How to check if a blade is warped

[tstop4me]

Looks like it'll cost me around $120 to ship the skates with around 3 day shipping in each direction, and when they are returned to Canada I'll risk customs charges even though they are used. I'm going to talk to the good sharpener to see if he thinks he can help, and if he knows of good ways to ship the skates safely.

However I've been looking at the blade again and I think it's actually bent, not warped. The area around the stanchions isn't warped / bent, but the front of the bottom of the blade is bent. I'm not sure if this means that it can't be fixed?

* By "the front of the bottom of the blade" do you mean (a) the stainless-steel runner, (b) the aluminum chassis, or (c) the stainless-steel runner and the aluminum chassis?

* Any evidence of separation (i.e., a gap) between the runner and the chassis in the damaged area?

* It would be helpful if you could show close-up photos of the damaged area, with the straight edge along side (runner and chassis) for reference.

* Since shipping is so high (and proper repair is not certain), I'll give you another suggestion, if you can't get help from a local skate tech.  Are you buds with anyone who works in a machine shop, or even an automotive repair shop?  They will likely have the right measurement tools and can at least give you an assessment.

*  Since you are in Canada and Jackson/Ultima is in Canada, perhaps you should contact them directly for advice.

[supersharp]

A photo of the front of the blade with a straight item nearby for visual reference would help with assessing condition and options.  Warped vs bent, and along which axis (or multiple axes, which could also be possible). If you have a chance, post a couple of photos to let our curious minds delve further

[Query]

"Bent" and "warped" are essentially the same thing, though maybe you are saying that the bend is all in one place.

Looks like it'll cost me around $120 to ship the skates with around 3 day shipping in each direction

OMG! When I watched Mike C (now retired) work, he got overnight delivery blades and skates sent to Maryland from distant places like Japan and Europe. It never occurred to me it could be that expensive. I suppose people picky enough to do that might have mostly been high end skaters with deep pockets.

Does Canada have alternate shipping companies that ship to the U.S. and back (in addition to the post office) like
  UPS
  FedEx
  DHL
that might charge less?

Perhaps the skates are expensive to ship because they are heavy and big. Many people just shipped blades - or if they had the old Matrix I style blades, they just shipped the runners (which were fairly easy to take in and put out of the chassis), which are lighter than skates - but you didn't want to demount your blades, so I guess that isn't an option. (Unfortunately it is now hard to get the Matrix 1 runners and chassis, and no one else has stepped up in the modern figure skating world. But when they were making them, a NEW pair of runners was only about $120, and, once removed from the chassis, most skate techs could sharpen them.)

I wonder what the skate techs you are dealing with would think of demounting the blades for you, to ship to someone else. They might consider that bad business, but you could ask.

It's hard to believe it is this hard to do. No wonder some skaters have two pair of skates, so they can send one back to their favorite tech. (But also to deal with skates lost in travel, or broken blades.)

But surely someone knows of a really good Canadian skate tech? There are so many world class coaches up there, and I assume they don't all travel to the U.S. If you don't know who to ask, you could try contacting a bunch of Canadian figure skating clubs. Surely Torronto, Ottawa and Montreal have enough wealthy skaters to theoretically support one world class tech. Aren't Canadians born wearing skates?

I guess you could also buy a new pair of non-Matrix blades, that your techs have the right gear to sharpen. It's not cheap, and they may not be all that similar.

If none of these work, I'm all out of ideas.