Mr. Edge: A skate technician, book (Reviews??) and on-line question form

[Query]

John Harmata, "Mr. Edge", is a well known skate technician near Chicago, IL, who writes articles for Skating magazine.

He has a website with information on many skate issues. I'm sure he is biased about many issues, and he pushes the products he sells, but that is perfectly normal and to be expected in the controversial world of figure skating.

Through the USFSA website (you don't have to be a member), he has an on-line form to ask questions about skates and boots. What a great sounding resource!

He also teaches (expensive) courses in his field.

These resources are well worth adding to your personal list of links on skating.

He also has a book, Anatomy of a Figure Skating Injury (and a more expensive edition, labeled "color"), which his website says "explains and provides solutions to common blade, boot, and sharpening problems. The book also explains many of the common injuries..."

Can any of you review his book? What type of does it contain? E.g., does it explain how to sharpen blades, and to fit and adjust boots, or merely show you how to identify problems that you can bring to his shop to be solved?

Thanks!

P.S. I'm asking him a question through the form website, by asking him about side honed [e.g., tapered, parabolic] blades.

[KillianL]

Hi Query,

I purchased this book and read it cover-to-cover several months ago.  I think I paid $15 or so which seemed a small sum to pay if the book contained a lot of the kind of information I was exposed to through reading the Ask Mr Edge columns over the years and thensome.  I didn't really learn anything by reading the book that I did not already know, but I've also been at the skating game for five years and highly prone to research anything and everything the entire time.  The book is an easy read and almost certainly not designed to make a skate tech out of a novice - but nor does it come off as a sales/marketing piece for Mr. Harmata's shop.  The best target audience for the book, IMO, is a parent or older newbie skater who doesn't know much about skating yet.  You learn about everything from parts of the skate to parts of the foot/ankle and all of the sorts of things that can and do go wrong with them.  The scope of the book is broad and consequently the author doesn't get deep into the weeds about much of anything.  If you're interested in a TOC rundown let me know and I'll pull the book out.  At the moment I'm going off of memory, and mine is admittedly far from the best. 

[DressmakingMomma]

I purchased the book as well, Mr Edge is our skate tech - LOVE him. Anyway, it was really helpful for us as newish skate parents when we ordered dd's first pair of real skates. I would definitely recommend it for that purpose and for parents or skaters who have never given their equipment much thought. I also like that it dispels the myth of expensive is always better and to avoid getting caught up in the latest/greatest equipment quest.

[Query]

Thanks. I've ordered the book; whatever its limits, it seems to be the only book in the field.

At one point he had published plans to bring out a book on sharpening. From what he said in reply to an email question, I guess this book isn't that book.

BTW He did answer some of my questions about side-honed blades. I mostly already knew what he said, but it is great that he answers questions. He must get a lot of them.