Grumble. Warped blade on new skates?

[skategeek]

I got new skates last week (finally!  Mine were way too big… went from 8C to 7B.).  I've always had more trouble with right edges than left, and my right foot turns in just a little.  So after I had some trouble with these (after I got past the fresh sharpening!), I went back to the fitter and he watched me skate and moved the blade a bit.  Which helped, but it still felt funny.  I figured maybe I just needed a little more time to get used to them.  Haven't had time to skate again since then, but I've been thinking about this a lot and on a whim just now I put a straightedge up against both blades.  The right blade is slightly bent.  Back to the shop I go...

[lutefisk]

Bummer.  Happens.

[skategeek]

It really is a tiny bit of warping- if I put a ruler along the concave side, flush with the back of the blade, there's a gap of maybe 2 mm by the time it gets to the front of the blade.  If I put it on the convex side, at the center there's a gap of what looks like 1 mm or so.  Really very small, I think, though I don't have a good feel for this stuff.  Would that be enough to cause problems?  The curve is to the outside, that is, the concave side of the blade is the outside edge of the blade.  What I was noticing is that when I try to do a right inside edge, the blade keeps slipping or shuddering.  I didn't even have the nerve to try outside edges because it freaked me out a bit.  Does that sound like what would happen with a warped blade?  (I suppose it's also possible that the warp affected the sharpening…)

[celia]

I can't claim it's definitely bad for your skating, but I think it's more than fair to claim this is a defect beyond the acceptable standards of manufacture/sale.  I wouldn't risk accepting the defect.  These are the tools upon which your skills depend.  Get the shop to replace it.

[Isk8NYC]

It really is a tiny bit of warping- if I put a ruler along the concave side, flush with the back of the blade, there's a gap of maybe 2 mm by the time it gets to the front of the blade.  If I put it on the convex side, at the center there's a gap of what looks like 1 mm or so.  Really very small, I think, though I don't have a good feel for this stuff.  Would that be enough to cause problems?  The curve is to the outside, that is, the concave side of the blade is the outside edge of the blade.  What I was noticing is that when I try to do a right inside edge, the blade keeps slipping or shuddering.  I didn't even have the nerve to try outside edges because it freaked me out a bit.  Does that sound like what would happen with a warped blade?  (I suppose it's also possible that the warp affected the sharpening…)

By the "concave/convex sides," you ARE describing the sides of the blade along the stanchions, right?  Not the curve along the bottom edge/inside the stanchions?  (Just making sure.) 

I had a blade warp (or torque) happen to a pair of blades once.  (20/20 hindsight: don't let inexperienced skate techs mount figure skating blades.)  It feels like the "balance point" of edges are different from front to back of the blade. It's very bad for your skating because you can't hold the edge easily - you have to adjust in front of/behind the bend.  When I would get to the curve itself, it was like I had run something over on the ice; my blade almost "bounced" or "skittered" at that spot.

I went to an experienced skate tech, who removed the blades, plugged the holes and used clamps to attach a straightedge to keep the blade straight while he marked/made new holes and re-installed the blades.

A friend of mine had a bend happen after an alignment adjustment like yours.  The adjuster hadn't loosened all the screws, only the heel screws.  He loosened all of the screws and then retightened them properly (as Bill_S once explained) like you would put a wheel on the car: tighten in opposing pairs.  (Front left, back right, front right, back left, etc.)

[skategeek]

Yep, as you look at the blade from underneath, it's curved to the side ever so slightly. 

I think he loosened all four screws when he adjusted the blade, but now I wonder. I didn't pay any attention to the order in which they got tightened (your/Bill's description makes perfect sense, though!)- could be that they got tightened down wrong and it warped then.  In any case, hoping to be able to get there on Tuesday for him to take a look.

[Christy]

Having the screws retightened incorrectly is one of the problems I currently have with my blades and it is stopping the blades from being un-bent! Good luck with getting this resolved - it's amazing how much your skating can be affected by the tiniest problem with your blades.

[twinskaters]

That's so frustrating! I hope it turns out to be easily fixable.

[Query]

If you take it back immediately, the skate tech can try to un-warp it - and if it breaks in the process, the blade company will almost certainly replace it for free. If you wait, the blade company won't do that.

IMHO, the skate tech should have checked for this before mounting your blades, as part of their service.

Unless, of course, the skates came with the blades built in, as sometimes occurs on cheap skates. Then I'm not sure what rules apply.

[skategeek]

These are the stock blades that came with the skates (Ultima Mirage, on Jackson Elles); could be a factory defect.  The fitter sharpened them, but since he didn't mount them himself he might not have checked for warping.  Hopefully this'll be an easy fix, or the excuse I need to upgrade my blades!

[Query]

I think a great dealer would have checked them - but the Elles are entry level, according to Jackson, so maybe the seller figured you wouldn't know the difference.

Anyway, I'd take them back and see if the dealer will help.

[skategeek]

They're open by appointment only; I called two days ago and haven't heard back from them.  (I don't think he's deliberately blowing me off; he's always slow to respond to messages.)  Frustrating, though… I had these two days completely open and could have come in any time.  Now my schedule gets tighter and it'll be harder to get there.

[skategeek]

Update… e-mailed the fitter last night and apparently he returned my call from Monday but I never got the message somehow.  We've got an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. (Couldn't do today because he closed early because of the snow.)  Crossing fingers that this is a quick and easy fix.

[rd350]

Good luck!

[Christy]

Fingers crossed he can sort it out. It's great that he can watch you skate and make changes.

[skategeek]

It was a relatively quick fix; the blade is straight now but I haven't had a chance to skate on it yet to see if it solved the problem.  Fingers crossed!  (He said that the cheaper blades are grade 2 steel and softer, therefore more likely to bend.) 

[skategeek]

Much better!  All I've managed to do is today's LTS class, but I worked on inside edges a bit and didn't have the same slipping feeling I did before.  I'll have to find time to really play with them and see how they feel, but at least this problem appears to be solved.  Crossing fingers that this really solved it.  Now, of course, I need to figure out whether the right blade actually needed to be moved over (which we tried initially, not knowing about the warped blade), or whether it should get moved back where it was.  I'm going to wait until I get a little more used to the skates in general before I tackle that, though.

[rd350]

Good news!!