Does ROH affect time between sharpenings

[Christy]

When I had my blades sharpened I had the ROH reduced to help with spins, and I've noticed that generally the blades don't seem to be as sharp as they did with the larger ROH, so I was wondering if the time between sharpenings should be reduced?

[fsk8r]

When I had my blades sharpened I had the ROH reduced to help with spins, and I've noticed that generally the blades don't seem to be as sharp as they did with the larger ROH, so I was wondering if the time between sharpenings should be reduced?

I've had the same feeling when I unintentally ended up with a shallower hollow. It's more that you need to bend your knees more and work harder to get your weight over the skate. I noticed that most of the time I was happy to skate on them and they were holding the edge and then there would be other times when I felt like I was sliding everywhere.
I switched back to my old ROH but having switched ROH in the past I know I would have adapted eventually. 

[icedancer]

I agree - your blades are still sharp but the shallower ROH does make it seem different - not so grabby, etc. -

I think you will adapt or maybe you need a ROH in between the two if possible.

[alejeather]

I don't think that ROH affects sharpening times, but if you're used to a deeper ROH, a shallower one will feel more slippery. IIRC, that's what you wanted for your spins. It may either take some adjusting, or you may decide you like your ROH a little deeper. There's a range of ROHs that are common for figure skating, and which one you use really comes down to personal preference.

I remember slipping all over the place after getting a sharpening shortly after I'd gotten a one of my first pairs of skates. I took them back to the sharpener and told him, and he gave me a slightly deeper ROH. I've never turned back. Talk to your sharpener. A good sharpener will be able to work with you until it's right, and won't charge you every time you make an adjustment while you're working it out.

[Christy]

I think I probably need an ROH between the two - the original was a bit too grabby whilst the new one is a bit too slippery. Unfortunately my sharpener is a 20 hour round trip so it's difficult to make tweaks but we'll get there.

[sarahspins]

I've noticed that generally the blades don't seem to be as sharp as they did with the larger ROH, so I was wondering if the time between sharpenings should be reduced?

It's not the sharpness that is different, but the bite angle... you can have a blade that is plenty "sharp" but doesn't "grip" if you have too shallow of a ROH.  That said, sometimes it just takes some time to get used to the difference.  Interestingly spins are the first thing I notice suffering when my blades are dull - I don't like any slippy feeling, especially in that entrance edge.

[Query]

Do you really mean less ROH?

ROH means "Radius of curvature", so a smaller ROH means more curved, i.e., a deeper hollow, which would be more grabby, and a shorter glide (and I think a shorter spin), all other things being equal. In principle it needs more frequent sharpening to keep the effective sharpness the same because the area of contact is less, so the wear is greater. (You could look at it differently - it might maintain some level of grab for longer, but doing that would mean there would be a bigger difference between initial and final sharpness.)

A larger ROH is the opposite of all those things.

But all other things are not always equal, depending on who sharpens things, and how. There are many other factors to effective sharpness, like whether and how much the edge is rounded off after sharpening, how long the burr extension is, how smooth the sides are (affected by things like whether the sharpener uses a polishing fluid or oil), etc.

I am so impressed that you travel 20 hours to sharpen. True devotion. You must love your sharpener. Who is he/she?

Assuming you drive, let us see: the total cost of driving (gas, oil, tires, maintenance, depreciation, replacement cost, incremental accidents and insurance, etc.) has been estimated by the IRS at $0.51/mile. If you drive 1000 miles, and you don't share the drive with someone else (or their skates) that's $510/visit. It must be a nuisance too.

So I think you are a possible candidate for learning to sharpen yourself - though very few on this board do that - or getting a second pair of skates, so you can mail one to your sharpener instead of driving. Some skaters just get a second pair of blades, and mount and demount the blades every time, but you have to be very careful not to strip the screw holes (hint: push hard with the screwdriver), and manage to find a second pair of blades with the holes in almost the exact same place (not always as easy as you think - many blades are not manufactured to high precision).

Sharpening yourself has a learning curve, which means you can make mistakes at first (I did). I notice most figure skaters are afraid to try. If you are hesitant, and are afraid to make mistakes, maybe not.

P.S. Why not talk to your pro about your question? If he is worth a 20 hour drive, he must have a lot of expertise. If Mike is your sharpener, he certainly does, and a fair # of his customers do the second pair of skates things.

[Christy]

Wow - thank you so much for the explanation. Whilst I do like my sharpener, it's more a case of no good sharpeners locally (the supposed best chopped my toe rake off!!!) and not being willing to take a risk with an unknown who may be closer. Currently I have 2 pairs of skates with different blades - I want to be happy with the Matrix Legacy before investing in a second pair.

I'm now actually thinking about encouraging OH to have a go at skate sharpening - he doesn't skate but he's really good at detailed stuff and would do a far better job than me. I think he'd be nervous in case he ruined my blades, but he could try on my old ones first. Looking at the calculation (which is how I justified the second pair of skates!) he could make a lot of mistakes and I'd still save a few $$$s.

I'm going to start investigating so I can make the suggestion - any hints and tips about what is necessary vs. nice to have would be really appreciated.

[Query]

>any hints and tips about what is necessary vs. nice to have would be really appreciated.

http://mgrunes.com/boots/BootBlade.html

Wait until tomorrow - I haven't added those comments yet.

[Christy]

Thanks for the information.

So far I'm not having much luck convincing OH that it would be a good thing to learn..... need to keep working on it.

[Query]

So far I'm not having much luck convincing OH that it would be a good thing to learn..... need to keep working on it.

It is very possible to make mistakes sharpening. Maybe he knows that you are very particular about your blades, and wouldn't want you upset with him. A safe and reasonable conclusion.  So his refusal just shows how much he loves you.