When do you need to replace your blades?

[axelwylie]

I have been skating on my Coronation Aces for about 7 years. I have been lazy with sharpenings (1-2 times per year) and skate for about 3 hours per week.

How do I know when my blade needs to be replaced versus just getting it sharpened? Is there a way to look at the blade and tell if the blade is on its last legs? My coach said something about looking at the less shiny part of the blade but I had a hard time following.

[Loops]

What I think she means is to look at the part of the blade that they sharpen- that's unchromed (so not shiny).  Depending on how much of that is left determines how much space you have for sharpening.   If I have time tonight I'll post pictures of my old blades- they are down to the chrome, so the rocker is nearly flat- the drag pick was actually in my way (so while I was waiting for the new blades I had it ground down a bit).  Then you can compare. You could also just ask your sharpener when you go next and see what s/he has to say.

[sarahspins]

You can still have some "sharpening" area left on a blade (that un-chromed strip) on blades that are well past their prime.  The flags you mention on your axel landings could be a sign that your spin rocker is getting too flattened, which is a sign of an aging blade.  A good sharpener may be able to take a tiny bit bit off your drag pick and re-profile your blade to compensate, but those seem to be few and far between these days and I wouldn't trust any sharpener to do that to my blades unless I was prepared to replace them anyways.

I would talk to your sharpener about your blades rather then just deferring to your coach - the coach may not know everything to look for in determining the condition of your blades (some are better than others as far as that goes), while a good sharpener will be able to tell you more about their overall condition.

That said, in 7 years, with only 1-2 sharpenings a year, you should still have life left in those blades.... BUT, depending on how dinged up and damaged they get between sharpening, your sharpener may have needed to take off more material than normal in each of those sharpenings, which could mean they are in need of replacing already.  It's hard to say for sure, since it could go either way. 

[Loops]

Ok, here are my old skates.  Both blades are MK.  The top ones (on the boot with the natural sole) are Professionals, the bottom are Silver test. Both have 7'rocker (or, did ). The Profs have been sharpened to an inch of their life.  One more time and I'm in the chromed section, which my sharpener told me is usable, but softer so it doesn't hold an edge as long. You might be able to see that the drag pick is shaved down a bit, too. The lower blades were only used one season, and are in almost new condition.  They never had a drag pick- they're for compulsories. I tried to lay them so you could compare the rocker area, but the focus is a little off. The Profs are super flat though- they're at least 30 years old!!! (the were on the patch boots originally, if memory serves....)

The un-chromed section on the patch blades is about 0.5cm (guesstimate), whereas it's almost non-existant on the freestyles.

[axelwylie]

Thank you all for your super helpful insights! My blades still have some non-shiny parts left but I can ask my sharpener the next time I see her. And I had no idea that my blades might be causing the flags on my landings!

[sarahspins]

It definitely could - if there's not enough rocker to make that transition from landing on your toe to cleanly gliding on an edge, you will definitely skid.  Blades with a fuller spin rocker will feel much more "grabby" and more secure on landings - you don't notice that as much with single jumps, but with axel+ you definitely do.