Nashville area skaters - a question

[Bill_S]

If you skate in the Nashville area, have you seen markings like this on your blades? Perhaps after a sharpening?



This came engraved on the bottom of a pair of blades purchased second-hand. If it's a person at a pro shop who does this, what is their reputation? I believe the first character is a script letter "B", which might be a clue about who it is.

I'm mostly just curious about this.

Thanks in advance!

[tstop4me]

I find it bizarre that anyone (skate tech or blade owner) would engrave dates (I guess you're guessing dates of sharpening) on the chrome plating, particularly on a pricey blade such as a Gold Seal.

[Bill_S]

Agreed. Frankly if I were the skater, it would p*** me off if a shop did that.

Assuming that it was someone at a pro shop, I'm still curious though who this person is and to learn about their reputation as a sharpener.

[icepixie]

I can't imagine.  There are three figure skate sharpeners in town, and I've used two of them; neither engrave anything on blades.  I doubt the third would either.  The one I go to now has a first name starting with a B, but again, I've never known him to do that.

The owner of that pair could have gone to a hockey pro shop, I guess, but a.) the hockey places here probably know not to sharpen figure blades, b.) figure skaters here learn quickly who the sharpeners are, and c.) if someone has Gold Seals, they DEFINITELY would not be going to one of the hockey shops.

[tstop4me]

Also, even if the eBay seller shipped from Nashville, who knows where the blades originated from, and where they were sharpened?

[FigureSpins]

Off-topic: I have a pair of Pattern 99's that I can never part with because they have my SSN engraved on them permanently.  My NYC-Police Officer BIL thought it would be a good idea since I was taking my skates to Europe that Fall.  Sigh.  I should make something out of them, because I don't like using them for skating.

[MCsAngel2]

Off-topic: I have a pair of Pattern 99's that I can never part with because they have my SSN engraved on them permanently.  My NYC-Police Officer BIL thought it would be a good idea since I was taking my skates to Europe that Fall.  Sigh.  I should make something out of them, because I don't like using them for skating.

If they'd be good for resale otherwise, couldn't you have an engraver scribble over it or something?

[Bill_S]

Heh - I remember when the local authorities were recommending that you engrave your SS# into your valuable possessions in case of theft. That was before the internet and identity theft existed.

My otherwise pristine darkroom enlarger has my SS# engraved on it, reducing its value. A lot of my tools do too.

Figurespins: Start a thread on what to do with old blades! We might get some interesting responses.

[FigureSpins]

I think I started one years ago - I'll bump it.

[Live2Sk8]

Back to original question - a friend of mine coincidentally showed me an old pair of boots yesterday.  She showed me the bottom of her blades, and she had similar etchings for each of her sharpenings, starting in the 80's.  She was in the Michigan area at the time.

[Bill_S]

Hmm. Maybe it was once common among certain pro shops or sharpening personnel.

[lutefisk]

Hmm. Maybe it was once common among certain pro shops or sharpening personnel.

Maybe that's how a given pro-shop "remembered" to whom they'd sold blades vs people just dropping in from who knows where.   Some skate techs will for example, punch out their customer's boots or tweak blade alignment for free if needed down the road--service after the sale kinda thing.  Outsiders, otoh, probably would have to pay for some of those same services.