Skate sharpening, more rocker?

[1210]

this is probably a really stupid question, but i was wondering if you can get your skates sharpened to make the rocker bigger, or decrease the size of the toepick? I am having ENDLESS problems spinning, and I'm starting to wonder if it might be my skates, as I am pressing on the ball of my foot, but it still scratches the ice and slows me down. If I put my weight any further back in the skate, it makes the tail of the blade scratch the ice.
Could this be a sharpening issue?
Thanks

EDIT: By the way, my skates are Jackson Artistes

[skatingpasty]

The bottom teeth of your toe pick are meant to scratch the ice as you spin, but not enough to slow you down.
I'm not sure about the sharpening, you'd have to see a skate pro about that but I wouldn't think so, i think the blades are designed to have that length/shape rocker and I don't think you can change that.

It could possibly be a sharpening issue, if you're spinning on the ball of your foot and still having trouble with it then i think it's time to take it to someone who knows about skates and sharpening.

Are these skates relatively new, have you had problems with previous skates if you've had any?

I haven't skated in jacksons but are the blades screwed to the boot or riverted on. If they're screwed on you will be able to replace the blade (if it comes to that) but if they're riverted it would be likely that you would have to get new skates if this problem cannot be fixed.

[AgnesNitt]

Only hockey players change their rockers. It's possible to do the same thing for figure skate blades, but to be frank no one does this. Even if you can find a qualified skate tech to do it (and I know one. He did both Johnny Wier's and Evan Lysacek's skates) it's unlikely the tech will take the task on for beginner blades. And if you find someone who isn't qualified, then they'll ruin the blade.  You can reduce the angle of the drop pick. I had this done because I was doing figures. I don't think it made much difference.

Maybe more practice would be better.

[aussieskater]

Only hockey players change their rockers. It's possible to do the same thing for figure skate blades, but to be frank no one does this.

Not quite no-one, AgnesNitt - when I got new boots and blades last year and took them to my favorite skate tech for mounting and sharpening, the tech used what was left on the old worn-out Ultima (8foot rocker) blades to re-profile them to be the same as my new MK (7foot profile) blades, so I'd have a spare pair of boots with blades matching the set now in use.  It's not that I'm a high-level competitive skater or anything, it's more that I'm not a stock size boot.  If I lose my skates (eg: stolen from the car - there's been a rash of that at our carpark recently), it takes 3 months or more for Jackson to make me a new pair and sail them over the ocean.  The spares give me something to skate in while I wait.

Skatingpatsy, the Artiste is a beginner boot and the blade is riveted on.

[Query]

I think most figure, hockey and speed skate sharpeners reshape blades and alter the rocker profile and the edge on new blades. (In different ways, by skating discipline.) The best continue to do so, and trim the drag pick too, as needed. The sharpener I have been studying from alters blades to match the skater's evolving needs. I would never have guessed much of what he and others have told me.

If you alter these things yourself, it is very easy to go too far, speaking from personal experience. Very small changes at a time are the way to go!  I learned a lot about how blades work by experimentation, but it was an expensive lesson.

There are no comprehensive guides on how to sharpen and mount blades, or adjust boots. The closest thing there is to a guide on blade sharpening, Skateology, only covers very basic techniques, yet is controversial and is a very hard read (a mechanical engineering background might help). I've thought about writing my own guide, using hand tools, but, as mentioned elsewhere, the proprietary tricks I've learned from pros should be treated as a trade secret until they retire. Anything I said would be controversial too. All the best skate technicians are self-made masters, and have developed their own idiosyncratic techniques.

By the way, rivets can be removed and remounted. And if Aussie's technician altered an MK blade to look like an Ultima, they used up a LOT of metal. Why they didn't start with another Ultima?

[aussieskater]

Wrong way round Query - the Ultima was reshaped to look like an MK.  He effectively took a bit off the front and back rocker ends and left the middle as it was.  (There was quite a bit more to it than that, but you get the idea.)  And yes at the front and back there's no sharpening left!

The Ultimas were my old blades on my old boots, and both are really ready for the scrap heap, so we both figured there was nothing to lose and potentially quite a bit to gain: a spare pair of broken-in boots with a familiar blade profile, as insurance in case of loss or accident to my current pair.