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Author Topic: How often do you sharpen your skates?  (Read 9439 times)

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Offline ubmuaer

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How often do you sharpen your skates?
« on: December 12, 2011, 11:26:33 AM »
How often do you sharpen your skates?  And how often do you skate a year? Thanks.

Offline hopskipjump

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2011, 02:10:57 PM »
In these skates/blades she needs them sharpened about every 20-30 hours on the ice.  Sometimes that is once a month, sometimes she can go longer.   :WS: 

Offline Skittl1321

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2011, 02:49:55 PM »
All my previous blades I sharpened every 8 weeks... Or 25 to 30 hours.  My new blades are harder steel and seem to last 16 weeks...which is very nice since the sharpener is a 30 mile drive.

I don't really do it on hours or weeks though- just when the blades feel dull and I'm slipping on my edges.  However, it seems to fit these time frames almost to a T.

Offline JHarer

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2011, 04:37:45 PM »
I've had my blades since August, on average I skate 5 hours per week, I just had them sharpened, but they were about 2 weeks overdue!

Offline jjane45

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2011, 04:59:28 PM »
Forty to fifty hours unless basic spins are suffering badly.

more frequently if I skate outdoor, or in stupid cases, absentmindedly walking on concrete steps without hard guards... :(

Offline sarahspins

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2011, 05:02:26 PM »
Not often enough..... I had mine sharpened about 10 days ago, but prior to that it had been 6 months... and before that, about 12 years  88)

I did use a pro-filer in between though.. I don't find it's "enough" for replacing professional sharpening all together, but it does help to stretch out the time between getting them done, or if I am in a position where I know a blade is dull and I need it sharpened but I can't work around the sharpener's schedule, I can get enough of an edge back on that I feel more secure on the ice, but it's not quite like having them sharpened by machine.

Offline irenar5

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2011, 04:25:05 PM »
My prior blades- Coronation Aces- every 30-35 hrs,
my new blades - Ultima Matrix Legacy- every 60 hrs or so

Offline Skittl1321

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2011, 04:59:40 PM »
All my previous blades (Mirage, Gold Seal, mid-level Paramounts) I sharpened every 8 weeks... Or 25 to 30 hours.  My new blades (Ultima Matrix Legacy) are harder steel and seem to last 16 weeks...which is very nice since the sharpener is a 30 mile drive.

I don't really do it on hours or weeks though- just when the blades feel dull and I'm slipping on my edges.  However, it seems to fit these time frames almost to a T.

Offline Bunny Hop

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2011, 05:35:14 AM »
I was always told that approximately every 30 hours is best. I generally now get mine done between 30-35 hours (I use a spreadsheet to keep track of how long I skate on each session). Better to get them done before they get really dull, as then the difference won't be as noticable.

Offline drskater

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2011, 08:43:37 AM »
If you skate on "hard" ice, you should sharpen more frequently.

Offline Rachelsk8s

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #10 on: December 26, 2011, 07:23:54 PM »
I sharpen mine about once a month.  I am on the ice a lot over the course of a week though; I skate about 4 times a week at about 2 hours per session and teach LTS twice a week.  The rule of thumb says to sharpen them about every 20 hours or so of skating time, however this can vary depending upon the condition of the ice, your level, whether your skating outside vs. indoors, etc.  I can usually tell its time for a sharpening when my spins just don't hook well; you can usually feel your edges aren't grabbing the ice well. 

Offline Neverdull44

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2015, 05:43:51 PM »
Ultima Matrix Elite - last sharpening was about December 2014.  I skate 5-7 hours a week, on average.   So, that's about 80-112 hours!  I'm not totally slipping yet, but have a bad slide when it comes to three turns that is getting worse.  So, time to sharpen.

Offline AgnesNitt

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2015, 06:48:48 PM »
MKPros. 40 -60. 4-5 hours a week. I wish it was more, but no local rink.

The thing about MK Pros, one day they're fine. The next day they're dull as the last season of  How I met Your Mother. No warning.
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Offline lutefisk

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2015, 07:16:29 PM »
I have Ultima Mirage (old boots, now used for outdoor skating) and Ultima Aspire XP (current boots).  I general go 50 to 60 hours before I notice significant side slippage.  Similar to getting hair cuts-- I probably should go more often if only for the social aspect of chewing the fat with my skate tech (I do learn a lot from my barber and no doubt would benefit from more interaction with my skate tech as well).  I would go more often if I could talk him into keeping a few back issues of Police Gazette in fitting room--something to read while I'm waiting my turn.

Offline skategeek

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2015, 07:22:20 PM »
Ultima Mirage (stock blade that came with the Jackson Classique and now my new Elles): about every 15-20 hours.  Either my blades go dull very quickly or I'm just more likely to blame my bad skating on my blades if I know it's been that long.   88)

Offline Meli

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2015, 10:45:34 PM »
Approximately every 40 hours on the Aspire XP, waiting to see how the Coronation Aces do.

Offline celia

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #16 on: April 11, 2015, 01:16:14 AM »
I sharpen my pattern 99s every 25-30 hours. I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my skating costs and a side effect is knowing how many hours I skate between sharpenings (my practice times unfortunately can be a little erratic).

Offline saje

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #17 on: April 11, 2015, 09:14:30 AM »
Gold Seals every 40-50 hours.  It probably should be more often...
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Offline Loops

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #18 on: April 11, 2015, 09:29:04 AM »
Vision synchro. Every 20 hours.

Offline icedancer

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #19 on: April 11, 2015, 01:13:53 PM »
Wow - I don't sharpen nearly as much as you guys!

I skate 6-8 hours/week - and not doing freestyle - but I do dance, moves and figures in my SuperDance99.

I probably sharpen MAYBE every 6 months or so - so maybe every 150 hours?

I sharpen when my three-turns get slushy - skidded

Offline amy1984

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #20 on: April 11, 2015, 05:15:50 PM »
When my stops, turns and spins (so basically everything :P) start skidding.  I find this is about a month and a bit.  I have Ultima blades - I think Legacy?

Offline JSM

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #21 on: April 12, 2015, 06:20:33 PM »
Gold Seals, usually every 3-4 months (I'm on the ice about 5-6 hours a week), unless I have a competition coming up, then I want to make sure they're ready to go!

Offline AgnesNitt

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #22 on: April 12, 2015, 09:16:15 PM »
Not often enough..... I had mine sharpened about 10 days ago, but prior to that it had been 6 months... and before that, about 12 years 

And I thought I was bad. Due to injuries I once went almost a year without a sharpening but I still skated most of it.
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Offline littlerain

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #23 on: April 12, 2015, 10:31:34 PM »

Approximately every 40 hours on the Aspire XP, waiting to see how the Coronation Aces do.

I'm on the aspire xp and have been thinking about trying the ace next time. I'll be curious to see how they compare for you. Sharpening and otherwise!

I tend to sharpen between 20-30 hours!

Offline amy1984

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Re: How often do you sharpen your skates?
« Reply #24 on: April 12, 2015, 11:58:24 PM »
When I had my Eclipse blades, they needed far less sharpening.  My skate dude said something along the lines of blah blah blah alloys blah blah blah metals.