As an engineer, I love that you critically thought out the reasoning behind your design. I received my Sharpener Pro this week and set our guys up with the FIRE 1/2". Guys were amazed at their edge control. They love it. Your after sales service is also really impressive. Your team seems to genuinely care.

I just sharpened my skates flat bottom V , 100/50. I didn’t skate yet, I need to try it. For what you said is that would be better to sharpened something like 95/75 in order to narrow the bottom and make better fangs, also that would give me more deep in the blade.

Great Topic! Hi Russ and to all , 5:25 Correct/ Totally Agree , The "Fang feature" gets lost in a typical warped blade with a wide flat bottom cut . Back in the 1980's some of us tried experimenting adding a flat section via another tiny stone in a "classical" ice skate sharpener. ie used way less than 0.100 since blades are not perfect and nor is the classical sharpener either. ie experimented with way less ie 0.060 or 0.070 on a .11 blade. I think the blades I have seen are even more warped than the 0.007 too. In rentals and hockey the blades can see abuse and be all goofed up. Thus I totally agree that is why so many opinions on this alternate sharpening pattern. The flat feature has been tried on figure skates too via an option of the Incredible Edger, a rather obscure high end 3400 buck sharpener mostly used on Figure skates . The Super Groover added option is 1400 bucks. Ok Flak Jacket On! :) I think speed skaters and Figure skaters have been more sensitive to how well their blades are sharpened compared to Hockey players. A Hockey power skating book I have from the early 1970s barely even mentions anything at all about the radius of hollow, but FIgure skate blade makers seemed to know and market their runners mention the radius of hollow well before Hockey skates did. Thus it is Great to point out how a warped blade increases the scatter on how folks "feel" about a flat bottom cut. With a warped blade the complete "Fang" can be gone; with a radius of hollow cut there might be some edge to grip even with the blade warped. With a Figure blade they are mostly 4mm wide versus 3mm for hockey, except Dance ( Figure ) runners are close to hockey blades. Some low-end Chinese Hespeler Hockey skates I have sharpened have 0.133, 0.138. 0.140 inch etc thick runners, way thicker than normal hockey skates. Not sure if this is their design, or a production goof up. If one of these goes into a classical sharpener the Z height is wrong and thus one gets a tilt unless one readjusts the holder a lot. With the Spark the clamp is self-centring thus no problem. In sharpening, I often mark oddball stuff like these Hespelers with thick blades so as to be alert that it is an oddball. In figures, folks mark the ROH/radius of hollow on the bottom sometimes too. Figure have even more variants like the vertical walls on the runner are not vertical on some ie like negative caster on a race car. :) thus a tool that touches the edge may not work for measuring the high and low of the left and right edges.

@RedFox-dn3fh

6 жыл бұрын

Fanks beltwesty!

@AB-80X

5 жыл бұрын

I've been doing all three kinds of skating, and let me tell you, hockey players are as much in need of precision sharpening, and as sensitive to it as both figure skaters and speed skaters. When playing hockey, you are very focused on the play and puck, so you really need to be able to trust your skates, and they need to be predictable. If the coaches do their job and teach proper skating, whether it being hockey, figure skating or speed skating, they will teach how a skate should feel and what is unacceptable. I'm no pro hockey player, but I get my runners sharpened if possible, during a game. The confidence a fresh pass on the blade provides simply makes you a better player. And once you have wiped out due to a worn edge during a game, your trust in the runners are gone for the rest of that game. And in that case, you might as well spend the rest of the game on the bench. No ice skater can perform well if they cannot trust their blades, and in all three categories of skating, you can get seriously injured if your blades are not sharp.

So I like 3/8 profiles as I usually skate centre, and really want the ability to turn tight. If I were to go with a flat bottom, which radius would I need for the same bite in the corners and when going straight? Will I still get the benefits from the flat bottom? My concern is this. If you are used to a half inch traditional hollow, and move to a 3/8 flat, will there even be a benefit, or is the benefit only for those who can stay with a half inch flat, and get used to the loose feel when going straight? Also, is there a difference in the runner's ability to hold the edge i.e, is the fang weaker than a traditional edge? Thanks

My first two rings were a 1/2" FIRE and a 3/8" FIRE. The 1/2" was crazy loose to skate in and now sits forever unused... any way we can trade it in? This equivalence info was not available when we made our kickstarter pledge. Thx

@WireWeHere

2 жыл бұрын

My thought's four years behind, must be a lot of future garage sale profiles out there by now. I was looking for someone who has had plenty of time to find a favourite and your comment caught my attention. If you don't mind sharing, what do you think of the 3/8 Fire or did you find something better? Thank you for your time.

Can you use the fire ring on goalie skates?

I run .75 hollow. But I’m 220lbs before equipment. Less bite but faster

1st off great video... I bought the Sparx and I absolutely love it and the only minor issue i have is the toe does not seem to cut high enough when facing away from the handle. With that being said I use the 5/8 grinding wheel and love this cut since i am a heavier player it grabs real nice but still gives me great glide/speed. If try the Fire ring would i use a 1/2" or stay with the 5/8" fire ring based on your final thoughts in the video?

@mikeblomgren6523

6 жыл бұрын

Hi Justin, Mike here, tech support supervisor for Sparx hockey. We do have a video on our page about hitting higher on the toe. We encourage you to watch the video and feel free to reach out to myself with any further questions. My email is: mike [at} sparxhockey [dot} com We would recommend a 1/2 FIRE to start if you want similar grip and feel characteristics to what you currently skate on. If your looking for a different feel and not as must grip while standing up straight then we would recommend the 5/8 FIRE. Look forward to helping out. Thanks for being a loyal Sparx customer. Mike

@epitaph91

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the quick response... So just to clarify if i am using a 5/8 currently from Sparx and i wanted to go to the Fire Ring then i would start at a 1/2" FIRE RING correct?

@jerrysmith9780

3 жыл бұрын

@@epitaph91 Hey Justin, I just bought a Pro and started our guys with the FIRE 1/2". They absolutely love the edge control.

@trevormontague803

2 ай бұрын

Raise the heel of the skate when you're clamping it, will allow for the ring to take more off the toe without it having to round off the heel

So how do i send my skates to get this done?

@willynillynilky5226

Жыл бұрын

What? Go buy the sharpener if you want it done. Sparx is the company that makesa sharpener