey players sharpen their skates?

A rule of thumb is for every 15 to 20 hours of ice time, but let’s go beyond the basics. The biggest factor is how often you skate, hence the rule of thumb based on ice time. It’s not unheard of for some players to sharpen their blades before every game, and others once or twice a year.

What happens if you don’t sharpen skates?

When Skates are Not Sharp The edges on the blade will ’round’ away from the hollow due to the weight your body places on them, and due to the friction that is generate with the ice. This ’rounded’ results int he skates not being able to bite into the ice as well as they could when they were first sharpened.

Are brand new skates sharpened?

Brand new skates are never sharpened. DO NOT go on the ice with them. Brand new skates are also very stiff, and poorly form-fitted to your feet. Getting them baked will do wonders.

Can you ice skate on Unsharpened skates?

No one should ever skate on dull or unsharpened blades. Your skating edge will help you turn and maneuver, as well as keep your balance. Keep them sharp — but not too sharp: A sharp blade grabs the ice better than a dull one. Sharpen your blades when they start to slide uncomfortably when you land.