Reasons for sliding besides blunt blades

Janie · January 29, 2013, 03:58:14 PM

Is there any reason that blades slip/slide besides them needing a sharpening? I just got mine sharpened, but today, my left outside edge slipped a few times. I would be going forward normally on a left outside edge, and my foot just slid out as if it couldn't grab the ice. I tried doing T-stops with the LO edge and if feels very weird, like not much friction. Granted, that might just be because I usually do T-stops with the other foot so it might not have been done properly.

I want to blame it on a bad sharpening, but I had skated an hour between the sharpening and today, and I didn't notice anything last time. I wonder if I might have done something to the blades, or if it's just my skating skills. I feel like I have problems every time my skates get sharpened (well the past two times)... maybe it's just me and not the blades.

sarahspins · January 29, 2013, 04:30:02 PM

Sounds like your sharpener may have changed your ROH... the other possibility is that something happened after your first hour of skating and dulled just that edge.

Janie · January 30, 2013, 02:42:32 PM

Quote from: sarahspins on January 29, 2013, 04:30:02 PM
Sounds like your sharpener may have changed your ROH... the other possibility is that something happened after your first hour of skating and dulled just that edge.

I hope I haven't damaged it in anyway... I walk around with hard guards and lug the skates around with soakers on. I generally am pretty careful taking care of them

tookyclothespin · January 30, 2013, 03:41:25 PM

This happened to me and it was the sharpening job. Maybe you just didn't notice it at first? When I first noticed that my blade was slipping, I second guessed myself and thought maybe it was me, because who slips on freshly sharpened blades, right? However, things I can normally do strongly even on extremely dull blades (yes, I put off getting them sharpened!) were causing fish-tailing with the back of the blade sliding around. A less experienced person at my pro shop told me it was "just the way I skate" and that the sharpening job was fine, as he determined after measuring to be sure the edges were level (they were), but since I have been skating over 15 years and never experienced the problem before, I talked to the most knowledgeable person at my pro shop the next day and he said that while it's true that the way you skate can wear down your blade slightly differently than the next person, someone who is experienced at sharpening blades will be able to account for that and give you usable edges regardless. He didn't specifically talk about the ROH or go into technical details but that possibly had something to do with it. He "touched them up" or possibly resharpened them completely, I'm not sure, but after he worked on them for a few minutes they were as good as new.

Hanca · January 30, 2013, 04:13:26 PM

I would think bad sharpening. I had it done at my rink a few times in the past and he did not do as deep ROH as I had before. So when I got the blades, they seemed to be sharp-ish initially (although not quite as sharp as they would be when I have it done by my regular sharpener) and after just a few hours of skating they became blunt and slipping. I have stupidly had it done again at my rink and the same happened. Then I took it to my regular sharpener and he has done one blade with my usual 7/16 and showed me the difference. The difference was really noticable! I am not sure why they did not sharpen it at my rink with the 7/16 I requested.

Janie · January 30, 2013, 06:51:04 PM

Thanks for the replies! I'll see how it feels when I skate next time. If it still feel strange, I'll ask my coach about it. It's just that my coach trusts our rink sharpener (she grew up skating at this rink, and has had him take care of her skates this whole time), and to question the sharpener's ability seems to be questioning my coach's judgment. (I think I've mentioned this problem on the forum before) I know coaches are not pros at equipment (buying new skates), but she should know if someone can do good sharpenings or not...

SynchKat · January 30, 2013, 08:09:37 PM

How old are your blades? If there isn't much blade left to sharpen they will lose their sharpening quickly. A girl on my synchro team experienced this with old blades.

Janie · January 30, 2013, 08:22:32 PM

Quote from: SynchKat on January 30, 2013, 08:09:37 PM
How old are your blades? If there isn't much blade left to sharpen they will lose their sharpening quickly. A girl on my synchro team experienced this with old blades.

They're pretty new, this was only the third sharpening on them. But thanks for suggesting!

SynchKat · January 30, 2013, 10:57:32 PM

Could you have maybe stepped on something? Look at or run your finger along your blade, you could have a nick in the blade. A nick in the right spot can cause problems.

Janie · January 30, 2013, 11:54:04 PM

Quote from: SynchKat on January 30, 2013, 10:57:32 PM
Could you have maybe stepped on something? Look at or run your finger along your blade, you could have a nick in the blade. A nick in the right spot can cause problems.

Okay I'll check that too. I have a really bad feel for what it should feel like though, last time there was a problem with my blades, both my coach and a rink guy who works with blades could feel it, but I couldn't tell lol. Thanks again!

SynchKat · January 31, 2013, 09:10:45 AM

It will just feel like a notch in the blade or a piece of metal that will catch your finger. If it is a nick and is causing sliding you might be able to see it without feeling it. I would bet you stepped on something or hit a rough patch of ice and lost the edge.

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Reasons for sliding besides blunt blades