SHARK Blades?

[FigureSpins]

I've never heard of these blades and the profile is ... unique and eye-catching. 





Looks like the logo at the tail says "ISE" :



Never knew there was an "ISE Shark" blade. 

Auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ice-Skating-SHARK-Figure-Skating-Dance-Blade-10-1-2-/261094987435?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3cca7956ab


What purpose do these "Shark" blades serve in figure skating?

[MimiG]

I can't find any information on them, not even on Jerry's website... although the naming pattern does fall in with other ISE blades (in that they start with an 'S' anyway).

[FigureSpins]

Aren't they wild-looking?  I can't fathom why they have the cutout behind the toepick.  The bottom pick is tiny - maybe it was for dance or figures?

I wonder if they were a prototype blade that was never produced?  That could be a collectible.

[MimiG]

Yes, very odd-looking. The tail is too long for dance... not sure that the cutout would provide any benefit - maybe just a style choice? I'm curious about them - I wonder where the seller got them from? They seem to be his only skating-related item.

[Query]

Maybe it's meant to look cool. Like a shark bite.

Low end skaters don't touch that part of the blade to the ice - so it won't matter.

A high end jumper would otherwise touch that part to the ice, on a high jump where he/she presses hard and deep into the ice. Perhaps it has the affect of making the blade more sharp under those conditions, but of making the transition to toe pick more sudden?

So maybe it's the exact opposite of a K-pick...

Have any of you tried it?

[AgnesNitt]

I've been told that after Pattern 99 came out, there were a number of different toepick variations developed mainly to get around the Pattern 99 patent. Anyway, some of the toepick variations were curved and didn't work as well as the straight picks.
I don't think these are that old, but there's a reason no one's ever heard of them.

[FigureSpins]

Yes, very odd-looking. The tail is too long for dance... not sure that the cutout would provide any benefit - maybe just a style choice? I'm curious about them - I wonder where the seller got them from? They seem to be his only skating-related item.

Hmmm, I thought I saw some skates or boots on his storefront.  *shrugs*

My kids once did a first-grade report on "goods vs services."   For "Goods," they chose Klingbeil because they make and sell figure skates.  For "Services," they chose skate sharpening and our in-house pro shop owner gave them a lesson in how he sharpened figure skates. 

He started by cross-grinding the blade right at that spot behind the bottom toepick, then sharpened the length of the blade.  He said that skaters never use that spot so it doesn't wear down evenly with the rest of the blade edge, therefore, it needs to be lowered before he sharpened the rest of the blade.

To my mind, that spot is used on jumps for the roll-up to the toerake, but I had never heard that theory before and it's stuck in my mind all these years.

Maybe that was the theory behind this profile and it didn't work because skaters got stuck in the cutout, lol.  I wonder if Mr. Edge reviewed the ISE Shark for Skating magazine?

I've been told that after Pattern 99 came out, there were a number of different toepick variations developed mainly to get around the Pattern 99 patent. Anyway, some of the toepick variations were curved and didn't work as well as the straight picks.

Maybe that's why some blades' toerake is cross-cut and others are straight cut?

[AgnesNitt]

Maybe that's why some blades' toerake is cross-cut and others are straight cut?

That's what I was told was the reason.

[sampaguita]

That is one weird profile. Won't the cutout actually make the skater less steady, especially when you do spins?